Tips to manage your program book

Perhaps you're a librarian or just an avid book lover, in any case, you may have wondered how you could start and manage a book program which could deliver books to others. Through a bookmobile or maybe just a traveling library in your car, a book program can be a complicated process, even if you have the best of intentions. Here are some tips to running book programs on a budget, while still being as organized as possible during the endeavor.

Collecting the Books for Your Readers

Ideally, you will want to have a stockpile of books already available for you to bring to young (or old) readers. If you do not have any inventory yet, you might want to look into thrift stores or libraries to see what books they have available for low prices. Or you can look to garage sales for high quality books for mere cents in relation to their list prices. Talking to friends is another way to relieve people of books which are collecting dust in their homes. And of course, your own shelves can be used in your program in order to help things get started. As your program becomes more popular, you can ask for donations from participants and passersby.

Spreading the Word

But your book program isn't going to help anyone if you're not telling people it exists. You will want to start by putting up signs at your local libraries and charity centers to help reach out to those who might want access to more books. You can also talk to the local school boards to see if they would be willing to promote your book program ideas. Friends and family can spread the word as well, or you might want to work in conjunction with other book programs that might have more 'customers' than they can handle. You can then support each other in spreading the love of reading.

Keeping Track of Your Collection

Since you will probably loan out books to the people who come to your book program, you will want to have a system in place which will help you manage the flow. With a book catalog software program, you can easily inventory and then make notes for each book when it is taken out, who took it out, their phone number, etc. This way, all you need to do is to look at the program to see where the book is. And then when the book comes back, you can erase the notes. This allows anyone to be the 'librarian' for the day as the systems are generally easy to use and easy to incorporate into a program.

The fact that you are willing to bring books into the community is a lovely gesture of your charity and your generosity. A book program not only helps those who read the books, but it also helps their families become inspired to read as well. With your help, everyone can gain access to stories, reference materials, and more.

Max Smirnov, Book Program Author.

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