A Book Sale How-To Guide: More Money, Less Stress

Pat Ditzler, JoAnn Dumas

American Library Association, 2012 - Business & Economics - 97 pages

A tried-and-true method to raise funds while engaging the community, library book sales can be a win-win situation—if done correctly. Book sale veterans Ditzler and Dumas point out specific ways to run a sale to ensure maximum financial benefit while building community support. Readers will learn * The best strategies for gathering and processing donations throughout the year * How to organize teams of volunteers to solicit, sort, price, and manage the physical inventory of books, videos, CDs, and records * The importance of building momentum from one book sale to the next by recruiting a permanent team of volunteers * How the Internet can be used to increase sales Using case histories from three successful ongoing programs, everything from setup to cleanup, on-site money matters, and financial control is covered. The practical sample forms included will make running a successful book sale that much easier.

Contents

• The Main Attraction: 1
• Setting the Scene: 9
• Directing the Show: 17
• Casting Call: 23
• Production: 31
• Ticket Price: 37
• Venue and Promotion: 41
• Showtime: 47
• Box Office Receipts: 57
• Encore Encore: 65
• A Note from the Authors: 75
• Resource Information: 77
• Common Book Collecting and Book Condition Terms: 79
• Collectible Books: 83
• Internet Resources: 89
• Pricing Guide Resources: 91
• Index: 93
• About the Authors: 97

About the author

Pat Ditzler is the current chair of the Lancaster, PA, book sale. She has worked with the Lancaster sale for twenty-six years in many capacities, including chairing the sale six times. Ditzler is a retired accounting analyst for Armstrong World Industries and is past president of the Lancaster Public Library board of trustees, serving as a trustee for five years. The State of Pennsylvania Citizens for Better Libraries presented a Lifetime Achievement Award to Ditzler for 2010 Volunteer of the Year. Her current aim is for hundreds of book sales to begin or expand across America in support of libraries. JoAnn Dumas is a retired branch manager with Key Bank of New York State. She is Ditzler’s sister, and she helped with the Lancaster book sale for many years. Dumas inspired the Friends of the Potsdam Public Library to adopt ideas from the Lancaster sale to begin their ongoing book sales. Since then the Friends group has grown and the community has rallied around this successful project. In 2002, Dumas retired and moved to Arizona, where she helped to reorganize the new Friends of the Oro Valley Public Library book sales. She has been recognized by the library and the Town of Oro Valley for her efforts in their success. She continues to volunteer with and mentor the book sales, serving on the Friends board as director of book sale operations. In 2011 Dumas was honored as Volunteer of the Decade by the Oro Valley Friends.

Bibliographic information

• Title: A Book Sale How-To Guide: More Money, Less Stress
• Authors: Pat Ditzler, JoAnn Dumas
• Publisher: American Library Association, 2012
• ISBN: 0838910742, 9780838910740
• Length: 97 pages
• Subjects: Business & Economics / Nonprofit Organizations & Charities / Fundraising & Grants; Education / Finance; Language Arts & Disciplines / Library & Information Science / Administration & Management; Language Arts & Disciplines / Library & Information Science / Collection Development; Language Arts & Disciplines / Library & Information Science / General; Language Arts & Disciplines / Publishers & Publishing Industry