Original listserv message to start the thread:

 Jocelyn MacNiel recently represented Friends of Canadian Libraries at the Kootenay Library Conference. She learned that groups earned more money on book sales and raffles by asking for donations than setting a price.  However, these are Friends of Libraries in small towns (from 1,129 - 18,500), so it might not work in larger locations, but possibly worth a try.  

 Her question: Have other Friends' groups had a similar experience?

 What followed was a full exchange of advice on a range of book sale topic. Who else but Friends of libraries know how to sell used books!

The range of topics fell intro these categories:

& Annual Sale
& Sorting
& Location/Transport:
& Storage:
& Unsold books
& Pricing
& Volunteers
& Revenue
& Members Preview

Friends of the Library in Ottawa run a Mammoth Book Sale in April where we sell about 20,000 to 30,000 books. The prices range from $1 to $2 with some specially priced books. Over the past four years we have being bring in about $12,000 to $15,000 with 2007 a high of $17,600 and 2008 a low of $10,900 . This year we were left with 10,000 books we couldn’t sell or give away . It was a crisis. The idea of having another booksale where we offer the books to people for a donation rather than a fixed price sounds like a good opportunity to try this out.

      Lori Nash, Ottawa

To respond to the question - here in the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island we have raised most of our funds through book sales. Initially we rented a church hall but since the new branch building was completed we have used their multipurpose room for our sales. We area small organisation - about 40 members.
ERIC MARSHALL
Friends of the Library - Cowichan Branch

The Friends of the Oshawa Public Library have been holding annual Giant Book Sales for several years during the month of October. A sorting committee works once a week all year long to process the donations in a space allocated to us by the McLaughlin Branch of the Oshawa Public Library. The sale itself is held in the library auditorium over four days during library hours. We have recently added a fifth half day by opening on Sunday afternoons. This annual sale is a much-anticipated event and draws great crowds, especially on the opening day and the Saturday and Sunday, when a bag of books is sold for $8.00.

Our regular prices are $2.00 for a hardcover and $1.00 for a paperback. These prices were established this year in accordance with what other charities are charging at their book sales. No one seems to find the prices unreasonable. We make an exception for children's books, for which we ask .50 for a large book and .25 for a small book.

In addition to the main book sale, we have what we call a Treasure Room, in which we offer books of exceptional quality and novels published in the last four years. These books are priced indivually, and range from $3.00 to $20.00 on average.

Last year we experimented with a second book sale in May, in part to reduce the problem of storage. We called it Summer Reads, and offered light summer reading, books on travel and gardening, and some biographies. It was so successful that we repeated it this year, and made as much on the first day as we did during the whole three days last year.

Naturally, we receive some donations which are not suitable for the sale, either because of condition or age. (We try to restrict our novels, for example, to those published since 1990.) Those books which cannot be offered at the sale go on our book cart in the library, where patrons are invited to help themselves and to leave whatever donation they feel appropriate. Our aim is always to find a home for each book, if at all possible. Regrettably, despite our best efforts, some books have to be discarded. It used to break our hearts, but they have become hardened over the years. We console ourselves with the fact that we raise several thousands of dollars annually to help all the branches of the Oshawa Public Library.

Judith Edmondson
for the Friends of the Oshawa Public Library

Our regional library has been holding annual book sales since 1980 and has raised just under $100,000. After experimenting with several locations we've found the best one to be a gymnasium at a local industry's social and athletic club. We rent it for the entire weekend beginning at noon Friday to Sunday afternoon. We now hire movers to bring the books to the gym from our headquarters (in the past staff did this using our two bookmobiles) and students from a local high school help us unload the truck and put boxes of books on tables for unpacking. We make a donation to their bursary fund in exchange for their help. Our volunteers are aging and our decision to hire movers and get unpacking help has proven to be a good one.

In 2003 we began to have sales twice a year, spring and fall. Our stock is material weeded from our collection and donations. We do not accept Reader's Digest condensed books, encyclopedia and textbooks. Prices, which we raised last spring, are $3 for hardcovers, $2 for paperbacks and children's books are 2 for $1. On Sunday everything is $5 a box. Typically we make between $8,000 and $11,500 per year. Except for two sales where we sold all of the books, we usually have leftovers and these are sent for recyclign.

Our Friends of the Library group now runs the book sale and, as of next month, will also be trained to process all books that go to the sale. We have created a space for Friends to work on this at Library Headquarters. We're hoping that this change will allow us to sort books more by genre.

