Bidding Opens September 9 for Binc’s “Bank on Booksellers” Piggy Bank Auction

The Book Industry Charitable (Binc) Foundation’s Bank on Booksellers online auction will once again help raise funds for the organization that assists booksellers experiencing financial hardships, from homelessness to domestic violence to natural disasters. 

The auction will begin at 12:00 p.m. EDT on Sunday, September 9, and continue through 12:00 p.m. EDT on Saturday, September 15, and feature a wide array of hand-decorated piggy banks submitted by nearly 100 authors, illustrators, and celebrities so far. The current collection of piggy banks can be seen here. The piggy banks will also be on display on September 9 during a launch party at Literati Bookstore in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and will feature a piggy decorated by one of Literati’s owners, Mike Gustafson.

“We’ve been amazed at the incredible support we’ve received from the book industry and beyond,” said Binc Executive Director Pamela French of the online event, which originated in 2016 as a fundraiser for an employee at Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee. “Celebrities including authors, illustrators, singer/songwriters, television and movie personalities, animators, graphic artists, and a famous chef offered to decorate banks for the auction. We couldn’t be more impressed at their piggy-painting prowess and we can’t thank them enough for donating their time and talent to help Binc assist booksellers and their families after emergencies.” 

Piggy bank decorated by author Celeste Ng

So far, 107 piggy banks (and counting) have been decorated by 95 authors, illustrators, and celebrities, including R.W. Alley, Lucie Amundsen, Katherine Applegate, Kevan Atteberry, Vita Ayala, Leigh Bardugo, Mac Barnett, Andrea Beaty, Jeanne Birdsall, Holly Black, Judy Blume, Sandra Boynton, Daniel James Brown, Marc Brown, Kimberly Bradley Brubaker, Dennis Calero, Carol Cassella, R. Gregory Christie, Chelsea Clinton, Kate DiCamillo, Anthony Doerr, Louise Erdrich, Jonathan Evison, Denise Flemming, Angela Flournoy, Veronica (Ronnie) Garcia, Robin Preiss Glasser, Natalie Goldberg, Alan Gratz, John Grisham, Kristin Hannah, Shawn Harris, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, Tad Hills, Alice Hoffman, Erin Hunting, Washington Governor Jay Inslee, A.J. Jacobs, Stephanie Kallos, Sylvie Kantororitz, Jeff Kinney, Nina Laden, Barbara Lehman, Lillian Li, Tom Lichtenheld, Grace Lin, Laura Lippman, Jim Lynch, Gregory Maguire, Gianna Marina, Barbara McClintock, Yuyi Morales, Celeste Ng, Lori Nichols, Laura Numeroff, Stephanie Olivieri, Kim and Brad Paisley, Julie Paschkis, Ann Patchett, James Patterson, Jacques Pepin, Matt Phelan, Tiemdow Phumiruk, Chris Raschka, Brandon Reese, Brendan Reichs, Jason Reynolds, Tom Robbins, Deborah Roberts and Al Roker, Steven Savage, Judy Schachner, Ian Schoenherr, Jon Scieszka, David Shannon, Jennie Shortridge, Jess Smart Smiley, Laurel Snyder, Phil and Erin Stead, Garth Stein, Amy Stewart, Emma Straub, Cheryl Strayed, Don Tate, Angie Thomas, Brenna Thummler, Jen Vaughan, Tom Watson, Lauren Weisberger, and Don and Audrey Wood.

Piggy bank decorated by author Kate DiCamillo

To make this year’s auction a success, Binc is asking booksellers to share the Bank on Booksellers auction link on their social media pages. Booksellers can also go to Binc’s website to download marketing materials, including flyers, postcards, and a press release, and follow Binc’s Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages to see new piggy banks as they are posted.