Friends of the Sharon Library's Booksale Chair Discusses Annual Used Book Sale

We thought you might be interested in learning a bit more about the wheels that make our annual used book sale move so smoothly. 

So, we have interviewed our chair, Mary Lou Kirkpatrick, and hope you will find her comments interesting and that they just might inspire you to donate your well-read books and/or your time to our next book sale in 2012.

Mary Lou, when did you join the Friends of the Library and how did you get involved with the book sale?

I joined the Friends board six years ago because I wanted to be involved in the activities of the Friends. 

One of the first projects I volunteered for was the book sale because I had attended the sale in previous years as a customer, and I thought I could help organize it.

What were your first tasks as a member of the Board?

 I began assisting the then chairperson of the book sale, offering suggestions in various areas where I felt we could do things more efficiently, and then helping to carry out the suggestions we agreed would be beneficial. I saw need for electronic organization and organized the volunteer sorting schedule and a timeline on computer.  Previously there had been no e-mail communications with the volunteers, so creating an electronic system of communicating greatly reducing the amount of time spent on telephone calls.

 What is the primary purpose of the book sale?

 The sale is not only to raise funds for the library, but to create a community event with a focus on the library as a center of community activity; give the community an opportunity to be involved through volunteering their services, donating, and sorting books.

 How have you felt about the sale over the years?

 We accomplished a good deal of productive work; have the satisfaction of more community involvement. This involvement makes all our efforts worthwhile. We have consistently realized greater profits than the year before.

 Board members and volunteers have brought some great ideas to the organization. One of the best new ideas involving the book sale was the purchase of our sale tables four years ago, so we no longer need to rent them, not only cutting down on our expenses but allowing us to use those tables during the entire sorting period.  When we purchased the shelving for display use, it made the setup task even easier.

 How do you manage the book sale?

 Detailed planning ahead, learning from previous years’ experiences, and a strong desire to help the library all create a rewarding experience and give me what it takes to make it all happen.

 What would you like to do differently and do you have a goal?

 One of the questions on my mind is whether or not to extend the number of days of the sale, but I feel that we definitely need to extend the number of hours on the opening day reserved for Sharon resident members of the Friends.  I think our goal is to create an interesting, comfortable shopping experience.  We have now taken incremental steps to make the sale more pleasurable for customers.  Perhaps these steps will allow us to have a block-buster of a sale, not only dollar-wise but one that will also see yet more participation from the community.