Our Friends of the Library sold snacks and coffee. Did pretty well.
I do the used book sale section at our local library. I put magazines out in a basket, 50 cents each, 3 for a dollar. They sell pretty well. We say no magazine donations but people bring them anyway and I don’t like to throw them out. Conventional wisdom was no one would buy them, but they do at the right price.
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I’m only five feet tall. I hate it when interesting things are shelved too high for me to comfortably browse. Even with step stools, unless I’m going for something specific, I’m not likely to browse on upper shelves if I have to tilt my head back and strain to see.
So my vote would be to use the bottom shelves for books and the upper shelves for display – maybe displaying the “special” books or the pottery from next door.
But, most people are not my height.
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I think you need to know your clientele. We do NOT have step stools in our shop. Many of our shoppers are seniors, and even those who aren’t could easily fall. We can’t assume that liability by providing step stools of any kind.
Our highest shelves are about 6 feet off the floor. Visible and reachable by most. We do NOT put heavy hard cover books on the top…again because we don’t want someone to get hurt reaching and get hit by a book.
We do have volunteers who can assist those who want things from the higher shelves.
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I’m with the organize-by-category group. Also, I would second @Lindagaf on using staff recommendations–an index card next to the book with positive comments is always fun to read and helpful for those who don’t know what they want to read.
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The book center currently has some of those fold out stools that don’t roll. They hang on a wall and are lightweight but can hold a person’s weight. Clientele is a mix - a fair bit of older people but also families who come to the grounds to enjoy nature.
Since books are donated I think it might be fun to have a stack of cards/pens so that when people are dropping off books THEY can write a note about one of their favorites and why. Not everyone would do this of course - some want to drop and run - but those that are dropping and browsing might want to. That would be a fun way to get the community involved/have ownership.
After all, we all love to be a book critic, right?!!
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I love the Goodwill Book store in the large town near us. I try to go whenever I can. It is pretty easy to navigate. All sections are alphabetical by author. When I go, I try my favorite authors first, then just peruse the shelves for anything I might be interested in. The sections are Fiction Hardbacks, paperbacks, the trade paperbacks, Harlequin Romances, sports, sci-fi, history, etc.
The Children’s and Young Adult books have their own section although the Children’s section is not in alphabetical order. Their stock is always changing. They don’t have magazines there, but they might at the other Goodwill stores. They also have a section for new releases. I bought the #1 Ladies Detective Agency book that came out last year in Hardback for $5.99 and the latest Elin Hilderbrand book for $4.99. The mass market paperbacks are $1.99 and hardbacks tend to be $3.49. I can’t tell you how much I enjoy going there.
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I love used book stores. I went into Portland a few months ago just to go to Powell’s. In Ojai, I go to Bart’s books.
Since I mostly read histories and biographies, yes to arranging the books by topic. For histories and biographies arrange them by country. So whether it is a book about Shakespeare or Elizabeth II or the Wars of the Roses, have a Britain section. If you have a lot of them, arrange in chron order. So a history of the American Revolution would be before the history of the Civil War, etc.
Only fiction should be by author.
I also like bookstores that have sale books on carts outside. It entices me in. And there I tend to browse subject matter I might not otherwise look at.
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Has anyone else here been to The Book Barn in Niantic? It is a used book store on steroids!
When you arrive, there are a bunch of folding shelves that are opened outside (even in the winter). These typically have new releases, and newly received books. There are also tables that have books on them…sorted…so a table of children’s books, a table of history…or whatever.
There is an indoor area that is amazingly well organized. There is one whole room of history and biographies…all well sorted. History there is by event….so there are Civil War, WW1, etc. Biographies are sorted by the subject of the book….so all the Abraham Lincoln books would be together.
The Book Barn has several locations. The main big one doesn’t have cookbooks, for example. Those are at the Main Street location. And whew…there were a ton!
They have some of the suggested things in this thread…seating, helpful volunteers, well sorted books, and an ever revolving inventory. I don’t remember the prices.
@abasket perhaps a dedicated shelf right at your entry area with new releases, or newly acquired books might be a nice addition.
Here you go…
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I like books by genre. One idea might be to make an area where you pick groupings of same title, to encourage local book club ideas.
Organize by genre. By author is great but really hard to keep up with in a place like this.
Simple pricing. (I.e., paperbacks $1, hardcover $3).
Shelves or tables of staff recommendations, preferably with staff liking different genres (i.e., mystery, childrens, etc.)
“New arrivals” table for your more frequent customers. (Also gives staff a chance to not have to put things away immediately. )
Another table that is curated around anything - authors, topic, season. (I might not be looking for a book on decorating but if see a table about “freshening up for spring”, I might just look!)
Nice smell.
Occasional bag sales to manage inventory and excite bargain hunters. But in any case, make it easy for people to buy a lot. Put crates or bags near check out, get slips of paper and clothespins to temporarily label them, and let them fill them as they shop hands free.
Sounds like a fun project!
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Re: bags….maybe offer 1 free book to anyone who brings their own bag and purchases more than 3 books. Limit one free book per purchase. Lowest price.
@Thumper1, that looks like a lot of fun. I never heard of it before.
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That description sounds a lot like what our local library does for their ongoing used book sale near the front door. (Also there are DVDs). It seems to work pretty well. Behind the desk there is also a display of pricier donated books. There is also an annual big sale, and I think they do a bag-deal at the end of that.
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I like to see genres broken out in fiction. Mystery, sci-fi, horror, romance, westerns. That works best if you have volunteers who know one genre from another. Even if you don’t have the time or labor to alphabetize within fiction it helps move product when you can grab a bunch of books by one author and make a mini display on the shelf. Patterson, Steele, King, Roberts, Clancy etc. There are always multiples. I like to see staff recommendations, maybe a table display.
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