Summer must be the time for surveys, because I have another for you.
Those of you who visit our library know we have a certain amount of books every year that we put on "sale" tables. Those tables go up after our August inventory week, after a generous amount of "culling" has been done.
Last year we discovered Book Sale Finder, a business out of Hudson, MA, run by Helen and Thomas Oram. Their motto: "Book lovers still drawn to physical books - especially bargains."
In June of this year they had a nice survey on their website and I was especially interested in the "Survey of Used Book Buyers." I'd like to share with you what I learned, since I'm a used book buyer also.
The survey was conducted in November 2010 by BookSaleFinder.com. Over a period of about two weeks, they asked visitors to their website to take the survey. All of these surveys can be found at http://www.BookSaleFinder.com/Surveys.
People are attracted to non-profit sales because the books usually cost about $1 each, so they can buy lots of books at bargain prices. Even during recent upheavals in the book publishing industry, people who love books continue to purchase "physical" books (YEA!). A large number of those people are happy to buy recycled books. (People who indicated they were book dealers were given a separate survey, so this one doesn't reflect their responses.)
Where are people buying books? 79% of the respondents have never purchased an e-book, but with that category being so new, it's perhaps notable that 21% have bought at least one.
Also notable is that 43% purchased over 40 books per year from non-profit sales, and nearly two-thirds bought at least 20 books from these sales. The various venues where books were purchased were: e-book downloads, online new book stores, new book stores, online used book stores, used book stores, and non-profit book sales.
Why do people attend charity book sales? 63% responded that they just read a lot of books. Also, some said they collect certain types of books (24%), some home-school their children (3%), and others gave various reasons (10%). Most respondents said that the bargain prices were the main attraction (83%), but others said "to find treasures," or that they supported the sponsoring organization, the sale was a community event, or other simultaneous events were being held at the same time (bake sale, etc.).
What do people typically spend? More than half responded that they attend at least 6 sales per year, and 25% said they attend at least 11 sales per year. And they buy a lot of books at each sale, with the emphasis being that the books usually cost 50 cents to 1 or 2 dollars each...so a bag of books may cost only 5 to 10 dollars!
And for the most part, people purchase hardcover books (are you surprised?) at non-profit sales (81%), but paperbacks are close behind (64%). Trade paperbacks (51%), library discards (51%), videos and DVDs (33%), audio books (22%), and magazines (17%) made up the rest of the purchases.
Of course, fiction topped the genre list at 66%, with reference at 36%, cooking at 35%, children's at 35%, how-to at 26%, young adult at 24%, travel at 20%, and textbooks at 12%.
OK! People have all these books now. So, what do they do when they are finished with their books? The people who filled out the "book lover" section of the survey had already indicated their primary reason for attending book sales was NOT to buy books to re-sell, so it is remarkable that nearly 1 in 5 sells their books online. But some people do nothing with them; they just accumulate (52%), while others give their books to friends and family (58%), or donate them to a book sale (62%)
In keeping with this survey, I'd like to ask you the question: What do you do with all the books you purchase? Maybe like some of the Book Sale Finder's respondents you'll say: keep them in my classroom library, leave them at the hospital, swap them, donate them to the Armed Forces, give them to those without books, sell them, etc.
Let us hear from you. Give us your survey answer right here, right now.
Thanks for letting us know you are a "bargain" book lover. And by the way, August is one month away and we're getting ready for another big book sale!
Showing posts with label sale books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sale books. Show all posts
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Funny titles...again!
I just finished reading one of my favorite blogs. Bill Starr has been the executive director of the Georgia Center for the Book since 2003 and he's the writer of Bill's Blog. It's not a daily writing, so catching up with his thoughts is a once-a-week thing for me. Today I read, once again, his blog about funny titles. Now that's a subject I really like.
It made me want to make my way down the long white hallway to one of my favorite places in the library...our sale books.
These are the books that, if they were mine, I could never throw away. I suppose that's why they're on the sale shelf. We couldn't throw them away either.
I started looking for funny titles in the long, low shelves. I've done this many times before. The funny titles just seem to pop out at me, like a flash of recognition, like a book that says "read me," and usually I do.
