Handbook

Table of ContentsOrganization Basics pg. 3

Step 1: Grab Some HelpStep 2: LocationStep 3: Pick a DateStep 4: Set a TimeStep 5: Advertise Your EventStep 6: Gather Community PartnersStep 7: Recruit Volunteers

How the Exchange Works pg. 51 book = 1 ticket1 ticket = 1 book Book Drop-OffShoppingInventoryDonationsOther Ways to Involve the Community

Set UP pg. 7Suggested Material List

Clean Up pg. 7

Suggested Book Categories pg. 8

Book Categories Map pg. 9

Volunteers pg. 10Volunteer Shifts and DutiesVolunteer CoordinationVolunteer Task Check-list

Organizers' Tasks pg. 13Sample Organization Timeline Sample Flyer

Organization Basics

Step 1: Grab Some Help-Find a few other people in your community who would like to help organize

this event. It is easier and more fun with friends. We have found it most helpful to have no more than 4 organizers.

Step 2: Location-Pick a location in your community that will host the exchange. School cafeterias, churches and community centers will often be happy to host

such an event. Be sure it is a location that will comfortably fit at least 100 people and will have plenty of tables available. We use 25 tables in our exchanges. Your location may request (and you may offer) to pay janitorial or other personnel if they have to come in during off hours.

Step 3: Pick a Date- Coordinate with your co-organizers and the officials at your location to come up with a date that works for everyone. We have found that a Saturday afternoon in early Spring works well because it is after the holidays but

before the busyness of summer.

Step 4: Set a Time- Afternoons tend to work best. Two hours is usually enough time for the

entire event. Tack an hour onto the beginning and the end for set-up and clean-up. Here is a sample schedule for a 2:00 – 4:00 exchange:

1:00 – 2:00 set-up2:00 – 2:30 book drop-off2:30 – 4:00 shop4:00 – 5:00 clean-up

Step 5: Advertise your Event-Spread the word.

Start by telling your circle of family and friends, asking them to spread the word as well (your organizers can do the same). Direct people to the website, facebook page and newsletter.

Print fliers to post at local cafes, libraries, schools, churches and other community organizations.

Notify local media such as newspapers, community calendars and neighborhood association newsletters and email blasts

One idea is to have each organizer coordinate with a specific liaison at each local school.

Step 6: Gather Community Partners - Partner with local non-profit organizations to be recipients for book

donations. Reach out to both non-profit and for profit organizations and business to add a little extra fun and variety to your event. See 'Other Ways to Involve

Your Community' below.

Step 7: Recruit Volunteers - When you start advertising your event, include a call for volunteers. We

have found that book exchanges are an event that people love to be a part of.

How the Exchange Works

1 Book = 1 TicketAs guests arrive at the check-in table to drop off their books, give them 1 ticket per book. Some people will bring in several dozen (or more!) books. You can always just give them however many tickets they request. It's not

so important that you count every book that comes in.

1 Ticket = 1 BookAs guests check out, they give you 1 ticket for every book they take with them. This ticket count needs to be accurate since it is what you will use to take an inventory of how many books were exchanged.

Book Drop-OffIt is helpful to set aside a half hour or so at the beginning of your event for book drop-off. This will allow your tables to get stocked with books before

the shopping begins. You can ask guests to set the books out themselves or have volunteers do the work – or a little of both.

ShoppingGuests will continue to arrive, check-in and drop books during the shopping portion of the event. Again, you can choose to either have them sort and place their own books for leave it to volunteers. Some guests will likely

start be ready to check out soon after the shopping begins.

InventoryNumbers are an important way of communicating to the community and to yourselves, what you were able to accomplish by holding a book exchange. Here are some important numbers to keep track of:

Attendees: have a volunteer at the check-in desk count guests as they arrive

Number of books exchanged: Take an accurate number of tickets at the check-out desk for every book that goes out. This will tell you how many books changed hands.

Number of books donated: When packing up at the end of the event, ask each volunteer to count the number of books going into each box. Report that number to a specific volunteer who is keeping a tally of the book donations

Be sure to communicate these statistics to the community after the event in email blasts, on the facebook page and in the newsletter so everyone can

know the impact they had. Keep these numbers handy so you can refer back to them in following years and see how your event grows!

DonationsYou will have many books leftover (we can almost guarantee it). Partner up

with a local non-profit (or a few) who have clients in need of books. Some ideas: Homeless shelters, women & children shelters, reading programs,

school libraries, local food banks, daycares. We recommend trying to find one or two organizations who are willing and able to take many books and to pick them up immediately after the event. Be sure and let the community know about the donations and the recipients on your advertising materials.

