“With COVID and schools not being able to host large family events, the revenue on book fairs was starting to decline and schools weren’t receiving as much profit,” says Tony Hopkins, senior vice president of Love My Library. The folks at Read-A-Thon thought there must be a better way to get more books into kids’ homes and to support school librarians in getting the resources they need. And Love My Library was born.

In Fall 2021, Read-a-Thon launched Love My Library as a way for librarians to raise funds without in-person events. The all-digital, donation-based program raises money for school libraries and rewards students with free books to take home. Love My Library is about getting books into kids’ hands and school libraries whereas Read-A-Thon, its parent company’s flagship program, and tracks the time kids sit down and read those books.

“Don’t get me wrong, I love book fairs, but they’re being significantly challenged right now,” says Hopkins. “Love My Library offers an all-virtual alternative that is made for these times.”

Love My Library has also teamed up with industry veteran Ingram as its distribution partner for front list titles and wholesaler Book Depot for backlist titles. “Between the two of them, we have a really robust inventory for kids and librarians to choose from,” Hopkins says. “We have over 3.5 million books available in our online store.”

How a Love My Library Fundraiser Works

The process goes like this: a school signs up to do an event with Love My Library. LML provides printed take home paperwork along with digital messaging for librarians to communicate with families. Parents and their kids activate personal Love My Library accounts. If parents simply promote the fundraiser with simple tools their child qualifies for one free book.

As part of the setup, families will provide up to 10 phone numbers and email addresses of friends, family, neighbors, or other contacts who might like to help the child raise funds for the school library. For every $10 donation a child receives, they get one Book Buck to spend in the online store. Book prices start at One Book Buck, with most paperbacks averaging 3 to 4 Book Bucks. School supplies are also available for ¼ to 1 Book Buck.

“We are the most rewarding literacy-based fundraiser on the planet today,” Hopkins says. “On a typical book fair, the school will get 25 percent in cash.” With Love My Library, schools can keep 80 percent of the revenue generated in the form of Depot Dollars to spend in the online store. If schools would prefer to convert the proceeds to cash, they will get 60 cents on the Depot Dollar.

5 Reasons Love My Library Works So Well

Hopkins shared a few reasons why Love My Library is working so well for so many schools already.

• Kids get the books they want to read. Love My Library emphasizes the importance of kids having books at home and school that interest them. Unlike a physical book fair that can only offer a limited number of titles, Love My Library strives to offer the largest selection of books possible. “It’s really hard to develop a love of reading in children unless kids are able to choose the books that they’re excited about reading,” Hopkins says. “Assigned reading isn’t the same as getting to pick something off a shelf.”
• The program was created for librarians. “We built this platform specifically to help librarians raise funds to create a rich learning environment,” Hopkins says.
• It’s easier for everyone. “We’re helping librarians raise funds in a much easier way than running a physical store in your school environment, where you have to run point-of-sale machines, handle cash, and have lots of volunteers,” Hopkins says.
• It expands a school’s fundraising reach. Instead of asking parents to buy books, Love My Library asks all the people close to a child to support his/her school library, giving schools the opportunity for much larger returns. Read-a-thon, for example, has received donations from more than 18 different countries. “Book fairs reach into the same pocketbook every time,” Hopkins says. “It’s always mom and dad. Our program enables parents to reach into the many different pocketbooks of immediate family and close friends who would love to support their child if they have the opportunity.”
• Love My Library’s reduced overhead allows for bigger returns. Hopkins says Love My Library offers better returns for school libraries due to its strategic partnerships and its all-virtual business model. “We don’t have warehouses, trucks, and all the other operational costs like book fairs do,” he says. “This allows us to give more of the proceeds back to the schools.”

The Reviews Are In…!

Emily Wade, a school librarian in Centreville, MD, signed on to Love My Library and had this to say: “The Love My Library fundraiser was AMAZING and incredibly EASY! All the families need to do is sign up, send emails and texts, post on Facebook and they earn FREE books, and we earn HUNDREDS of FREE books for our school library! I made it into a friendly competition and watched the amount GROW and GROW during the two weeks. It was fun and exciting for the whole school. I would recommend this to everyone!”

Need more info or want to book an event? Contact us at www.lovemylibrary.com or 800-682-2240.
 

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