Of course, the kids' books have the funniest titles, such as:
Sparrows Don't Drop Candy Wrappers by Margaret Gabel,
Me and the Eggman by Eleanor Clymer,
Do Bananas Chew Gum? by Jamie Gilson and Hello, My Name is Scrambled Eggs, and
The Horse on the Roof by Bob Wells.
Lots of adults don't enjoy reading juvenile fiction, however. And they really don't know what they're missing.
So, there's funny titles for them also, such as:
That's Doctor Sinatra, You Little Bimbo! by G. B. Trudeau,
Feeling Kind of Temporary by Frank Edmund See,
Dude, Where's My Country? by Michael Moore,
How to be a Pregnant Father by Peter Mayle, and
Skinny Legs and All by Tom Robbins.
Of course, I can never just walk away with empty hands. I did find a book with a funny title that I took back to the office for a closer look. And it may end up on my bookshelf at home.
If you're like me, you're looking forward to the holiday season simply because it's a time of year that we seem to put forth an extra effort to make scrumptious foods, some once-a-year foods. That, of course, leads to putting on extra pounds, which in turn makes me think of having to lose those extra pounds, which in turn makes me think of New Year's resolutions. (Pay no attention to that badly written sentence!)
But with this book I selected from our book sale shelf, I'll have a head start on my resolutions. Of course, it has a funny title in a serious kind of way.
The name? Oh, it's Outsmarting the Midlife Fat Cell by Debra Waterhouse, MPH, RD. Just perfect for this time of the year.
(Source: Bill's Blog, http://www.georgiacenterforthebook.org/)
It made me want to make my way down the long white hallway to one of my favorite places in the library...our sale books.
These are the books that, if they were mine, I could never throw away. I suppose that's why they're on the sale shelf. We couldn't throw them away either.
I started looking for funny titles in the long, low shelves. I've done this many times before. The funny titles just seem to pop out at me, like a flash of recognition, like a book that says "read me," and usually I do.
Of course, the kids' books have the funniest titles, such as:
Sparrows Don't Drop Candy Wrappers by Margaret Gabel,
Me and the Eggman by Eleanor Clymer,
Do Bananas Chew Gum? by Jamie Gilson and Hello, My Name is Scrambled Eggs, and
The Horse on the Roof by Bob Wells.
Lots of adults don't enjoy reading juvenile fiction, however. And they really don't know what they're missing.
So, there's funny titles for them also, such as:
That's Doctor Sinatra, You Little Bimbo! by G. B. Trudeau,
Feeling Kind of Temporary by Frank Edmund See,
Dude, Where's My Country? by Michael Moore,
How to be a Pregnant Father by Peter Mayle, and
Skinny Legs and All by Tom Robbins.
Of course, I can never just walk away with empty hands. I did find a book with a funny title that I took back to the office for a closer look. And it may end up on my bookshelf at home.
If you're like me, you're looking forward to the holiday season simply because it's a time of year that we seem to put forth an extra effort to make scrumptious foods, some once-a-year foods. That, of course, leads to putting on extra pounds, which in turn makes me think of having to lose those extra pounds, which in turn makes me think of New Year's resolutions. (Pay no attention to that badly written sentence!)
But with this book I selected from our book sale shelf, I'll have a head start on my resolutions. Of course, it has a funny title in a serious kind of way.
The name? Oh, it's Outsmarting the Midlife Fat Cell by Debra Waterhouse, MPH, RD. Just perfect for this time of the year.
(Source: Bill's Blog, http://www.georgiacenterforthebook.org/)
Thursday, October 7, 2010
I just hate book sales!
Sometimes I just hate a book sale! I mean, I could spend all day looking at books that are on sale. For some reason, the word "sale" is like a magnet. Take this morning for
instance.
I had just clocked in and made my rounds to see if all our displays were filled (and they were, thanks to Keva), when I noticed our big book sale had gone down in size from five tables to only two. So, I drifted over to see what was left.
Big mistake!
The tables held mostly Juvenile Fictions, many with fascinating titles, such as: The Clay Pot Boy, The Nose Tree, Humbug Mountain, The Hat-Shaking Dance, The Hairy Horror Trick, Nutty Can't Miss, The TV Kid, and Ike & Mama and the Once-in-a-Lifetime Movie.
