The Friends Bookstore Volunteer StoryPlatt Branch is looking forward to another terrific year. Our 10th anniversary is coming up in April, and this calls for a SUPER, SUPER celebration. We'd like to invite all Friends to join in our super gala birthday extravaganza.
The Bookstore continues to do well. It draws people from all over who appreciate the quality and affordability of the books, and our November Super Used Book Sale earned nearly $3,000 more for the Library. Our Bookstore volunteers deserve many thanks, as do others who help make our book sales so successful.
Those who donated their time for the November Super Sale were Barbara Abromovitch, Ed & Millie Berger, Pam Bieber, Ruth & Warren Bromund, Elaine Corman, Frona DeCovnick, Lynn & Dan Durbin, Muriel & Sid Eiduson, Vivian Estabrook, Faye Faraldo, Dorothy Gillmann, Jesse Goldbaum, Annie & Ted Haas, Therese Hearn, Jacqueline Hinkston, Darlene Jackson, Leatha King, Willa Kurtz, Richard Lee, Ethel Margolin, Ellen Marshall, CeCe Mestman, Charlene Montante, Mary Ann Ostrom, Patricia Peterson, Nancy & John Reeve, Darris Reilly, Carol Roseman, Shel & Sharon Schuster, Michael & Samantha Schuster, Harriet Strauss, Kathy Van Olinda, Michelle Watts, and Margaret Young.
Any Friend's members who would like to volunteer can e-mail, or respond to the specific opportunities listed below.
Elaine Corman
& Harriet Strauss
Co-Bookstore Volunteer Coordinators
The Friends Bookstore Volunteer StoryFor the past 10 years, my hobby has been managing the used book sales at Platt Library. And over the last 10 years, I've been joined by a host of Friends who also found processing and selling used books is its own reward. Together, we've come a long way.
Knowing nothing about selling used books, but having a love of books of all kinds, I sort of fell into the job of managing the thousands of books we get each year. What a learning experience it has been. First, of course, the librarians scan the donations and take those they need for Platt's collection. Then we sort the rest by topic and age. As the quantity of donations increased, Millie Berger and Warren Bromund came to my aid, and then John Reeve and Frona DeCovnick joined in to help keep the sorting room manageable.
What makes this fun is walking into the library and finding a box or bag of books, not knowing if we'll find anything special. And we have—from a collection of prints that sold for $500 to the 150-year-old collection of poems to a loaded revolver that fell out of a hollowed book. Frequently when someone is moving or just cleaning up, we get the books. If the donor was avid about a topic or an author, there are real finds to be had. And this goes on almost every day!
After the sorting stage, most donations are stored away for the five 1-day sales that come shortly after you receive these newsletters, but the choicest go into the Bookstore. Since our Bookstore is open 6 days a week from just after the library opens to just before it closes and the 1-day sales are massive, I've needed and received great support from volunteer book movers and sellers since Platt opened in 1995.
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Volunteer Coordinator Elaine Corman at the Bookstore |
Staffing the Bookstore takes 14 volunteers a week, working in 3-hour shifts, and the Super Sales require upwards of 40 hands on deck. This, in turn, requires a much larger pool of workers. Willa Kurtz took over the job of coordinating all these volunteers early on. Harriet Strauss took over from her, and Elaine Corman stepped in when Harriet became President in 1998. Elaine also created the system that keeps all shifts covered. What a godsend these ladies have been!
Platt Branch is one of the few LAPL branches with a bookstore. Ours quickly became a focal point for both volunteer involvement and Friends fundraising. To date, FOPL has raised well over a quarter of a million dollars for our branch through used book sales alone—with practically no overhead.
If you haven't been in the Bookstore, do drop in on us. Maybe just to thank the volunteer staffing the room, although the selections are hard to resist. The books are priced right (most $1.00 or less), and there's a surprisingly wide selection of fiction and non-fiction, hard cover and soft, old (some from the 1800’s) and this year's publications, along with a good selection of coffee table books. If you've never been to a used book sale, come to the members-only Friday night preview of our 1-day sales, if only to browse. (Don't arrive earlier than the 5:30 pm starting time unless you like to join in organized chaos.)
If you're cleaning house, you can bring donations to the library anytime it's open. The librarian will take your donation if the Bookstore is closed. In addition to books, we do take videos, DVDs, CDs, or audio tapes, but please no home-recordings. Magazines are also accepted.
Shel Schuster, Book Sales Manager
needed to augment Platt's critical staff shortage. Any day or time. E-mail the Volunteer Coordinator.
needs creative types to man Face Painting Booth and willing hands for a number of other tasks on April 16. Click here for details. Email Sue Strickland or Carol Roseman if you can help.
Sign
up now for LAPL's Grandparents and Books program. Readers must attend a training and
certification session, so please contact Children's Librarian
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Platt Branch Volunteers—2004
Our sincere and deep appreciation to the wonderful
volunteers The Friends of Platt Library Board Lynn Light, Senior Librarian, and Staff |
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