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ERIC Number: EJ747442
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2006-Sep
Pages: 5
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1041-7915
EISSN: N/A
"1st Reads" Program Aims to Improve Book Donations and Processes
Coffman, Steve
Computers in Libraries, v26 n8 p10-14 Sep 2006
Many people donate books to libraries, but too often they are titles that the librarians cannot use because they are usually too old, too passe, or too tattered and worn to be added to the library collection, and so they end up in library sales. Librarians in Riverside County, California and members of the Library Systems & Services, LLC (LSSI) management team created and developed a pilot program called "1stReads," a process whereby librarians can request certain titles that their cash-strapped libraries need and people can donate them with ease. At present, 1stReads is an entirely Web-based donation program, with two pilot sites at the Finney County (Kansas) Library and the Riverside County Library System. The intent of this project is to take advantage of the public's natural inclination to donate books to libraries, but encourages them to target just the titles that libraries really need in a way that embraces technology and works with a library's usual acquisitions and cataloging processes. After describing the intent of the 1stReads program, this article describes the process of setting up the program in a library, ranging from creating a "wish list" and "selection lists" to pricing the titles and processing orders to the normal acquisitions and cataloging processes. These include adding bookplates acknowledging the donor, and notifying the requesting patron upon arrival of a book and holding it for the patron. Why and how patrons use 1stReads is explained, noting the program's advantages to both the donor, the patron, and the library. The advantages of building 1stReads on Booksite, an e-commerce platform, are explored. Targeting existing library users with traditional media (radio, newspaper, and printed fliers and handouts) seem to be the most successful promotional strategy, which appears to perform better than online marketing efforts. In concluding his article, the author notes that 1stReads is a fledgling program having far to go before generating significant revenues for participating libraries. Plans for more successful marketing are given, including the possibility of expanding the 1stReads "product line" to offer Adopt An Author and AdoptASeries programs in which a donor would pay an annual fee to underwrite a standing order on one or more authors or series.
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A