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Hyde
Park Used Book Sale A
project and committee of Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference. |
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To 2009 Thank you. Jan. 2010 Reporter update.
Done for 2009--Thank You one and all. We look for you next year at the sale October 9, 10, 11 2010. Book pickup starts mid August.
A hearty thanks for 2008's successful sale to all who volunteered, gave, bought books or spread the word. Special thanks to official sponsor Treasure Island foods and to several of its employees in both 2008 and 2009. The sale underwrites the programs of Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference.
Thank
you to all who gave books or helped
and especially to our official sponsor, TREASURE ISLAND FOODS.
Thanks to our co-chairs and volunteer chairs, Jane Comiskey and Jane
Ciacci.
Yes! we do give receipts for tax purposes for GIFT OF BOOKS if someone is there to see the books, but cannot give an appraisal.
From the January 2009 Conference Reporter. The Conference in Action: Hyde Park Used Book Sale 2008 a Great Success! by Jane Ciacci and Jane Comiskey, Co-Chairs
When autumn leaves start to fall in a golden rain on the Hyde Park Shopping Center plaza, you know it's time for the Hyde Park Used Book Sale. In 2007, HPKCC took over the management of the sale, formerly operated by the Co-op and a crew of volunteers. Profits from the sale support the programs of the HPKCC. Last year's profits allowed us, among other things, to establish a new, handicapped-accessible office for the Conference in the Hyde Park Bank Building, and to purchase needed computer equipment.
This year's sale was made possible by the sponsorship and support of Treasures Island Foods. Treasure Island supplied a sorting room rent-free, a huge number of banana and fruit boxes, and a forklift and driver for the labor-intensive task of moving books from the labor-intensive task of moving books from the basement to the plaza. Store manager Babe Magnus, his assistant Miguel, and all the staff were unfailingly helpful and positive. The Conference is deeply grateful for Treasure Island's generous support of one of Hyde Park's defining community events.
Before sorting began, we made some changes to the subject categories, and learned over the course of sorting and the sale of further changes and additions to be made. We can tel you that Hyde Parkers' favorite leisure-time reading is mysteries, in incredible volume and variety!
We adopted a logo for the sale, designed by volunteer Vanessa Georg, who designed a t-shirt for volunteers and crew. Volunteer John Loftus produced attention-getting signs for use in Treasure Island and to advertise the sale at curbside on sale days.
The book acceptance and sorting process took two months. We were able to sort everything that was received, with the help of volunteers who ensured that sorting took place daily.
Our group of about 50 volunteers included Board members, friends of Board members, people who had volunteered in previous years, and a group of girls from the Mercy Home fulfilling a community service assignment. board members accepted assignment to particular days or evenings to ensure that someone would be present to receive books and guide volunteers. Some people sorted books, other people packed them; still others worked at the sale tallying purchases, taking the cash, or "on the floor," keeping the books in order. We want to specially recognize our fantastic volunteer packing expert, Hedy Lehayan, who personally packed hundreds of boxes!
John Loftus and co-chair Jane Comiskey made many trips to pick up donations; we were offered more than we could pick up. For the sale itself, the volunteers were ably supported by a paid crew of 6 men. We are grateful to all our volunteers and crew for their contributions and enthusiasm. Everyone had a good time doing a lot of hard work, which was an important goal for the Book Sale Committee.
There were many very interesting donations, including entire libraries from people who were moving or downsizing (or both). For our "special books," we were fortunate to have the advice and assistance of Doug Wilson of O'Gara and Wilson Books, and his assistant, Alan Lefkowitz.
Mike McNamee and the Resource Center took away 60 bags of unsaleable material before the sale even began, and 90 boxes of leftovers at the end. These are items that we couldn't get people to take away for free, so now they have been responsibly recycled. We estimated that there were over 30,000 books on the sales floor at the start of the sale.
Thanks to our generous donors, and to all our enthusiastic shoppers! We look forward to our third year managing the sale in 2009. If you would like to be involved, please contact one of us and we'll put you on our list for next spring, when we start to organize. Happy reading!
Photos of the sale were provided to the Reporter by James Withrow, http://alwaysintransit.typepad.com/hyde_park_urbanist.