I am the only staff person who works on book sales although our PR department does produce posters and ads. We do offer used paperbacks for sale at two of our branches but most of our books are sold at our book sales.

I'll be happy to provide more info if anyone has questions.

Best wishes

Peggie Peggie Graham
Fundraising Coordinator
South Shore Regional Library

We have our book sale on going all year round at only one of our branches. We sell the paper backs for 25 cents and the hard covered books for 50 cents. We ask library patrons to drop off these books, that should be in reasonable condition, whenever they can. That same branch also donates several books a year from its surplus. We started this in 2006 and our profits from these sales have increased every year. This year, by the end of June, we had realized close to $800. In 2006 we made a total of $560.
Thanks to all the folks that have responded so far. There have been many excellent ideas from across Canada on library book sales.
Robert McIvor,
Haliburton County Public Library

The Delta Friends of the Library run 3 book sales a year, one in each of the 3 libraries. The sales are held in the libraries and each sale lasts 2 days. The books sold are discards from the FVRL as well as donations from the public. The prices are set by the FVRL and the publicity is done through our FVRL Delta library manager. The Friends organize and man the book sale. We order the tables and do their set up and take down. We arrange volunteers for all shifts calling in about 30 volunteers for each event. We spend two days (4 hours each day) setting up and the sale runs for two days ( 6 hrs each). The last 2 hrs of the sale we charge $2 a box or bag for books. Take down and pack up takes about an hour at break-neck speed. For our hard work Friends reap 50% of the sales. This amounts to about $1000 per sale for Friends. We tried the Friends only night for a few years, but we found that it was mainly dealers that were coming in and scooping all the best books. It also meant that we had to fill another shift for each sale.

As we are an extremely small core group we haven't been able to organize any other fundraising events at the moment.

Madeline Kerr, Delta Friends branch

In Powell River BC, we start with our hard covers priced at 50c and paper backs at 25c. We also have a selection of better books which sell from $2 to $10 . As the day wears on prices are lowered.We have a very small library with no storage space so we must get rid of all books. At the end of the day we place all left over books outside the library with a large sign saying "Free to a good home and donations to the pink pig would be appreciated". The pig is a ceramic piggy bank inside the library. We made approx $800 on the last book sale which is good for us .

Charlotte Schulz

On the subject of book sales, our Friends group (Chesley and Area Friends of the Library)  holds a book sale every year at the end of June. We rent tables from the community centre and line them up outside the library. We put the books in boxes approximately 5 or 6 inches high with the spine up. We have sorted the books into general categories and these are marked clearly with stand up signs.

The sale begins at 8am and there are usually people lining up by 7:30am. We close at 1pm.

This year we had a preview sale for associate members the night before the event.

The books come in throughout the year but the bulk of them arrive in April and May. They are sorted and stored in our new multi purpose room, but we are looking into building a storage shed due to the volume we have received.

We have found that doing a "Donation Only"was indeed more successful than putting prices on the books,and less work. In our 5 hour sale we make between $1000 to $ 1200.
The organization of the sale is handled by one of our board members but most members of the board participate by sorting books and arranging advertising.Our families get involved as well.
The unsold books are sent to schools and institutions in the area or bought by local used book sellers.

Danni Starbuck
Chesley and Area Friends of the Library
 

We may be some what larger than most of the "responders". There are 17 branches in the Kingston and Frontenac system.

The Friends run a daily book sale at two of the largest Kingston branches. All the books are donated. We raise between $25 and $30,000 a year. (the book sale has been daily and run by the Friends for the past three years). To date we have not advertised the sale; an action we are now in the process of implementing.

Last year we also had a special three day sale at our largest downtown branch. It was held in November to pick up Christmas shopping. We made $ 1,500, without advertising, over the three days. We thought the special sale might effect our daily sales for a period after it was held but there was no apparent impact.

Books are stored at the two libraries.

Sales book shelves are in designated areas at the libraries.

Volunteers sort, price, shelve and discard unsaleable books.

Library staff collect the monies paid and we collect the cash every two weeks and deposit it to our account. We are a registered Charity.

Rosemary Dobbin, President, KFPL Friends.

