It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Blount County Public Library's 7th Annual Mini Con!

Superheroes and wizards alike gathered at Blount County Public Library on Saturday for the seventh BCPL Mini Con.

The event, which kicks off the library’s summer reading program, featured craft vendors, authors, comic book and toy sales, food trucks and costumes galore.

Notable guests included Smoky Mountain Ghostbusters, storm troopers, and a brooding Batman who stalked the library, taking pictures with attendees.

Near the back of the vendor tables, Knoxville Academy of the Blade was set up, giving demonstrations in fencing and sword and shield dueling.

Events on the day’s schedule included a cosplay costume contest, karaoke, Dungeons and Dragons sessions and “nerdy storytime.”

Two attendees, known only as Patches and Patchwork, walked the library’s aisles in full-body costumes that looked like a marriage of anime and monsters. Both said that they created the characters they were dressed up as. They carried baskets of small stuffed animals to hand out to the children who were attending.

Both said they loved interacting with people at the Mini Con, which they both have attended multiple times.

“The fun thing is seeing all the people, all ages, really getting into these characters,” said Reference Department Manager Kathleen Christy.

Minicon began in 2015 and was the brainchild of Youth Services Manager Chelsea Tarwater.

The summer reading theme that year had to do with superheroes, she said, so she introduced the theme with the first Mini Con, which she planned to be exclusively for that year. Tarwater said she anticipated that maybe 100 people would attend, but the Mini Con ended up drawing a crowd of 350 people.

She said that without having decided to make it an yearly event, attendees at the original Mini Con simply said, “See you next year!” and an annual Minicon was born.

Tarwater said the Mini Con has been growing since its inception. In 2019, they had close to 900 attendees. This year, they were expecting at least a thousand throughout the day.

While folks gathered on the main floor for all things comic and fandom-related, on the basement level, Blount County Friends of the Library were busy running their annual book sale.

Thousands of books lined shelves while people filtered in from upstairs, looking to purchase some used books. Money from the sales goes to support programming like Mini Con.

BCPL spokesperson Beth Hall said the event also served as the unveiling of the library’s new mascot, Harper, the flying squirrel. The mascot illustration, as well as the library’s new logo, were designed by Visual Voice, a Maryville-based advertising agency.

Hall explained that flying squirrels are native to Tennessee, and the name Harper is an homage to the original building the library occupied, the A.K. Harper Memorial Library.

Harper serves as the library’s first-ever mascot, and Hall said she would be utilized in much of the children’s programming.

Back upstairs, Jenn and Rob Spirko of Southland Books were participating as vendors for the first time, although Jenn has been to every Mini Con as a patron and prior library employee.

Jenn said what she likes best about the Mini Con is the opportunity to people-watch.

“It’s such an interesting assortment of folks,” she said, “and people kind of shed — it’s almost like when they put on costumes or their favorite t-shirts, they’re getting out of costume. They’re kind of being their true selves for the day.”

Costumed or not, attendees could be seen taking pictures with their favorite characters, checking out the Batmobile and Ghostbusters cars parked out front, shopping the vendors, and enjoying each other’s company.

“We want to bring everybody in and just have a fun, free experience for families and kids,” said Hall.