Thank you letter from co-chairs Jane Ciacci and Jane Comiskey, on behalf of HPKCC, in Hyde Park Herald- 2008
When autumn leaves start to fall, its' time for the Hyde Park Used Book Sale, held on Columbus Day weekend at the Hyde Park Shopping Center. The book fair currently also acts as a fundraiser for the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference (HP-K CC). This was our second year managing the sale, formerly a project of the Hyde Park Co-Op. the profits from the sale support the HP-K CC's activities and programs, which are described at hydepark.org.
The sale's success is made possible by the support and resources of the neighborhood, and we have m any people to thank. Treasure Island served as our generous and deeply appreciated sponsor, donating space for sorting and storing books for two months, as well as innumerable boxes for packing and the time of staff to help us move boxes from the basement to the courtyard before the sale. Our special thanks to store manager Babe Magnus, to whom all things are possible, to his assistant, Miguel, and to the friendly and very helpful Treasure Island staff.
Doug Wilson and Alan Levinovitz of O'Gara and Wilson offered expert advice about some of our very special donations, and we are grateful for their enthusiastic support. Mike McNamee of the Resource Center provided recycling services at the end of the sale. John Loftus and his little red truck collected many large donations from people who were moving or downsizing. Local artist Vanessa Georg designed our new logo and iconic blue T-shirt.
Thanks to all of our donors, to ur sorting volunteers and to our hard-working crew at the sale. We look forward to seeing you next year!
Thanks 2009. By Jane Ciacci and Jane Comiskey in October 28, 2009 Hyde Park Herald
Treasure Island helped make book sale a success.
On behalf of the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference (HPKCC) we are writing to express our appreciation to Treasure Island Foods for their sponsorship of the Hyde Park Used Book Sale, which took place on Columbus DAy weekend. Between Aug. 15 and Oct. 12, Treasure Island provided the collection point for donations, a room for sorting and storing books, countless boxes and manpower to send boxes of books up the conveyor belt and move them on pallets to the plaza on setup day.
We are deeply grateful that for the last two years, Treasure Island has chosen to sponsor the book sale, a long Hyde Park tradition to which our many loyal customers and volunteers look forward every year. HPKCC assumed management responsibility for teh sale from teh Co-op in 2007. Profits from the sale, our major source of income, support HPKCC's mission, which includes working toward an attractive, secure, diverse and caring community, and promoting the participation of community members and organizations in programs and activities that advance the interests and concerns of the community. Read about HPKCC at hydepark.org.
Thanks to Treasure Island owner Maria Kamberos, and to Hyde Park store manager Babe Magnus and to his staff, including those in customer service, produce, shipping and maintenance, for their very generous hospitality. Thanks also to all our donors, our many volunteers, our team of paid workers and to our customers, old and new, who braved the cold to find some good reading!
From the 2009 sale.
Picture before the sale... Thanks to Amy Girst (taken by a friend).
From the January 2010 Conference Reporter
Profits from Used Book Sale Help Support HPKCC Programs
By Jane Ciacci and Jane Comiskey, co-chairsIn 2007, HPKCC took over teh management of the Hyde Park Used Book Sale, formerly operated by the Hyde Park Co-op and a crew of volunteers. The sale has been a Columbus Day Weekend tradition in hyde Park for about 30 years. The books which are sold are donated, and included both general titles and specialized titles reflecting the interests of Hyde Park's academic community. While book dealers are an important part of our clientele, we are proud of the fact that this is principally a distinctive neighborhood sale, and work to keep it that way. Every year our neighbors look forward to the opportunity to donate books they no longer need, and to find new ones at the sale. Profits from the sale support the programs of teh HPKCC and allow the Conference to expand its activities.
For teh second year, the sale was made possible by the generous sponsorship and support of Treasure Island Foods. Treasure Island supplied a sorting room rent-free, a huge number of banana and fruit boxes for packing, and a forklift and river for the labor-intensive task of moving books from the basement to the plaza. This year the Conference showed its gratitude to our good neighbor Treasure Island with a certificate of appreciation presented to the Hyde Park store manager, Babe Magnus, in early November.