Other Ways to Involve the Community Find some community partners to bring an additional draw to your event. Ask a local librarian to volunteer story time to kids so their parents can

shop. Ask a local bakery to donate some bakery items to the kids for snack

during story. Invite schools to hold a bake sale to raise money for programs. Many community organizations will gladly donate their products and /

or services to the event or for gifts for your volunteers in exchange for a little promotion (mentions and thanks) on marketing materials.

Make it bilingual! If you live in a multi-cultural community, make it a point to invite and market to minorities in your area.

Be creative on drawing the community in to help make a successful event.

Set-Up Before the event, be sure and pick up plenty of boxes to use for packing

donations. Set up tables (without chairs), allowing for space adequate space for

shoppers. The amount of tables you will need depends on the size of your event. We use 25 book tables plus one check-in table and one check-out table for an exchange with 150 attendees.

Place signs in each table for categories (see suggested categories) as well as check-in, check-out signs.

Set up any promotional materials from participating community groups, if applicable.

Hang category maps where they are easy to see. Hang signs outside, if necessary, to direct guests to the exchange.

Suggested Material ListGeneric ticket rolls (you can usually find these at party outlets stores)ScissorsPlenty of black markersPensNote paperPacking tape for hanging signsSign holders for category signsBox or bag for ticket takingBoxes to pack book donationsName tags for organizers and volunteers

Clean-Up Pack up all book donations, making sure to count each book that goes into

each box and reporting that number to your book donation tally keeper. Pick up any trash, replace any furniture, if necessary, and leave the space

as you found it so you can be welcomed back next year! You can offer to help your non-profit(s) load the boxes of books. They will

appreciate it.

Suggested Book CategoriesEvery year and every community will be different. You may have a ton of Classics one year but not the next. Depending on the demographics of your community, you may need more room for a particular category than another. Feel free to use our categories and signs or create your own (we can provide a template).

General Fiction General Non-Fiction Home & Garden Education & Reference Professional & Technical Classics History Crafts & Hobbies Visual & Performing Arts Games & Puzzles Sci-Fi & Fantasy Bios & Memoirs Food and Drink Young Adult Fiction Young Adult Non-Fiction Romance Religion, Spirituality & Self-Help Health & Fitness Early Readers Fiction Early Readers Non-Fiction Mystery & Thriller Travel & Foreign Language Pregnancy & Parenting Preschoolers Baby & Toddler

Book Categories MapHere is a sample. We can help you create your own, based on your categories.

VolunteersIt is up to you how many volunteers you may need. We have found that this

is something that changes from year to year. Here are some considerations:

You will need more volunteers if you want to relieve your guests from the duty of setting out their own books.

We have found that no matter how many volunteers we have, guests jump in and help out when needed, anyway.

If you keep your exchange to a couple of hours, we suggest having 2 volunteer shifts, with about 6-8 volunteers total per shift (including you and your fellow organizers).

You will want to have plenty of help at the end of the event for boxing and loading of book donations. During the shopping portion, the volunteers may find themselves with less to do and think they are no longer needed. You may want to tell volunteers ahead of time that it is important to stick around to the end when they will be most needed.

Name tags are helpful for your organizers and your volunteers, identifying them as who to ask for help.

When recruiting for volunteers, you can add an extra incentive of a volunteer gift. Ask local business to donate coupons or small products to your volunteers for a good cause. Be sure and advertise this business at your event and on your marketing material as thanks for their donations.

You probably want to staff your check-in and check-out desks with yourself and your organizers to answer questions about the event.

Be flexible about the shifts. Some of our volunteers are happy working the entire event. Some need to leave early for other obligations.

Be good to your volunteers and they will return year after year!

Volunteer Shifts & Duties:

An example for a 2 hour event from 2:00 – 4:00Early Shift 1:00 – 3:00 Late Shift 3:00 – 5:00

1:00 – 2:00 Set-Up: Move tables, place signage (all Volunteers)

3:00 – 3:30 Check-in: Give out tickets in exchange for books (2 volunteers)

2:00 – 3:00 Check-in: Give out tickets in exchange for books (2 volunteers)

3:00 – 4:00 Check-Out: Take one ticket per book. Be sure to keep accurate for inventory. (2 volunteers)

2:00 – 3:00 Attendee Tally: Count the number of people who attend the event (1 volunteer)

3:00 – 4:00 Floaters: same as early shift (2 or more volunteers)

