Specials

For those of you who have visited our Book Sale before and suffered browsing our "Specials Room", I'm sure that this time you were pleased to see our new shelves!  You often ask how we spend the money generated by the book sale.  Our first priority is fulfilling the wish list of the Reston Regional Library Branch Manager, Nadia Taran.  Our second is making improvements that will help our sales operations.  You know, sometimes you gotta spend money to make money.  The shelves in the Specials Room (and in the Sorter's Hallway) were part of that.

And WHAT an improvement.  No books falling on anyone (because of shelf dividers), no SHELVES falling on anyone (because they are sturdy), lots of room to display what we have.  The books were treated more gently as well because they had room to breathe.  This means that when the sale was finished, a large number of the specials (books priced $5 and up) had been sold.  Wow!  Thank you so much!

Running the specials desk, especially on the first night of the sale, can be very nerve-wracking because there are certain procedures we have to follow.  These procedures are designed to protect you and protect our inventory.  We record how many books you are purchasing, record your name and number, and take those books off your hands so you can continue shopping.  The books await your purchase at whichever cashier you have designated, and you present your claim check to add them to your purchase.  Your hands are free, and the more expensive books are accounted for all the way to the cashier.

Is it a bit tedious?  Sure, but our volunteers are wonderful, from the person who records the info, to the person who asks you to leave other bags and books outside the room on "hold" carts, to the runners who get your selections up to the cashier.  The procedures were developed partly to maintain inventory control of expensive items.  Thank you for being patient and understanding!

The next sale event is a mini-sale in November.  The Used Jigsaw Puzzle Sale is a fun event. Much smaller than a Semi-Annual used book sale, it occurs in the front area of the library (new books area).   Starting tomorrow (Saturday), we will be delighted to receive your donated jigsaw puzzles!

/kw

HEALTH BENEFIT OF VOLUNTEERING

Yesterday afternoon I was informed that I had posted the WRONG book sale volunteers photo -- it was one from a prior sale.  They weren't dated, so I had missed that detail.  But that mistake is fortuitous.  It gives us the opportunity to see for ourselves what a GREAT benefit there is in volunteering with the Friends of the Reston Regional Library.

Look closely at the people whose images appear in both photos.  Do your eyes pick up the obvious? That's right -- NO AGING!  Yep, those volunteers just "youthen" when they work with the Friends.

So, here are the benefts of volunteering with the Friends of Reston Regional Library semi-annual used book sale

• great food,
• great fellowship with great people,
• great youthening, and
• if you work at least 5 hours on Monday, you may select books to purchase at that time -- one box only, please.

So who wouldn't want to be part of this?  E-mail us at restonfriendspr@gmail.com and we'll get you on the list to help with the April sale.  Please, you do need to be reasonably fit as most of Monday's work involves schlepping books, bending and standing, and a fair amount of moving around the library.

/kw

FANTASTIC FRIENDS

The amazing volunteers of the Friends of Reston Regional Library came through again for the Semi-Annual Book Sale.

Pre-set up, set-up, during the sale, close-down and clean-up could not have happened without the diligent, cheerful assistance of many, many hands.  This photo captures most of those who worked during set-up.  It isn't everyone though -- some were elsewhere in the building, and some volunteers come for the sale or for close-down and so weren't captured here.  The whole set-up ballet is coordinated by Charly, for whom we are eternally grateful.  It is amazing how much she remembers from sale to sale, not just the standard things, but the little 'tweaks' that each sale requires.

This photo (and the ones yesterday) were by Lee Phan.   Thank you Lee and thank you to EVERYONE else!

/kw