Adopt-A-Book campaign continues
Initiative has been held every two years since 1996
As of May 5, just over a month into its Adopt-A-Book campaign, the Western Counties Regional Library was reporting that 643 books had been “adopted,” with a combined value of $20,820.93.
The goal of the campaign, which goes until the end of June, is to put 1,000 new titles on the library’s shelves.
The campaign is held every two years and, since it was introduced in 1996, the initiative has surpassed the 1,000-book total every time but one, the lone exception being 2006, when 958 books were adopted.
The highest total was in 2010, when 1,621 books were adopted ( with a combined value of $36,815). In 2016, the total was 1,430 books worth $35,104.
The overall total for the 11 campaigns conducted between Yarmouth library clerk Yvette Frost and Ian White, public relations manager with the Western Counties Regional Library, are among those keeping an eye on the progress of the regional library’s Adopt-A-Book campaign. 1996 and 2016 was 14,526 books, with a combined monetary value of $309,573.
“I think the thing that impresses me most about the Adopt-A-Book campaign is how supportive the people of the tri- counties are of the public library,” said Ian White, public relations manager with the Western Counties Regional Library. “They really feel they have a stake in the fundraiser and it’s very tangible. When they adopt a book, they see that book.
I think that’s part of the reason people like it.”
The Adopt-A-Book campaign was created as a way to help provide library users with new books and materials beyond the library’s annual operating budget.
Books can be adopted as a gift for a special occasion or in honour or in memory of someone. Adopted books have a nameplate acknowledging the adoption.
The books that are up for adoption have been selected by the librarians. The selection process takes a number of things into consideration, White said.
“We need a wide range of selections,” he said. “You can’t just put bestsellers or romances on the shelf because you need more than that.
People enjoy cookbooks, they enjoy do- it- yourself books, all sorts of things, and you have to balance it with the existing collection because there’s only a certain amount of shelf space and you have to figure out what circulates and what doesn’t.”
According to figures provided by the library, the average price of books is between $25 and $35, but they also can be as little as $5. The library appreciates all adoptions, big or small.
“We’re happy to see amount,” White said. any