Of course, I had to open a few and see what they were about.
Tales from Silver Lands by Charles J. Finger, illustrated by Paul Honore', was awarded the Newbery medal on July 9, 1925. Mr. Finger learned these stories from the Indians in South America as he went from one "Silver Land" to another, far from railroads or main lines of travel. They all make fascinating tales for the older fairy tale age and grown-ups.
Since I'm a turtle-lover and saver of all those slowly trying to cross the roads, I had to look at Tales of Myrtle the Turtle by Keith Robertson, drawings by Peter Parnall. It was actually the drawing on the cover that caught my eye and the ivory-colored cover that's all crinkled like a turtle's rough skin. Robertson's imaginative eavesdropping on an illustrious turtle family has resulted in a wacky, completely untrue book about turtles, which manages to turn the tables, giving us a fresh look at the human race - and not always to our credit.
I did find a few Easy Readers for the younger children, one being Something Queer at the Library. When a couple of young girls find some weirdo has been cutting pictures of dogs out of expensive library books, they're determined to find out who's doing it because Mr. Hobart, the librarian, has trusted them with the books, and they'll be blamed unless they find the culprit. The book is by Elizabeth Levy and illustrated by Mordicai Gerstein. (I'm going to read it today, then put it back on the table.)
And I found an adult fiction by Tom Horn, The Shallow Grass, a Novel of Texas. The book is about the Texas grasslands and three generations of the Parker Family: Tom, the big wealthy rancher; Arron, his son, who lives to see oil derricks march across the grasslands; and Arron's son, Ronnie, the tragic focal point of an epic confrontation between the nobility of the grasslands and the forces bent on its destruction.
Well, now you know why I hate book sales. I get so involved in reading through them, gingerly selecting those I want to read, and hating to leave behind any that I feel I probably should have taken.
Besides, the books in our sale are so inexpensive you can buy stacks and stacks. Hardbacks are only 25 cents, paperbacks 10 cents, audios and videos 50 cents. Other books are for sale as marked, including several sets of encyclopedias.
Let's see, I'm reading today Something Queer at the Library (it's short), but buying Tales of Myrtle the Turtle and one called Ride the Pine Sapling by Beth Bland
Engel.
The day's still early. I may make another trip by the tables. You better get here and get the ones you want before all the good books are gone. Well, really, they're all good books. That's my problem!
instance.
I had just clocked in and made my rounds to see if all our displays were filled (and they were, thanks to Keva), when I noticed our big book sale had gone down in size from five tables to only two. So, I drifted over to see what was left.
Big mistake!
The tables held mostly Juvenile Fictions, many with fascinating titles, such as: The Clay Pot Boy, The Nose Tree, Humbug Mountain, The Hat-Shaking Dance, The Hairy Horror Trick, Nutty Can't Miss, The TV Kid, and Ike & Mama and the Once-in-a-Lifetime Movie.
Of course, I had to open a few and see what they were about.
Tales from Silver Lands by Charles J. Finger, illustrated by Paul Honore', was awarded the Newbery medal on July 9, 1925. Mr. Finger learned these stories from the Indians in South America as he went from one "Silver Land" to another, far from railroads or main lines of travel. They all make fascinating tales for the older fairy tale age and grown-ups.
Since I'm a turtle-lover and saver of all those slowly trying to cross the roads, I had to look at Tales of Myrtle the Turtle by Keith Robertson, drawings by Peter Parnall. It was actually the drawing on the cover that caught my eye and the ivory-colored cover that's all crinkled like a turtle's rough skin. Robertson's imaginative eavesdropping on an illustrious turtle family has resulted in a wacky, completely untrue book about turtles, which manages to turn the tables, giving us a fresh look at the human race - and not always to our credit.
I did find a few Easy Readers for the younger children, one being Something Queer at the Library. When a couple of young girls find some weirdo has been cutting pictures of dogs out of expensive library books, they're determined to find out who's doing it because Mr. Hobart, the librarian, has trusted them with the books, and they'll be blamed unless they find the culprit. The book is by Elizabeth Levy and illustrated by Mordicai Gerstein. (I'm going to read it today, then put it back on the table.)