Each year before sorting begins, the Book Sale Committee reviews the all-important matters of pricing and subject categories, as well as operational issue that arose during the previous sale. Our philosophy is that even in a poor economy, we want to give our buyers the opportunity to make surprising and affordable discoveries, so for the most part, prices remained the same as in previous years. This year, one new category, Literary Classics, turned out to be especially popular. However, mysteries of all kinds are still Hyde Parkers' leisure-time reading of choice!
The book acceptance and sorting process took just under two months, beginning on August 17. We were able to sort everything that was received, with the help of volunteer who ensured that sorting took place daily.
Our group of about 50 volunteers included Board members, friends of Board members, and community members who had volunteered in previous years. Board members accept assignment to particular days or evenings to ensure that someone is present to receive books and guide volunteers. Some people sort books; others, especially Hedy, our packing expert, pack them; still others work at the sale tallying purchases, taking the cash, or "on the floor," keeping the books in order and answering buyers' questions.
Volunteer John Loftus and co-chair Jane Comiskey made many trips to pick up donations; as usual, we were offered more than we were able to pick up. For the pickups and the sale itself, the volunteers were ably supported by a paid crew of 6 men. We are grateful to all our volunteers and crew for your contributions and enthusiasm, which survived the inauspicious wind and rain on setup day, and the chilly sale days.
We estimated that there were 30,000 books on the sales floor at the start of the sale, somewhat fewer than last year. For our "special books," we were fortunate to have the advice of Doug Wilson of O'Gara and Wilson Books on 57th St., who helps us understand what really is special. we have also begun to consider how changes in in the book trade may affect the sale in future years.
mike McNamee and the Resource Center took away two truckloads of books to be recycled at the end, including unsaleable ones. This year it was necessary to recycle some saleable material because we have no year-round storage space.
For the 2010 sale, the Book Sale committee is mounting a serious effort to identify and work with nonprofit organizations that could use leftover books, especially those that could not afford books otherwise. These could include shelters, schools, retirement homes, after-school programs, etc. If you know of such an organization, please tell us early by emailing Jane Ciacci at kjc2@uchicago.edu.
Thanks to our generous donors, to our tireless volunteers, and to all our enthusiastic shoppers! we look forward to our fourth year managing the sale in 2010. If you'd like to volunteer, please contact one of us. Happy Reading!
So what, specifically does the Book Fair enable, and in some cases fund?
Jane Ciacci writes:
Our current financial report shows that the October 2009 book sale took in $15,614.91, and our expenses were $6,538.73, so we had a net profit of $9,076.18. This was somewhat less than we had hoped for (we were looking for $10K or more) but the weather wasn't in our favor, nor was the economy.
However, the profits of the sale are currently the Conference's major source of support for its ongoing expenses, such as the office in the Hyde Park Bank building, and space rental and other expenses for community events throughout the year. For example, coming up next week is our Schools Committee's biennial award ceremony for Local School Council members and volunteers, with speaker Jacqueline Edelberg (author of How to Walk to School- Blueprint for a Neighborhood School Renaissance). In April, the Condos and Co-ops Committee expects to host a forum on condo > issues with Attorney John Bickley, who has worked with the committee for > several years to provide these popular forums on topical questions.
In 2009, we hosted the HPKCC Forum "Challenging the Next Decade,"to kick > off our 60th anniversary year, and added two organizations as committees > of the Conference, the Friends of Blackstone Library and the South Side. Preservation Action Fund, which commissioned a structural engineering assessment of the Harper Theater Buildings, paid for with grant funding obtained by the Fund.
Our Development, Preservation & Zoning Committee is particularly active, and collaborates with a number of other community groups, including the 53rd Street TIF Advisory Council and its committees, Coalition for Equitable Community Development, Hyde Park Disabilities Task Force, Hyde Park Historical Society and its Preservation Committee, Interfaith Open Communities, Older Women's League of Hyde Park and Illinois, Southside Solidarity Network.
The profits of the 2008 book sale made possible a $2,500 donation to the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club to help fund transportation for the Summer Teen program in summer 2009.
As you probably know, you can read more about the various activities of the Conference and its committees at http://www.hydepark.org/hpkcc/index.htm.