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Thank you for your wonderful suggestions on used book sales. I think I may
have one in the fall, I need more time than I have now.
Here are the comments and suggestions I received:
From: Linda Peterson <petersli@belnet.bellevue.k12.wa.us>
I am going to have a book sale in June. Since this is my first year as a
librarian I am hoping that I do it the "right" way. My goal was that
kids would sell their Stine books to others, since we only have 4 and
have so many needs at this time. I think your idea is great about
buying those books. We tentatively thought we would use the money to
replace our worn out games that the kids use during noon recess. We were
going to sell paperbacks for .05 and hardbacks for .10. The low prices
are because we have some very poor children in our school as well as some
above average income wise. If you get some great ideas, please post a
hit or e-mail me.
**********************************
From: "Kathryn K. Lafferty" <klaffert@pen.k12.va.us>
Great idea! Also throw in discards! Wish I'd thought of it
last year. I threw out about 3500 books! I joined lm_net too
late for the idea!
**********************************
From: Tiki Levinson <tikil@muskox.alaska.edu>
Our school does both. Students bring in books the first two days of the
week and with the help of parent volunteers, they are given slips for the
value of their books (25 cents to one dollar). these can be used to buy
books at the swap. However, studetns that didn';t bring in books can use
real money to buy books at the sale which is held the last two days of
the week. I also include donated books that don't fit my collection and
new books I aquire from book fairs. It is a big hit, but it is a lot of
work. I only do it every other year .
*********************************
From: Virginia M Gordey <vgordey@tenet.edu>
Kathy, for two years the PTA has helped me with a Used Book Sale. In
addition to our Book Fair, we decided to do a used book sale to help fund
a computer in the reference section of our library. Easiest money I ever
made! We advertised heavily in our school newspaper (the newsletter that
goes home to parents with school news and info) for several months.
Parents took boxes to their offices marked with our school name and a
message that asked for used books to help us buy a computer. Teachers
had boxes in their rooms marked "USED BOOKS" also. We collected books
for a month. Then in one afternoon several volunteers gathered outside
the library where tables were set up for display of books. As the boxes
were brought to the library, colored stickers were placed in the
right-hand corner of the books. (yellow $.25, blue $.50, green $.75 etc.)
Boxes and boxes of $.10 books were placed on the floor for young children
to go through. A color/price key was placed above every table and on
all the carts filled with books. Teachers brought classes throughout the
2 days. Books not sold were put onto one cart and placed at the front
entrance of the school with a sign, also. We sold these books 5 for $1.00.
Our elementary school has a population of 660 students. We've
consistently average over $500. Student council members help collect
money and make change. And what if a mistake is made? We are out nothing!
This Used Book Sale has helped students recycle old reading materials and
helped them understand one reason behind taking care of books. Very
successful money maker and fun, too.
Several members of our school staff have sponsored the preK, K and 1st
Bilingual Classes. $3.00 will purchased a lot of $.10 books and those
children LOVE having the opportunity to select.
*****************************************
From: Paige Zelikow <zelikow@meol.mass.edu>
Hi. My name is Paige Zelikow and I am the Library Instructor at the
Willard Elementary School in Concord Massachusetts. We are preparing for
our first used book sale this June. I think it is a great idea,
particulararly for raising money to by those popular paperbacks. I have
one suggestion: you might want to consider asking you PTA or your
volunteer coordinator, if you have one, to handle the sale. As we have
been discussing the sale, it has occured to me that gathering, pricing
and collecting the money for the books will be quite time consuming. By
involving parents, you gain their support while not increasing your
responsibilities.
*******************************************
From: crae@postoffice.ptd.net (Cathy Rae)
I have a used book sale at the same time that I have bookfair. I
have found that so many kids don't have 3 or 4 dollars to get even one of
the paperbacks from the bookfair, and they seemed to feel left out. What I
do is ask for donations about a month before bookfair. Parents seem happy
to get rid of some of their older stuff, and most of it is still in good
shape. I put these books in a box marked "Bargain Books" and sell them for
anywhere from five cents to 50 cents. The kids really seem to enjoy being
able to buy books for such little money, and the kids who usually spend
their change on bookmarks or erasers, buy books for little brothers and
sisters. I think it is worthwhile and may repeat the sale at our ice cream
festival in June. Let me know if you have any questions.