And I found an adult fiction by Tom Horn, The Shallow Grass, a Novel of Texas. The book is about the Texas grasslands and three generations of the Parker Family: Tom, the big wealthy rancher; Arron, his son, who lives to see oil derricks march across the grasslands; and Arron's son, Ronnie, the tragic focal point of an epic confrontation between the nobility of the grasslands and the forces bent on its destruction.
Well, now you know why I hate book sales. I get so involved in reading through them, gingerly selecting those I want to read, and hating to leave behind any that I feel I probably should have taken.
Besides, the books in our sale are so inexpensive you can buy stacks and stacks. Hardbacks are only 25 cents, paperbacks 10 cents, audios and videos 50 cents. Other books are for sale as marked, including several sets of encyclopedias.
Let's see, I'm reading today Something Queer at the Library (it's short), but buying Tales of Myrtle the Turtle and one called Ride the Pine Sapling by Beth Bland
Engel.
The day's still early. I may make another trip by the tables. You better get here and get the ones you want before all the good books are gone. Well, really, they're all good books. That's my problem!
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Poor With Money, Rich With Books
Are you like me at this time of the year...trying to keep a tight hand on spending? There are no pennies for that yummy flavored coffee from the fast food place. Or for the latest magazine I love from the supermarket!
But there's one thing I will spend my pennies on. That's why I want to tell you about the elephants I bought for a dollar.
I'm a passionate reader and although I may be poor with money, I'm rich with books. Occasionally I'll spend a few pennies to buy a book I've been wanting to read, especially if I see it on a sale shelf and want it in my home bookcase. And that's what I did this morning.
The book I purchased for $1.00 this morning is Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. (See, I told you I'd bought elephants!) I'd heard about it for so long, and so many of our book club members had read it, that when I found it, I knew I had to have it.
Where did I get this book for only $1.00? At a place where books are cheaper than they are at Goodwill! Our public library!
Look at these great books on our sale racks:
*Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani
*Virgin and Martyr, Angels of September, both by Andrew M. Greeley
*Double Shot by Diane Mott Davidson
*Nighttime Is My Time, Kitchen Privileges, both by Mary Higgins Clark
*The Villa, Three Fates, both by Nora Roberts
*L. A. Dead by Stuart Woods
*Blessings by Anna Quindlen
*A Bend in the Road, Message in a Bottle, both by Nicholas Sparks
*The Woods by Harlen Coben
*Slow Waltz in Cedar Bend by Robert James Waller
*Kill Two Birds and Get Stoned by Kinky Friedman, and
*The Bluebird and the Sparrow by Janette Oke.
There are also books by Anne Perry, Tony Hillerman, Jude Deveraux, Jan Karon, Judith Frantz, and Maeve Binchy.
No book is over $1.00. Some hardbacks are for only 25 cents, with paperbacks for only 10 cents.
So, if you're poor with money, but still want to read great books and keep them for your bookcase at home, the Moultrie-Colquitt County Library is the place to shop.
It's where you'll be able to spend those pennies wisely and be rich with books.
(Now don't forget...you can still use your library card for an even greater selection of favorites and new titles to read, plus check out books on CD and large print books.)
But there's one thing I will spend my pennies on. That's why I want to tell you about the elephants I bought for a dollar.
I'm a passionate reader and although I may be poor with money, I'm rich with books. Occasionally I'll spend a few pennies to buy a book I've been wanting to read, especially if I see it on a sale shelf and want it in my home bookcase. And that's what I did this morning.
The book I purchased for $1.00 this morning is Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. (See, I told you I'd bought elephants!) I'd heard about it for so long, and so many of our book club members had read it, that when I found it, I knew I had to have it.
Where did I get this book for only $1.00? At a place where books are cheaper than they are at Goodwill! Our public library!
