Book Sale

Staff is pretty much recovered from the library's first annual "Clean Sweep Book Sale" held January 23-25th on the second floor of the Barnett-Briggs Medical Library. Although the tumult and shouting has died, one question remains: "Will there be a second annual Clean Sweep Book Sale?"

Polishing up my crystal ball with my soft chamois cloth reserved for this purpose, I would say the answer is "A definite maybe". In other words, I don't have a clue. Although we took in over $1200 in the three days of the sale, and managed to donate all but $50 of that to SFGH's Volunteer Program (refreshments took their toll), the future of the book sale remains murky at best. In January of 2009 the second floor of the library may no longer be part of the library. It may be turned into an Information Commons, a possibility I heartily endorse, or put to some other purpose which I endorse less heartily. Since one of my major objectives in holding the sale was to raise awareness regarding the existence of the library, having the sale in a location other than the library might not have the same consciousness-raising effect.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think that everyone needs to come to the library to check out books and read journals and all that other good stuff. I would consider it a huge success if people NEVER came to the library but knew about all the online books, journals, and databases that the library licenses and pays for AND knew how to access it from their homes and offices without ever setting foot in the good old Barnett-Briggs. Maybe they could just IM us from time to time to tell us how much they appreciate our content.