GENERAL INFORMATION FOR VNSA BOOKSALE VOLUNTEERS
Thank you for volunteering to help with the 2026 VNSA Book Sale! The Sale could not take place without all our friends and family who volunteer.
click here for a printable PDF of this information
Shifts
Saturday, February 14, 2026
8am-1pm and/or 1pm-6pm
Sunday, February 15, 2026
8am-12pm and/or 12pm-4pm
Wrap-up begins at 4pm on Sunday for those who want to stay and help and those who signed up solely for wrap-up.
Please plan to arrive at least 15 to 20 minutes before your first shift begins each day.
IMPORTANT:
Directions for Parking and entering the Arizona State Fairgrounds as a VNSA volunteer are included at the end of this hand-out.
Please check-in at Personnel Booth, adjacent to the Information Center in the middle of the building for your name badge and confirmed assignment, before going to the Refreshment Center or reporting to your station. Your volunteer position and shifts will be confirmed on your name badge (note: if necessary, we may have to assign you to a different position than what you requested).
If you work a single AM shift, lunch is available when your shift is complete (1 pm Saturday or 12 pm Sunday).
If you work a single PM shift, lunch is available before your shift begins.
You must be checked in before your shift begins to relieve your hungry AM shift person promptly.
Those who are working AM and PM shifts, please make sure you communicate with others in your area so coverage is available in your specific area. You may always ask a book category volunteer to assist.
If, for any reason, you cannot make your shift, please e-mail volunteer@vnsabooksale.org (Personnel Chair, Susan Green, or Assistant Teri Harnisch), including both your name and your volunteer shift(s) that you are not able to fulfill, and also text the VNSA member who sponsored your participation. It is better to deal with a known absence than a no-show.
Volunteer Shopping
You are welcome to come early before a PM shift for some extra time to shop or to stay after an AM shift to shop or eat lunch. We ask that no one browse or shop before 8 am on Saturday as our public has been waiting for hours, and we do not want them to think we have jumped the gun. If you purchase books during your shift and want somewhere safe to keep them, there is a holding area. VNSA takes cash, debit cards, and credit cards, ApplePay and Google Pay.
Attire
Volunteers wear orange aprons and Members wear blue. Orange aprons will be provided to our volunteers. Please return the orange apron and your name badge to the personnel table after your shift(s). For your safety, please wear comfortable, close-toed shoes. For your comfort, dress in layers. Do not bring purses or other valuables.
Water
Bring a refillable container for water. (We will not have single use plastics). No other drinks are permitted in the Agriculture Center (i.e., your refillable container cannot contain anything other than water).
Pricers
If the public finds an item that is not marked with a price, check with a member in a blue apron from the same category and/or the shopper can ask a pit boss at the check-out area to price and tag the item. Pricing guns are with the Pit Boss or at the Information Table.
Refreshment Center
During the sale, the Refreshment Center will be located in the far west section of the Wesley Bolin Building. We cannot walk through Large Purchase, so use the parking lot to walk to the correct entrance. Volunteers can go through the Hacienda to the left/south of Wesley Bolin to enter the Refreshment Center.
Lunch will be available between 11 am and 2 pm. Do not leave your assignment to go to lunch unless someone has relieved you. The Refreshment Center closes at 4 pm on Saturday.
While a variety of drinks are also available in the Refreshment Center, ONLY water is permitted in the Ag Center.
Parking
Your parking pass will come from the VNSA volunteer who sponsored you or the charitable organization for whom you are volunteering. These will not be available until February 9-10 as they are passed out to our members/charities the weekend before the sale.
If you volunteer for more than one day, please keep your pass, as it works for both days. If you want to come shop on a day you are not volunteering, you are welcome to re-use the pass to come support the sale as a shopper.
A map of the Fairgrounds and parking is included below.
Enter the State Fairgrounds from 19th Ave. and Monte Vista entrance (sale shoppers will enter at McDowell and 17th Ave.). Park in the lot west of the Ag Center (between the Ag Center/book sale and the Wesley Bolin/large purchase/refreshment center). If that lot is full, park as close as possible.
The volunteer entrance to the Ag Center is in the building’s rear (SW) corner. There should be signage or other volunteers to direct you.
Thank you for all your hard work and many contributions. We look forward to seeing you at the sale!