********************************************
From: Anne T Knickerbocker <aknicker@tenet.edu>
Kathy, I am in the midst of preparing for a used book sale right now. It
is held in conjunction with our new book sale, brought about because so
many of our children cannot afford paperbacks at today's prices. I
wanted all children to have the fun and pride of walking away from book
fair with a book.
The books are donated to us by numerous sources. Other elementary
schools hold book drives at Christmas and Easter and send the books over
to us; Scout troops take us on as a project; a hospital guild chipped
in. I collect the books all year long, making sure I send a heartfelt
thank you note to each contributor.
Next week we'll hold the sale. Right now I'm sorting the books--Picture
books are sorted into General, Easy to Read, Clifford, and Berenstain
Bears. Fiction is subdivided into Horror (R.L. Stine, etc.), Nancy Drew,
Boxcar Children, Babysitters' Club, Sweet Valley, Choose Your Own
Adventure, and General. The Non-fiction is divided by Dewey
classification (very loosely.)
At the sale, ALL books go for $.25. I just can't be bothered thinking up
differentiated pricing schemes. Some are tremendous bargains, but the
children are delighted.
I can't tell you how much joy it brings everyone. The donators feel
great; the children feel proud. Last year I had a delighted child come
in and say, "I now OWN six books."
After the book fair I visit each one of our contributors to thank them
personally and to give them anecdotes about the fair. They are so moved,
they begin another book drive immediately. This year we are going to
prepare a video so that the children can also express their thanks to the
donators.
I am thoroughly pleased with the success of this program and highly
recommend it!
*********************************************
From: Fred Muller Newton <fmuller@planet.net>
Yes, I do have a book sale every year. I sell discarded books from my
library, discards from other libraries, & various other sources.
Everything goes for 10 cents each. The main idea is to get rid of them
and make some money. I also sell for 10 cent the magazines which I do
not archive more than 1 year (Dirt Rider, Bop, Ski.)
**********************************************
From: KBX_MILLER@MEC.OHIO.GOV
Kathy, I have had used book sales at both elementary and high school. I save
donated books that are duplicates or not appropriate or not curriculum support
and then send out an appeal through the principal's newsletter for more used
books. We did the sale the night of open house and then continued for two more
days to display the books for students to buy (or parents to return). These
have been very successful. Not a lot of work and you get money!
**********************************************
From: lcarter@iserver.woodside.k12.ca.us
Kathy, we have had several used book sales. I have sold both books that
the kids have donated and books weeded from the library. We made it a
really big deal at my last school, sold all books for 25 cents and made
somewhere in the vicinity of $200.00. At this school I have a used book
basket around all the time that the families contribute to. Parents often
bring in a big bag of books they have weeded from their kids bookshelves.
We sell them for 25 cents and make maybe $100.00 over the corse of the
year. Maybe more, I don't know. The kids and parents love it. You could
add weeded books to it too. For the big used book sale, I think we gave a
coupon for up to five free books for the kids who brought in books. Some
kids only brought a few, but some families brought in boxes full. It did
take a lot of advertising and talking up. But everyone loved it. Have fun
and good luck. Let me know how it goes.
*********************************************
From: 0309fwel@InforMNs.k12.MN.US
I just had a used book sale. Our Community education department sponsored
a community rummage sale. I rented a booth and took donations of books to
sell, also some small white elephant type stuff. I sold most of them.
Especially the romance novels. I sold all book 2 for .25, pretty cheap but
them sold...
I'm using the $ at my spring book fair which is a buy one get one free
sale. So my $40 will buy $80 worth of books. It helps.
I asked teachers to mention that donation are needed in their newsletters.