2:30 – 3:00 Check-Out: During this early shift, it is a good idea to have someone responsible for check-out for anyone leaving early (1 volunteer)

4:00 – 5:00 Clean-up: as soon as your events end, have volunteers start counting and boxing leftover books, reporting numbers to the Donation Tally Taker. Clean up any trash. Replace all furniture to where you found it. Help your non-profit organizations load the book donations. (all volunteers)

2:00 – 3:00 Floaters: Walk the floor to organize books and categories (they can get messy), answering questions, placing guests' books on tables (2 or more volunteers, depending on whether they will be placing your guests' books for them)

4:00 – 5:00 Book Donation Tally Taker (usually one of the organizers). Dedicate one person to the task of keeping the book donation count. Everyone who is boxing will report their numbers to this person.

Volunteer Coordination:

At the very beginning of your event, your volunteer coordinator will gather all volunteers to go over and assign duties. Use this handy check-list to make sure everyone know where they will be and what they will need to do. Be sure and touch base with your volunteers as the shifts change.

Volunteer Task Check-list

Name Times TaskSet-Up

Move tables

Put up table signage

Set up check in, check out tables

Set up outdoor signs

Early ShiftAttendee Tally taker

Check-In (give tickets)

Check-In (give tickets)

Floater

Floater

Check-out

Late ShiftAttendee Tally taker

Check-In

Check-out

Check-out

Floater

Floater

Take Down Pack and tally each box (all)

Tally keeper

Clean up (all)

Move book boxes (all)

Organizers' TasksYou will want to set a couple of meetings throughout the year to keep your organization on track. Delegate who is responsible for what. Here are some ideas:

Lead organizer: oversee the timeline and make sure that all tasks are being completed throughout the year by their deadline, help out where needed, set dates.

Volunteer Coordinator: Recruit volunteers, get volunteer thank you gifts, coordinate volunteers during the event

Marketing: Assign someone to be in charge of marketing efforts (see Advertising Your Event on page 2) Everyone can help out with this. You can assign different organizers to coordinate with specific local schools, for example. Publish the Book Exchange statistics (number of attendees, number of books exchanged, number of books donated) after the event to the media outlets, facebook page, newsletter, etc.

Location Coordinator: Someone to secure the location, coordinate the date and manage any requirements (such as janitorial) and remain the point of contact throughout the year, making sure to communicate any changes of the event, should they occur.

Community Organizer: Recruit any local business sponsors or non-profit organizations for entertainment (story tellers, etc.), to provide snacks, thank you gift for volunteers (see above. Work with the volunteer coordinator on this).

Book Donation Coordinator: Find local non-profit organizations to be recipients for your book donations. Coordinate the date and time of the event and your requirements (if any) to be a recipient. Be the point of contact throughout the year, communicating any changes to your event. Be sure to confirm details when the exchange gets closer.

Have everyone chip in to get collect boxes as you get close to the event. You may also want to collaborate on handing out flyers.

Don't forget to schedule a post-exchange celebration / meeting for your organizers (feel free to invite volunteers). Set the date for the next event, go over what went well and what didn't, make notes on new ideas for the next year. Learn from your mistakes (if any). Be sure and congratulate yourselves on a successful event and for being a part of the very worthy cause of promoting literacy in your community!!

Sample Organization Timeline:

Task Name Start DeadlineChoose a location Location

coordinatorAt the very beginning

At least 1 year out

Set a time and a date, coordinating with the location

All Right after the event, set the time and date for the next event

1 year out

Choose book donation recipients

Book Donation Coordinator

One year prior to event

6 months before the event.

Get sponsors and other community organizations involved

Community organizer

6 months prior to event

3 months prior to event. Be sure to confirm closer to the date

Marketing your event

Marketing Coordinator and others

3 months before your event, identify your school liaisons (if using), send 'save the dates' to media outlets and neighborhood associations, local newsletters

1 month before post flyers, send email blasts and facebook updates

Right up until the event. Increase frequency of communications as you get closer.

Recruit Volunteers Volunteer Coordinator

3 months before date.

Be sure to have all of your volunteers lined up and confirmed 2 weeks out.

Collecting boxes All Don't start collecting boxes until a week or two before the event. Or you will get sick of having boxes sitting around your house or garage

Handing out flyers* All One month prior Until day of Post Exchange press release of event statistics and success

Marketing Coordinator

Within one week of the exchange.

Post Exchange Celebration – meeting

All Within one month after event.

*See sample flyer below