In Smithers we have a book sale once a year. It is by donation and people are very generous not only in donating books for us to sell but in buying books. We have had a bake sale at the same time and the goodies sold almost right away. It is just difficult to organize the book sale, last year we did it for three days, and a bake sale as we have only a small supply of dedicated workers. We always hold the sale in October or early November as people ready themselves for winter reading. Each year our sales increase, can’t remember now what we made but it was over $2000.00 last year.

Lorraine Doiron
 

Friends of the Winnipeg Public Library has held several annual sales of gently used donated books. (These do not include withdrawn library books: those the library sells in ongoing or giant booksales. I don’t have the revenue figure handy, but it is substantial.)

Friends’ annual sale
Our Friends pays a $25 fee to one of the local school divisions, for a permit to use a high school gym and adjacent hallway on the last Saturday of October. The annual sale in the past has also had a crafts section, where we have rented tables to crafters. We will not do that this year, as crafters last year felt they made minimal sales; and there are many competing crafters’ sales.

Last year we had a bake table that did well.

Sale hours have varied but this year will be 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

WPL has given us storage space in the basement of a branch library, where the books are collected, sorted, and stored till the October sale. A volunteer picks up the larger quantities from donors. Otherwise donors are asked to take the books, packaged and labeled “Friends”, to their local branch, from which the Library’s courier transports them to the storage area.

The Library pays for transport of the books (and, I should add, DVDs, CDs and records) to the high school on the day before the sale. At the end of the sale we have an arrangement with the owner of a second hand book store. He takes almost all of the unsold items and pays a job-lot price with which we have been quite satisfied.

We have tried different pricing methods, from individual stickers on hard cover books, averaging around $3 per book, with some exceptions, to no individual pricing but signs above the tables indicating the price.

I’m guessing when I say we put out about 5,000 books for sale. We have earned, net, about $3,000 - $4,000 each time. Again we are pleased with that, though for the time involved we would like to make more. As with any of these types of activities, it’s a work in progress.

This year we will try opening on Friday evening for a couple of hours for Friends’ members only…as an incentive to gain new members.

Not sure how we will handle the plastic bag issue this year, as we’re trying to move away from their use. In the past, members have collected the bags and brought them to the sale for use by purchasers.

We have about 150 Friends’ members, but it’s a core group of about 12 who run the sale, along with high schoolers getting volunteer hours credit, and other friends and family.

Heather Graham, Secretary
Friends of the Winnipeg Public Library

We at the Yellowknife Public Library have a book sale two times a year. Our first evening is called sneak a peek where the people pay $5.00 entrance fee and pay the usual book fees $2.00 for hard cover, $1.00 large soft cover and $.50 for pocket books and other soft covers, etc). Make quite a bit of money on this evening of only 3 hours. Then on Friday and Saturday and now Sunday we have a donation jar and people are encouraged to take as many books as possible so we have no books left over as we can only send so many to the Salvation Thrift store, other Thrift stores, women's shelter and the Hospital store. We have no way to recycle our books up here so left overs if they are in good shape can be held over for the next sale, although space is limited and the rest are taken to the dump where there is an area were people come and collect items. Great deals some days as a lot of people moving away just take their household items there when they can not sell them and it is way to expensive to try to ship home across the country. Our last sale raised $3400.00.

Anna Clark
 

There is a service called Better World Books (http://www.betterworldbooks.com/Info-Overview-m-1.aspx), that will sell surplus books and you will get you will receive a percentage back on your books that they sell, and an additional percentage will directly benefit a literacy initiative."

From their website:
Sell or Donate Your Books to Better World Books!
It's FAST!
You'll get instant quotes for your books and we'll get you your money quickly.
It's FREE!
It costs you nothing. We pay for shipping. You just have to print a
shipping label.
It's EASY!
To get started, just enter your ISBNs in the box on the right.

I have pre-screened the used books I have for sale in my medical library, and about 2/3 of them were accepted. They pay shipping. The  minimum shipment is 6 boxes. Prescreening is made easier by being able to scan the ISBN bar code on the back of the book, and I found my library bar code scanner (for circulation) worked.

To register with Better World Books use this online form (http://www.betterworldbooks.com/Info-Get-Started-m-57.aspx.), or send an email tol reusefirst@betterworldbooks.com. The "My account"
option on the home page is for those who plan to buy books, not sell.

Two online articles provide background information about the company, or just Google “Better World Books” (in quotes to search as a phrase).

http://www.triplepundit.com/pages/better-world-books-creates-better-world.php
http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/27/smallbusiness/books_that_talk_back.fsb/index.htm

Jami van Haaften