You'll never guess what we're up to now

It’s been a while since I’ve taken the time to do an update here. It’s not that nothing is happening; it’s more a matter of not having time to sit down and put together a coherent and interesting article to post.

Today, however, I feel compelled to make the time. Something really exciting has just happened and I want to share it. In these troubled financial times, fundraising is all the more important and all the more difficult. Everyone, it seems, has their hand out and people are tired of reaching into their pockets. The begging part isn’t all that fun, either. But a little creative inspiration goes a long way.

Yesterday, two of our staff members hit on an interesting theory. What if we sold some of the used books we have on eBay or Amazon? Hmmm... I had to admit that I was a little sceptical at first. EBay was definitely out, but I suggested that we do a little research and see what is involved in listing the books with Amazon.

Guess what? It’s not rocket science. Nor do you have to sign your life away. The registration process is relatively simple and for a small per-sale fee, Amazon handles all the money. You simply list your items and wait for a customer to come along to buy them. Once every two weeks, if any of your items have sold, Amazon pays out your cut. Well, I figured it was worth a try, so I signed HPL up and started listing books.

HPL has hundreds of books for sale on a continuing basis. For a donation patrons can carry away as many books as they like. (And the more the better!) We hold a big annual book sale in the mall, but there are tons (well, at least half a ton) of books stacked up in the storage room taking up valuable space. Many of these are donations and are in excellent condition. It is from these that we are choosing the items to list on Amazon.

We have no idea how it’s going to go; if we’ll even sell anything at all. We are hopeful, though! This is a free and easy way to expand our market and reach out to book lovers beyond the walls of the library. And if it boosts our revenues even by a couple hundred dollars a year... Well, I’d say it is worth the effort. We’ll see how it goes.

As for the staff members whose suggestion it was to give this a try, they have been rewarded with giant chocolate bars for their innovative idea.