Fun fund raising

Library Administrator's Digest, Feb 2000 by Randall, Eve

Wouldn't it be wonderful if libraries never had to engage in fund raising and yet could still afford all the creative programs they wanted to do all year long? Until that happy day arrives, other means of obtaining money must be found.

One fund-raising idea, which I would suggest be managed and handled by the Friends Group, is selling food and beverages in the library. Before you dismiss this idea out of hand, think about the possibilities. The designation of a small area in the adult section of the library where a patron can have a soda and a candy bar while looking over a book will very likely keep that patron in the library longer and bring him back more often.

Try if for a few hours a day on Fridays or Mondays during the school year to see how it goes. This is more of a goodwill program than it is a major money-maker. You will need a couple of volunteers to staff the food stand and a source for the items you plan to sell and you're off! Now you are only limited by your imagination. Will you name your eating area; will you decorate it with a literary theme or change it seasonally; will you move the magazine rack so it's close to your eatery?

The Environmental Health Division of the Broome County Health Department says that this is allowable without a food permit as long as everything sold is prepackaged. These days practically everything is prepackaged so this doesn't provide much of an obstacle. You can get muffins and cookies and candy bars and fruit bars all individually prepackaged. In the beverage arena, you can get canned and bottled soda, fruit drinks, and water.

Another way of achieving this end, without dealing with the food at all, is to contract with a vendor and rent them the space in the library. Perhaps there is a cart vendor you can work with, or for a larger library, a franchise type operation may have an interest.

Either way, you will probably have to vacuum a little more often than previously. Will the books end up having more food stains? I doubt it. Lots of people go home and put a book on the table while they are having meals. And the benefit is to make your library a more popular community resource which would certainly make a little inconvenience well worth it.

Consider it and happy fund raising!

Eve Randall in Four County (NY) Library News,

January/February 2000