Used Book Sale Helps Library

The local library in this area has a used book sale each year to raise funds that help defray the cost of keeping the library open. Along with used books they also sell used DVDs, used CDs and other media that was either in circulation or donated to the library. This year the sale started with at least 20,000 hardcover and paperback books. Used books and other media are offered to the community at cheap prices over the weekend event. There was a large turnout of people who were looking for used books and other media that may not be available from other places and at very low prices. Having used books for sale allows people who are not able to participate in other library events to help the library raise much needed funds.

Used book values have dropped over the last several years so the best choice you could make when cleaning off that bookshelf is to donate used books to your local library. Most library programs accept donation of used books, magazines, DVDs, CDs or any other appropriate media. If it’s a book they don’t have available for loan they may add it to their circulation, as long as the used book is in good shape. In some areas, one library branch may have a copy of a book but other branches do not. Libraries do not have the funding to purchase all published books or stock each branch with a copy.

Promoting literacy is something that we, as a society, should be doing and can do very easily. Children may get excited about reading by helping gather used books to donate to the local library. Currently many people do not have the funds to help out with charitable causes. This is a project people can help with at little or no financial expense. It is also an easy charity to get children involved with since they would be able to help with by counting, stacking, sorting, carrying or creating flyers.

This type of charitable project of gathering used books and other media to donate to the local libraries would be a good service project for any kind of youth group. It might be helpful to advertise the event in a school or church bulletin to reach a larger group of people in different age ranges. All that would be required would be some colorful flyers and either a donation box or specified time and date that donations will be accepted and the community will do the rest.

The library, if there are branches, should have a main branch or a contact person to arrange delivery of the donated used books and media. Keeping good communication with them would be very important. They should be able to provide any guidelines for accepting donations; like condition of or type of media; when and where donations are accepted; if donations need to be sorted in some fashion before they are taken to the library. The person in charge of the project would want to make sure the library donation guidelines are followed so the donation doesn’t create more working for the librarians than necessary.

If the library has received enough donations that they have used books or other media that they are not able to put the items into circulation, they may set up an area where these used books or other media can be sold throughout the year and/or the library can store these items for later circulation or sale.

The local library system as a whole may have a yearly purge of books that are out of date, that are never borrowed or need to be removed from circulation based on any other criteria. Rather than remove the covers and toss in a dumpster or send somewhere to be recycled, these books could be sold at a used book sale. By gathering donated used books from the community and adding those to the books they have taken out of circulation, the library can have a charity event to sell the used books and other used media to the public at a very low price and make money toward the expenses of running the library.

The charity even could be held over a weekend at a location large enough to accommodate the tables of used books. The location would also need to be in a location that would allow enough parking for customers. The library may also want to add to the even by selling book bags, book marks and other related items to reading. If there is an interest and the location allows for it, they may also consider selling concessions or partnering with another group to allow them to sell drinks, chips, sandwiches and other items.

A used book sale can be a great way to help raise money for the local library and help the community for people who want to be involved with a charitable event but don’t have money to donate. Overall, this type of an event can be very helpful to the community on many levels and, if successful could become an annual event which would allow it to grow as word spreads.

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