Look at these great books on our sale racks:
*Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani
*Virgin and Martyr, Angels of September, both by Andrew M. Greeley
*Double Shot by Diane Mott Davidson
*Nighttime Is My Time, Kitchen Privileges, both by Mary Higgins Clark
*The Villa, Three Fates, both by Nora Roberts
*L. A. Dead by Stuart Woods
*Blessings by Anna Quindlen
*A Bend in the Road, Message in a Bottle, both by Nicholas Sparks
*The Woods by Harlen Coben
*Slow Waltz in Cedar Bend by Robert James Waller
*Kill Two Birds and Get Stoned by Kinky Friedman, and
*The Bluebird and the Sparrow by Janette Oke.
There are also books by Anne Perry, Tony Hillerman, Jude Deveraux, Jan Karon, Judith Frantz, and Maeve Binchy.
No book is over $1.00. Some hardbacks are for only 25 cents, with paperbacks for only 10 cents.
So, if you're poor with money, but still want to read great books and keep them for your bookcase at home, the Moultrie-Colquitt County Library is the place to shop.
It's where you'll be able to spend those pennies wisely and be rich with books.
(Now don't forget...you can still use your library card for an even greater selection of favorites and new titles to read, plus check out books on CD and large print books.)
Friday, May 8, 2009
Time To Put These Good Reads On Your Shelf
There are some really good reads here at our library that you can purchase and put on your personal library shelves at home to read again and again. The cost is far, far less than you'll find anywhere else, even at Goodwill...like for $1.00 or 25 cents or 10 cents.
I stopped yesterday and found a couple I bought...a William Faulkner book and a Nancy Atherton mystery. But look what I left for you :
I stopped yesterday and found a couple I bought...a William Faulkner book and a Nancy Atherton mystery. But look what I left for you :
- Crowned Heads by Thomas Tryon
- The Tristan Betrayal by Robert Ludlum
- Murder at the Pentagon by Margaret Truman
- Memories of Midnight by Sidney Sheldon
- Revolution from Within: A Book of Self-Esteem by Gloria Steinam
- The Silver Chalice by Thomas B. Costain
- The Anatolian by Elia Kazan
- The Camerons by Robert Crichton
- The Midnight Club by James Patterson
- P is for Peril by Sue Grafton
- and books by Danielle Steel, Mary Higgins Clark, Jeffrey Archer, Dean Koontz, Jackie Collins, Tom Clancy, and more.
Summer is coming and it's time to collect those books, those always-a-good-read books, to take to the beach or read by the pool or take on the airplane with you. Or just sit in your comfy chair in the air conditioning and read. We've got them here at the Moultrie-Colquitt County Library. For only a few pennies! Great savings on good reads!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
I'm A Sucker For A Great Title
Yesterday I sat in the reading area at one of the long tables and folded some brochures. I watched people come in and out of the library. Some people came to bring books back and stayed long enough to check out a few more. A few people came in to sit on the couch and read or settle down in one of the soft chairs. I folded and watched. No one looked at the sale books.
When I finished with the brochures, I lingered and looked through one of the many magazines we have on the slant-shelves. For some reason, I just knew there was a something in the reading area to tell you about, but I didn't find it until I walked past the discarded books that are for sale.
You know about our sale books, don't you? They're on the other side of the counter where the videos are located in the front lobby. They're on the low shelves that face the reading area. Of course, I had to stop and look. And that's where I found the "something" to tell
you.
I'm a sucker for a great title - doesn't matter if it's a book, magazine, movie, or whatever. There are books on those shelves that will make you want to read them simply because of their great titles.
How about My Mother the Arsonist & Other Toasty Tales? It's by Dave Wood, a books editor of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, who also wrote a weekly column for Grit, a 106-year-old family newspaper. Now, doesn't that sound like a fun book?
And they didn't stop there. I found:
* I Love You, I Hate You, Drop Dead by Artie Shaw
* Thursday, the Rabbi Walked Out by Harry Kemelman (He has other Rabbi books, also.)
* Blue Skies, No Candy by Gael Greene
* Stray Kat Waltz by Karen Kijewski
* Feather on the Moon by Phyllis A. Whitney
* Apple to the Core by Marc Lovell (This is a Crime Club selection.) and --
* Weirdos, Winos and Defrocked Priests by Ludlow Porch, who is a radio talk show host in Atlanta.
