[Libs-Or] Fake blue "books for charity" bins

[Leah Griffith]

In Newberg our local literacy coalition had made connection with the Blue Bin people when the bins first arrived and had arranged to receive children's books donations.  When this came up on Sunday, she called them again and talked with me and one of the results is that I have 20 boxes of books from them in my storage room waiting for my Friends to look through them to see if they are sellable.    I opened two boxes and they were paperbacks, current and in good condition.  Who knows what the others will be, I'll let you know.

They stated they had gotten 2166 pounds of books from the Newberg area boxes and they would donate 25% (541 pounds or about 550 books) to the Friends and the Literacy coalition and that would be their ongoing plan, if our Friends liked what they got.   They will do that for any Friends group who asks.

We have 9 bins in the Newberg area so we were deeply affected by them.   I'm trying to look at this as an opportunity to make the community more aware of the need to donate directly to the library (we've never felt the need to do that before) and to also try to make it convenient for them to donate as well, since those bins are very convenient.   I think that is the lesson of the big blue bins and Penny's article to her chamber is excellent in that way.

We're also thinking that if we dump our unsellables in the bins that will serve to increase the total poundage and thus our 25% returned to the community will be higher.   It has always been a challenge to find a way to recycle library discards and the moldy junk we get, so it may provide us with that method as well ;-)

We are also looking at talking to some of the businesses with bins and getting them to have them removed since we have so many.   One in the community might be enough to allow some of the junk to be pulped and still keep a good stream going to our Friends.

Anyway, that's how we're dealing with those big blue bins in Newberg.

Leah
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Leah M. Griffith
Director,   Newberg Public Library     503-537-1256
P Think Green - Only print message if needed and then recycle!

From: libs-or-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us [mailto:libs-or-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us] On Behalf Of Penny Hummel
Sent: Friday, May 13, 2011 2:02 PM
To: libs-or at listsmart.osl.state.or.us; 'Clackamas County Library Advisory Comm' (ldaccomm at lincc.org); foladmin at europa.com
Subject: [Libs-Or] Fake blue "books for charity" bins

Thank you to everyone who has shared information about the impact of the fake blue donation boxes. At a discussion last night at Clackamas County's library district advisory group, George Hoyt  shared the excellent idea of approaching local Chambers of Commerce on this issue.  I took this ball and ran with it, and wrote the article below for their newsletter.  I share it in case it is useful to anyone else-feel free to adapt!

Donating books?  Forget about the blue boxes-give them to your library!

Recent newspaper articles have highlighted something that is having a devastating effect on public libraries:  a for-profit company that's placing blue "Books for Charity" donation bins across the country.  Although the information on the boxes implies that the donated books go to help people, most are sold for profit or recycled.  Most importantly, these donation bins are siphoning off book donations from public libraries and Friends of the Library groups.

When you donate books to your Canby library, your gift goes to work right here in Canby.  Some donations are added directly to the library's collection, others are sold in the Friends' Book Store to raise money to buy new materials or to support library programs like Summer Reading and Music in the Stacks.  Two of the "fake charity" blue boxes have been spotted already in Canby but we are hoping not to experience the stark drop in library donations that other libraries have seen after their arrival, as this hurts both the library and our Friends.

So, what can you do to help?


*         If you have gently used books to donate, forget about the blue boxes-instead, bring them to your Canby Public Library!  Smaller amounts can be put directly in our book drop in the alley beside the library (292 N. Holly Street), or you can ring the bell by the book drop during the library's open hours and we'll help you unload them.

*         If you're approached by the company that manages these blue boxes (Thrift Recycling Management) with a request to host one on your property and would like more information, contact library director Penny Hummel (503.266.4021 or hummelp at ci.canby.or.us<mailto:hummelp at ci.canby.or.us>)

As fellow Chamber members, the Canby Public Library and the Friends of the Canby Public Library thank you for your support!






Penny Hummel
Director
Canby Public Library
292 N. Holly Street
P.O. Box 930
Canby OR  97013
503.266.4021 X 230 (phone)
503.266.1709 (fax)
hummelp at ci.canby.or.us<mailto:hummelp at ci.canby.or.us>

Visit us online at www.lincc.org<http://www.lincc.org>


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