[Libs-Or] Fwd: Better World Books

[Megan Dugan]

I agree with everything Abbie said below. We have also used BWB at Mt. Hood for our discards for over a year. They have several charitable donations to choose from which our staff thought was a benefit (we voted). We are not in it for the money but the convenience and ease of use. Last year, MHCC conducted a massive weed of our collection for the first time in many years and would not have been able to without BWB.

Best,
Megan
Megan Dugan
Library Manager
Mt. Hood Community College
503.491.7652
megan.dugan at mhcc.edu<mailto:megan.dugan at mhcc.edu>

From: Libs-Or [mailto:libs-or-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us] On Behalf Of Abbie Anderson
Sent: Tuesday, August 05, 2014 6:16 PM
To: libs-or at listsmart.osl.state.or.us
Cc: neichste at pdx.edu
Subject: Re: [Libs-Or] Fwd: Better World Books

We've been using Better World Books at North Bend Public Library for about a year and a half now. It has been a huge benefit for us. You won't make much money from the 15% commission, but they provide you with boxes and UPS labels (which you print out), and they pay for UPS shipping. You just have to be able to box up the materials and get online to print the labels and schedule the pick-up. Knowing that the books will be used well (they will be sold to eager readers worldwide, or used in literacy programs worldwide, or recycled) is a big bonus. You can also apply to them for grants for your own local literacy projects.

Access to BWB helped us recruit and organize volunteers to sort our book donations year round. The volunteers were inspired to help the library earn more money by skimming off the best quality items, checking their value, and selling them online directly through an Amazon Storefront for the Friends (http://ow.ly/oY4Qh). The organized sorting effort also improved the quality of books on our Friends' "Neverending" Sale shelves, *and* improved the books and the organization of the books for the Friends' big local sales. We have seen revenue from the Neverending sale go up to a steady $250+/month, and online sales are also about $300/month. For us, that's a lot!

I have heard that a PDX-area library's Friends have been using BWB to great success-was it Beaverton?

I know a lot of libraries use BWB for their discards--books that the Friends usually aren't going to want for their sales.

One caveat: having also bought books from BWB on Amazon, I can say as a customer that I don't like their packaging. They use this weird shrink-wrap stuff for single-book orders, which clings to the book cover. The book I most recently got from them was fine, thanks to the mylar cover on the ex-library book I purchased, but I can see this stuff causing damage, or allowing damage in transit.

Cheers,
Abbie Anderson
On 08/04/2014 08:04 PM, Ruth Murray wrote:
Can anyone help my friend? Her email is neichste at pdx.edu<mailto:neichste at pdx.edu>  Thanks- Ruth

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Nancy Eichsteadt <neichste at pdx.edu<mailto:neichste at pdx.edu>>
Date: Mon, Aug 4, 2014 at 9:54 AM
Subject: Better World Books
To: Ruth Murray <murrayr at pdx.edu<mailto:murrayr at pdx.edu>>

Hi Ruth,
I'm recovering from our big book sale this weekend. We ended up with lots of leftovers that should have gone to a buyer who backed out at the last minute. I'm looking online at "Better World Books." I realize they are a for-profit organization that supposedly helps with literacy issues world-wide. What does the library community think of this group?
Thanks,
Nancy

--
[http://webdev.pdx.edu/media/psu_signature165x35.gif]

Nancy Eichsteadt
Marketing and outreach
Graduate School of Education
Executive Council Member, PSU-AAUP
Portland State University

PO Box 751
615 SW Harrison
Suite 412
Portland, Oregon 97207-0751
Phone 503-725-5577<tel:503-725-5577>
Fax 503-725-5599<tel:503-725-5599>
neichste at pdx.edu<mailto:neichste at pdx.edu>
Graduate School of Education<http://www.pdx.edu/education>
Graduate School of Education Blog<http://schoolofed.wordpress.com/>




--
Ruth Murray
Portland State University GSE
Library Media Advisor/Instructor
503 725- 9860
Office- Education 310B
Hours- Tuesday and Thursday by appointment
PO Box 751
Portland, Oregon 97207






_____________________________________________________

Libs-Or mailing list

Libs-Or at listsmart.osl.state.or.us<mailto:Libs-Or at listsmart.osl.state.or.us>

http://listsmart.osl.state.or.us/mailman/listinfo/libs-or

Hosted by the Oregon State Library. The Library is not responsible for content.

Questions related to message content should be directed to list owner(s) or the sender of the message, by phone or email.

Technical questions? Call 503-378-8800.



--



**************************

Abbie Anderson

Assistant Director

North Bend Public Library

(541) 756-1007 ext 0035
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://omls.oregon.gov/pipermail/libs-or/attachments/20140806/01b3a366/attachment.html>