Library organization supports programming through sales
Part of the success behind Oxford Lane Library's programming is the Friends of the Oxford Lane Library, a nonprofit organization that uses book sales and memberships to support operations.
On the first Saturday of every month volunteers from the Friends of the Oxford Lane Libraries (FOLL) set up carts of books for patrons to dig though and purchase. On this particular Saturday, the book sale is a success, with the library bustling with people carrying towering stacks of paperbacks and hardcovers, all purchased for a few dollars.
Shawna Dalton, a teacher at Marshall Elementary, uses the sales not only for books for herself, but to stock her classroom as well.
“It's for everyone, not just for me. It's for everybody,” Dalton said.
Lydia Skoglind is a member of the FOLL board and often volunteers at book sales.
“It's our pop up bookstore,” Skoglind said. “I get to come here and pretend I own a bookstore, and I love talking to everybody … They're all lovers of books, so they're all here.”
Books for the sale are selected by volunteer sorters who pore through hundreds of book donations to put out the perfect sale.
These Saturday book sales are just one way the FOLL volunteers support the community. Funds from each Saturday sale — and from annual memberships — go toward providing programming and other resources at the library year-round.
“We provide all the supplies for the maker space upstairs,” Skoglind said. “So somebody wants to come to make something, they don't have to put out money to do it, because all that's provided.”
The Friends of the Library are not library staff themselves, but they use their time to support library events like book clubs and presentations. The organization supports classes, the free pantry outside of the library and all sorts of events for children and adults.
David Seidl is vice president of Information Technology at Miami and is also a board member of FOLL.
“The Board is an independent body, but we do support the library,” Seidl said. “So we're a nonprofit that supports the library, gives them an additional funding source.”
For people who want to support the FOLL and their message, it’s easy to do. Memberships for the FOLL are $10 a year for a single membership and $25 for families. This money goes straight back into the community. So far this year, the FOLL are only at 10% of their goal of 300 new members.
Seidl hopes that they can raise enough money to have a cushion for the library to not have to worry about funding.
“I have a dream that we will have a large enough capital fund, possibly held by the Community Foundation, that the Oxford Lane library has basically interest or income off of that every year to ensure that these programs don't have to rely on book sales,” Seidl said.
The next Saturday book sale at Oxford Lane Library is set for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on April 5.