I really pushed donations all year with my students. Many are in the habit
of donating books after they read them. I put a note in each donated book
about the donor and put them in the collection.
**********************************************
From: Betty Louise Copeland <bcope@tenet.edu>
I am a librarian at a private high school, and we get a lot of
donations--some duplicates and other things that are older and/or not
suitable for our library. I have had one of those book sales with
multicolored stickers for pricing from 25 cents on up. It was highly
popular with my students and I advertised that I would be buying popular
titles they had requested. It was good pr to display these books when
they came in. It was a lot of hard work--but a good way to "get rid" of
extra books that were taking up valuable storage space. Good luck!
*********************************************
From: Judy Gray <jagray@freeside.scsd.k12.ny.us>
Kathy, we have a used paperback book sale each spring. These paperbacks
are books which various people (incl. parents, teachers, neighbors and
students) donate to the library which I don't think will circulate
sufficiently to warrent including them in the collection. We get quite a
few romance novels, old classics in paperback form, and even some cartoon
type paperbacks, spy novels, etc. People are always cleaning house! I
do not accept hardback books because I have found that they do not sell.
But the paperbacks do quite well, esp. at our low prices of .25 to $1.00
depending on the size and condition. Goodness knows we don't make huge
amounts, but it does give me some petty cash to buy paperbacks which we
need. For the last few years, I have taken one or two students with me to
the local bookstore to spend this money. Usually these are active
library users or library assistants. It's fun for them and me! (our
local bookstore gives me a discount for books we purchase for the school
library and we don't have to pay tax either. This amounts to approx.
15-20% discount, depending on how much money we have to spend.)
******************************************
From: Zonia Ammenheuser <zonia@tenet.edu>
I just had a used book sale during National Library Week. I had
gathered books during the school year from mostly our own students and
parents. I also had a local columnist for our city newspaper post a
request for paperbacks. I received about 100 or so books from that
request. I also accepted magazines (car, science, ect...) and included
these in my sale (10 cents). All other books I sold for 25 cents. We
held the sale for one day only during the lunch period in the cafeteria on
the stage. Students who had finished eating and had $ to spend were
allowed to enter the stage and purchase books. We sold all but about 10
books and about two dozen magazined. We made a grand total of about
170.00 (three times more than I ever expected.) I hope this information
helps. Good luck with the sale.
********************************************
From: Esther Sinofsky <esinofs@lausdnet.lausd.k12.ca.us>
In addition to my regular book fair, I run a used book fair at open
house. I encourage donations from parents. My colleagues are another
excellent source. Paperbacks basically are 50 cents; hardcovers, $1.00
unless really new or hot. Some older paperbacks (originally under $1.00)
are 25 cents. Since open house is basically for the entire family, the
used books cover a wide range of reading levels and interests. Romances
go fast! In 2 1/2 hours, I make around $200-275 depending on how many
attend the event. I've done this now 2 years and plan to continue since
it brings in a little extra cash.
*******************************************
From: "mmiczan@ocmvm.cnyric.org"
For years I was forced to throw discards in the dumpster. I could not give them
away or do anything with them except put them out for teachers. A few years
after we got a new business person in the district I questioned this way of
doing things. Many districts have sales of old furniture and equipment and
it causes no problems. We came to an agreement. I sell books after I have done
my weeding. I throw out any that have outdated or misinformation in them. The
rest of the books I put up for sale for.$.25 each. One year the PTO helped and
we also got donations and had a big Saturday sale of old books and new books.
( Bookfair). It was just too big of a production. This year I just set up a
few tables in the library. I sold the books before school at the end of each
library class. I made $123. I turned it over to the business office. They put
it in the GENERAL FUND. They then credited my library account with that amount
of money. It has worked out great for me. I got rid of over 400 fiction books.
I didn't feel guilty for dumping them. The kids enjoyed the sale and I made a
few dollars to buy some extra books.
<><><><><><><><><><>
Kathy Schueler
Media Specialist
Culler Middle School
Lincoln, Nebraska
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