Instructions 4/14/97 Bob Marr

Library

(Note: This is how the Library staff (Bob Marr) was asked to help the sale in 1997; the goal is for the Friends to eventually take over all aspects of the sale.)

I. Receive Items for Book Sale

A. Items withdrawn by the Van Pelt Library Discard Committee

1. Make changes to Bib record, stamp WITHDRAWN, black out bar-code, remove orange patron cards, and desensitize.

2. Sort by subject categories and price.

3. Place on shelves in holding area sorted by subject category.

B. Patron Gifts and Gifts to the Friends

1. Review for possible addition to collection. Items not added to collection can be sorted and priced. Note: do not put stickers on old books which may be damaged; use an appropriate marking system.

2. Black out personal messages with permanent parker.

3. Sort by subject categories and price.

Subjects are:

Business

Chemistry

Children's

Computers

Engineering

Fiction/Literature

History

Home

Life Sciences (Biology, Environmental Sciences)

Math

MTU/Copper Country

Paperback Fiction

Physics

Readers Digest Condensed

Reference

Religion

Self Help

Social Sciences

Sports

4. Place on shelves in holding area sorted by subject category.

C. Friends will schedule a work day if necessary, to price and sort larger donations. Library will assist.

II. Pack Items for Book Sale

A. Obtain boxes with help from Friends Arrangements Committee. Check with library binding area to obtain boxes.

B. Pack books in boxed by subject noting the following:

1. The number of the box.

2. The number of books in each box

3. The subject area covered in the box

4. The total value of the books in the box

5. Withdrawn library books must be boxed separately and NOT included in the pre-sale.

C. Keep packed boxes in holding area until day prior to sale; store withdrawn library books separately.

III. Help Plan the Sale with the Friends Committees

A. Assist Friends in designing posters and table tents if requested.

B. Send letter to Director of Housing for permission to distribute table tents to dorm dining areas. Must include samples of proposed table tents (2 week before sale). Signed copies of this letter must be presented to mangers of DHH, Wads, and McNair prior to distribution of table tents.

C. Send information to WMTU, WGGL, Daily Mining Gazette, Tech Topics (ttopics@mtu.edu), Electronic Bulletin Board, Tech Lode (two weeks prior to sale).

D. For the MUB, see the Manager for permission to distribute table tents in the MUB; provide samples of table tents (1 week before sale?).

E. Distribute posters (1 week to 10 days prior to sale)

1. Send to teach academic department for posting

2. Post on bulletin boards in each academic building.

F. Distribute table tents (week of sale)

1. Must have copy of signed permission slip to give managers of dorm dining areas.

2. Number of tents needed:

MUB cafeteria: 156

Wads cafeteria: 94

Wads Snack Bar: 35

McNair: 51

DHH 36

G. Prepare memo with total value of boxes before the sale (see section II).

H. Solicit for paper and plastic bags to be used at the sale. Plastic bags were surprisingly popular, particularly if the purchases could be double bagged. Bags with handles were more popular than bags without.

IV. During the Pre-Sale/Sale

A. Set out subject-area signs from last year. New subject-area signs would be a plus for the sale.

B. Bring collected paper/plastic bags to sale.

C. Obtain from Circulation: bookends, hand truck, garden trolley

D. Coordinate the moving of the books from storage to the sale by Friends volunteers.

E. Mark with a colored sticker any books which will not be included in the bag sale, e.g., MTU yearbooks, rare books, etc.

V. During the Sale

A. Library staff will help identify books which should be saved to sell at the next sale; coordinate the storage of these books (Ellen Seidel did this 1997).

B. Return clipboards, bookends, hand trucks to Circulation.

C. Gather and store subject-area signs.

D. After the sale, give a copy of the list of information from B above to the Comptrollers Office.
 
 

Treasurer

I. In Advance of the Sale

A. Gather calculators, pens/pencils, small boxes. Library will supply bags.

B. Obtain change for sale and bring the Friends cashbox: fives ($100), ones ($2000), quarters ($30), dimes ($15), nickels ($6).

II. Day of Sale

A. Arrive early before Pre-sale and on the day of the public sale to double-check book-sale area. Arrange for someone to be in charge of the Cash box when you are not present.

B. Monitor receipts and make deposits to Friends Special Book Sale account often throughout the sale to determine trends in purchasing. Always have the volunteer minding the cash-box sign a receipt for monies withdrawn.

C. Deduct sales tax from all deposits.

D. Maintain appropriate change in the cash-box. Quarters are available near the video games on the first floor (machine accepts $5.00 bills). Other change may be obtained from the MUB office from Barb Ratilla or from accounting. Do not request change from MUB food service or the book store.

III. After the Sale

A. Count money with Arrangements Committee representative and deposit in Friends' account.

B. Report to the Board of Directors the results of the sale.
 
 

Arrangements Committee

I. Before the Sale

A. Choose the sale date. An excellent time for the sale is during the local K-12 school's spring break so that students and teachers can shop.

B. Organize committees and monitor their progress.

C. Reserve room for pre-sale and sale (end of Winter Term).

D. Reserve tables for sales; we used every table the MUB had in 1997, both rectangular and round (end of Winter term).

E. Arrange for pick-up of book donations when requested by donors. Donations of fewer than six boxes can be brought directly to the Library for sorting, pricing and storage. Special arrangements for storing larger donations must be made (through Bob Marr in 1997). Ideas for the future: Friends Book Collection Week (set out containers); deliver boxes to departments to solicit donations; identify department partners (the library liaisons?) to solicit book donations.

