As you may already be aware, the biannual book sale originally scheduled for October was cancelled. Since several people have asked about the cancellation, we want to provide the FTOL Board’s rationales for this decision.
A primary reason for us to consider the cancellation was the diminishing number of volunteers available to set up, conduct, and disassemble the large sale. Moving, arranging, and managing the sale required upwards of 60 volunteers per sale. We realized that we were not going to have those numbers because of volunteer attrition in recent years.
A second reason was that in order to have a sufficient quantity of books for the sale, we needed to stockpile considerable inventory for the sales. Because of the recent success (largely through Sue Driver’s efforts) of the online used book sales through Amazon and eBay, we saw that we would have to repurpose much of the inventory space in the Newbury Park sorting room for online sales inventory and operations, hence we would not be able to stockpile as much inventory for the biannual sale.
Key in the decision to cancelling the sale was the expanded space provided by the library for the daily book sales in both the branches. Altogether, the expansion tripled or quadrupled the previous space, giving us as much space or more for the daily sales than we’d had for the biannual sales. We are now able to offer nearly as many books on a continuing basis rather than just once or twice a year. The expansion has led to faster inventory turnover, better organization of titles by subject, and a significant increase in book sale revenue—a win-win-win result.
Going forward, we will continue to enhance shelf displays and to offer “pop-up” sales in the lobbies of the library. The brief Children’s Pop-Up sale in August at the Newbury Park Branch proved successful, and we’re planning a pop-up sale for quilting, crafts, and children’s books on October 13, from 10am to 4pm, also in the Newbury Park Branch, alongside events in the Community Room being sponsored by local quilting groups. If you have suggestions for future pop-up sales, please contact Dan Ruth, VP of Book Sales, at drutheditor@gmail.com.
About Friends of the Thousand Oaks Library
The Friends of the Thousand Oaks Library is a California-based group of avid library advocates dedicated to enhancing the Thousand Oaks Library with support services and intellectual and cultural programs that enrich the lives of area residents of all ages. Learn more at www.ftol.org.
Contact
Kathy Leslie, Publicity Coordinator
Email: publicity@ftol.org