Students and faculty strolling through the JFK Library marveled at, and then later consumed, edible books as a part of the annual Books2Eat event that took place Monday afternoon.

Using dessert as a medium, participants of the event created appetizing versions of their favorite books and submitted them for the public to vote on. These tasty interpretations ranged from childhood favorites that included  Margaret Brown’s “Goodnight Moon” to Bill Bryson’s autobiographical book, “A Walk in the Woods.”

While Books2Eat allows members from the community to show off their creativity and their baking skills, it also focuses on literacy.

“This is a celebration of reading,” Pat Kelley, the former dean of libraries and an annual participant of Books2Eat, said. “Regardless of the format, it all boils down to reading and understanding and making judgements about what you’ve read.”

Unlike other universities that have adopted Books2Eat, EWU’s event emphasizes community engagement by also inviting members of Spokane County to participate.  

“We decided that what we would do is make it a community event as opposed to having bakers in town pay to enter a contest which is how some other libraries had done it,” Kelley said.

For Megan Sargeant-Everett, a Spokane mother of five who owns an at-home gluten free baking business, this event is a unique activity that her children can take part in.

“I’m glad they put something on like this,” Sargeant-Everett said. “We’re always looking for fun little things that we can do [as a family].”

Books2Eat has been around over 10 years at EWU and while the past few years have seen a decline in the number of entries and participants, this year’s event saw an increase in entries.

Cathy Pontier, an EWU Parking employee and first-time participant, won second place with her cake pop interpretation of “Peter Rabbit.”

“It was a great surprise,” Pontier said. “I’m already thinking about what book I’m going to do [for next year].”

The top three entries that won the most votes this year were “Charlie Brown,” “Peter Rabbit,” and “Giving Tree.” They claimed an Amazon gift card of $100, $75 and $50 respectively.