The nice part about these books are that they are CHEAP! Maybe I should have said really affordable. You can find a good read among these books for only 25 cents to $1.00! And if these great titles don't make you want to read one, come on up to the Moultrie-Colquitt County Library and scan the shelves for yourself. I just bet you'll find one you like! (Oh, the one I took home was called Sticks and Scones.)
When I finished with the brochures, I lingered and looked through one of the many magazines we have on the slant-shelves. For some reason, I just knew there was a something in the reading area to tell you about, but I didn't find it until I walked past the discarded books that are for sale.
You know about our sale books, don't you? They're on the other side of the counter where the videos are located in the front lobby. They're on the low shelves that face the reading area. Of course, I had to stop and look. And that's where I found the "something" to tell
you.
I'm a sucker for a great title - doesn't matter if it's a book, magazine, movie, or whatever. There are books on those shelves that will make you want to read them simply because of their great titles.
How about My Mother the Arsonist & Other Toasty Tales? It's by Dave Wood, a books editor of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, who also wrote a weekly column for Grit, a 106-year-old family newspaper. Now, doesn't that sound like a fun book?
And they didn't stop there. I found:
* I Love You, I Hate You, Drop Dead by Artie Shaw
* Thursday, the Rabbi Walked Out by Harry Kemelman (He has other Rabbi books, also.)
* Blue Skies, No Candy by Gael Greene
* Stray Kat Waltz by Karen Kijewski
* Feather on the Moon by Phyllis A. Whitney
* Apple to the Core by Marc Lovell (This is a Crime Club selection.) and --
* Weirdos, Winos and Defrocked Priests by Ludlow Porch, who is a radio talk show host in Atlanta.
The nice part about these books are that they are CHEAP! Maybe I should have said really affordable. You can find a good read among these books for only 25 cents to $1.00! And if these great titles don't make you want to read one, come on up to the Moultrie-Colquitt County Library and scan the shelves for yourself. I just bet you'll find one you like! (Oh, the one I took home was called Sticks and Scones.)
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Outdated Comments and Forgotten Books
Are any of you old enough to remember these comments?
- Be sure and refill the ice trays; we're going to have company tomorrow.
- Don't forget to wind the clock before you go to bed.
- There's a dollar in my purse. Go by the service station and get five gallons of gas before you leave town.
- No! I don't have five cents for you to go to the show. Do you think money grows on trees?
- If you get a spanking in school and I find out about it, you're going to get another one when you get home.
- It is "Yes, Sir" and "No, Sir" to me and your elders, and don't you forget it!
- Quit slamming that screen door!
- Take that empty bottle to the store with you so you won't have to pay a deposit on another one.
Not all of the comments are outdated, as far as I'm concerned. Especially the "Yes, Sir" and "No, Sir." My brother still takes a wind-up clock with him when he goes hunting for several days. And I haven't forgotten my mama telling me to stop slamming that screen door or about the spanking.
Of course, working in a library makes me wonder how most things relate to books. The comments made me wonder if there are books in our library people have forgotten. So, I took one of my little tours to look for such books. And I found them:
- Sword and Scalpel - Frank G. Slaughter
- Ann Landers Talks to Teen-agers - Ann Landers
- Moll Flanders - Daniel Defoe
- 'Twix Twelve and Twenty - Pat Boone
- The Tall Ships - John Jennings
- A Certain Evil - David Kraslaw & Robert S. Boyd
- Something Happened - Joseph Heller
- Trixie Belden and the Black Jacket Mystery - Kathryn Kenny
- Odd Girl Out - Elizabeth Jane Howard
- The Day Miss Bessie Lewis Disappeared (A Crime Club Selection) - Doris Miles Disney
I even took one of the books back to the office with me: Travels with My Aunt by Graham Greene. Looked pretty interesting.
You should see all the books that people seem to have forgotten. They're in our "sale books" and should be rescued by people who love to read. They're in the long, low bookcases facing the reading area. Hardbacks cost anywhere from 25 cents to $1.00; paperbacks cost only 10 cents.
Rescue a good read today and keep it from being forgotten, because books are never outdated!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)