F. Arrange for the Library to set up the orange book collection box (looks like the library return boxes).

G. Contact Backroom Books (or other booksellers) to arrange for the disposal of unsold books. Find a donor who will take unsold Readers Digest Condensed books (Backroom will not take).

H. Coordinate work of treasurer, library, and various committees to be sure there is communications among groups; provide cashier volunteers with instruction sheets.

I. Arrange with Facilities (Bill Blumhardt) for parking tokens for patrons. In 1997 we took 30 and returned 21.

J. Close to but in advance of the sale, schedule a work-day with Library staff to price and sort larger donations. Arrange for transportation of these donations to sale.

K. Solicit boxes for book storage (perhaps from Chem Stores?); use these when patrons ask for pick-up or for large collections.

L. Solicit paper and plastic bags for sale. Bags with handles were the most popular, and we did double bag (we had no bags left over in 1997, but plenty of boxes).

M. New idea: invite local libraries to shop for the libraries at the pre-sale?

II. During the Sale

A. Provide coordination among groups to make sure that the sale goes well.

B. Handle emergencies.

C. When setting up the tables, leave two tables in the front for patrons to put their selected books as they shop; label these as the Reserve Tables. This was a popular feature both in the pre-sale and in the regular sale. Instruct sellers to assist patrons in labelling their stacks of to-be-purchased books.

D. Set up a table of "Free with Purchase" books: old paperbacks, National Geographic, Readers Digest, and towards the middle of the sale add Readers Digest Condensed to this table.

D. At 4:30pm on the sale day, announce that the bag sale will begin at 5pm and that at 4:55 all patrons will be asked to purchase their books or return them to the tables and step outside. This way all patrons have equal access to the bag sale. This worked well and lended a festival atmosphere to the opening of the bag sale. We also handed out bags to the waiting folks outside so they could go right to their shopping. Remove any books not to be sold during the bag sale. In 1997 we only removed the MTU section.

III. After the sale

A. Close out the cash-box with the Treasurer.

B. Coordinate the disposal of the unsold books.

C. Gather input from all participants; make a record of procedures to be used at the next sale.

D. In 1997 we allowed patrons to shop as we closed down, since we were happy to sell the books. We did start cleaning up promptly at 7pm; we finished by 8:30.

E. Send letter to Lode thanking everyone and the local community for their support.
 
 

Publicity Committee

I. Before the Sale

A. Set up a time-table for publicity tasks.

B. Solicit faculty, staff, and community members for book donations through Library newsletter, Friends newsletter, Tech Topics, Lode, Daily Mining Gazette, radio (WGGL).

C. Design posters and table tents; library staff can help (Bob Marr) if needed. Posters should advertise the pre-sale and indicate that patrons may join the Friends at the pre-sale to qualify for that event. Note: library withdrawn books will not be sold at the pre-sale. Also, the rules of the sale should be indicated, i.e. during the last day of the sale, books are $2/bag from 5-7pm. The sale is to be advertised as the Friends Annual Book Sale.

C. Send completed design to Print Shop for printing. Order 400 table tents, and 50 posters (8.5 x 11") and 75 posters (8.5 x 14").

D. Work with Bob Marr from the library on distributing table tents and posters(see library instructions, sections III.B,D-F). Friends will handle off-campus posting, e.g. in downtown businesses.

E. Work with Bob Marr from the library to announce the book sale to the local media (see Library, section III.C); send it to the local newspaper one month ahead and follow up 2 weeks ahead with a more detailed news release emphasizing special collections on sale; send to all radio stations in the U.P.

F. Do a radio interview if possible.

G. Place posters in Soumi College, public schools, libraries, and retail outlets two weeks early.

H. On the day before the sale place large posters with "TODAY" on all outer doors to campus buildings. Do not place on doors to EERC, MUB, and all dorms.

I. Send reminder letter of sale to good buyers from last year; send letters to people who paid over $15 by check.

J. Send letters to all book dealers in U.P. and to Traverse City.

II. During the Sale

A. Set up a sandwich board on the MUB campus-side entrance (Nancy Fisher has one). If possible, set one up in the MUB concourse downstairs too. This was an effective tool for bringing in shoppers.

III. After the Sale

A. The posters must be removed from MTU campus the evening of the book sale or early the next morning. It is also courteous to remove posters from around town.
 
 

Personnel Committee
 
 

I. Before the Sale

A. Obtain commitment from fraternities and sororities to work the book sale; 1997 the Society of Intellectual Sisters, Tau Beta Pi, and the Senior Class Council worked.

B. Arrange for volunteers for the following (note: non-board members should be recruited as much as possible):

1. Set-up and moving books (8-15 people with strong backs. Work with Bob Marr to set up sale.

2. Day of sale workers: 3-4 people in one-hour shifts for sales; teams to carry books to patron's cars (this was not that important in 1997, except during the pre-sale); roving workers to tidy the sale and consolidate tables as they empty (this was important during the bag sale since the tables got quite messy).

3. Clean-up crew (8-12 people with strong backs) and three mini-vans/trucks. Worked with Ellen Seidel in 1997 to break down sale; she determined which books should be stored. Unsold books are handled as determined by the Arrangements Committee.

II. During the Sale and Clean-up

A. Make sure that volunteers show up and that work stations are covered.

B. Coordinate teams carrying-out books for patrons.

III. After the Sale

A. Send thank-you notes to volunteers who gave 4 hours and more; these folks get Friends membership for a year. Coordinate this with the membership secretary.