Chapter Closed: Beloved Holly Hill Book Swap Volunteer Bob Bishop Turns the Page

Volunteers at the Book Swap at Holly Hill, threw a party for longtime volunteer, Bob Bishop on Saturday. They marked his retirement with balloons and donuts, and Lorrie Stapleton presented a giant collage with photographs from over the years.

Mr. Bishop is known by many as, “Bumpy,” a term of endearment one of his grandchildren coined.

His retirement from the book swap came after 25 years of volunteering.

A regular member of the Retired Men’s Association who has only missed two or three meetings in since joining in 2003, Bishop recalled that he met the book swap founder Doug Francefort through that organization.

“Doug would sometimes call me if one of his regular crew didn’t show up,” recalled Bishop who lives nearby in Byram.

Mr. Francefort, who passed away in 2020, established the book swap in 1972 to recycle books and designed the shed.

For his part, Bishop picked out an American flag at Feinsod’s in Old Greenwich and displays it from the book shed in the morning. He also keeps the donation table up to date with fresh red paint.

 

The book swap is considered a community asset and weekend destination that adds some fun and conversation to the weekly trash and recycling chore.

The shed itself has been around for 30 years, though it was forced to close for a year due to the pandemic. It reopened in 2021.

Mr. Bishop’s favorite part about volunteering at the book shed?

“It’s these people – beyond belief!” he said, gesturing to the group of volunteers. “And the residents are great. They stop and chat and share their stories. But we try to keep it moving along because it gets busy – on Saturday’s especially.”

The book swap is fun to browse, but it is so well stocked with books from all genres – from mysteries to romance and from biographies to cook books –  that it is often possible to find a specific book.

“Harry Potter was a big thing for a while,” Bishop recalled. “Another time a pastor from a local church came here looking for Bibles.”

The volunteers are a resourceful lot – making connections in ways that aren’t apparent on a given Friday or Saturday morning. The goal is to get books into the hands of readers. Arrangements are made with local and nearby non profit organizations, and tens of thousands of books are re-read rather than tossed in the trash.

Greenwich residents are bibliophiles and Mr. Bishop noted that donors are pleased to know that when they’re finished reading, their books will go to a grateful reader.

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He said residents often have to clear out their parents’ houses and come to the book swap seeking a new home for their parents’ libraries.

“They want to share the stories about what they’re giving. They’ll say, ‘I remember him reading that book – sitting in his club chair,'” Bishop said.

He said local teachers often donate books that would otherwise be thrown away. Other times, teachers will select books to bring to their classrooms.

Bishop, who had a career as a corporate director of human resources back when that function was referred to as “personnel,” is an avid reader himself.

“I always have a book on the desk,” he said.

Not one to stay idle, even after retiring from the book swap gig, he said he stays busy around the house – mowing the lawn, vacuuming, tending his flower garden in the summer and blowing snow in the winter.

And he visits with family nearby, including granddaughter Bree, a student at UConn studying psychology and communications, who signals her arrival by tooting the horn three times.

The book shed at Holly Hill Resource Recover Facility at Holly Hill Lane is open on Fridays and Saturdays from 8:00am to 12:00 noon. Patrons may take books without having to donate books. There is no charge.