A Brave New World
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| Co-Founder Greg Goeke with a non-baby, baby book |
"To give or to sell," that is the question. The idea of selling off some of our books is new territory for us. We know that other non-profit organizations do the same, but for us, it was kind of a tough "sell" to swallow. "I thought Promising Pages gave free books to kids?" said the voice in my head. It's true, we do give free books-- to kids. Then what to do with the nearly 10,000 books for adults that have been clogging our warehouse since this past summer? Do first graders like travel books and Wine for Dummies? I think not.
As much as I knew that this day would come eventually, it wasn't until we partnered up with Woody Hubbard and Tim O' Boyle and their Executive MBA team from Queens University that not only were my fears about selling off some of my books were alleviated, the concept was actually encouraged. "This is a business," they told me firmly. "Do you want your business to grow so you can help more kids, or do you want to keep putzin' along only helping a few kids because you are too afraid to bring in revenue? Revenue is a part of your job."
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| Sorting for Book Fair |
So beginning December 1, I will no longer be the 'starving artist' type, the give-a-few-kids-a-few books type. 40,000 books have come through our warehouse at Carolina Business Interiors since January, but that's not enough. We have orders we can not fill. For example, currently we are out of first and second grade follow up books. Yet we know there are 60,000 kids in our area with few, if any books at home. It's time for me and the rest of the Promising Pages team to get serious, and that means raising money for our organization! Our goal is to collect and redistribute one million books so that all kids in Charlotte can have a bookshelf full of books at home and all children in Charlotte will grow up with a love and appreciation of books, which brings healthy brain activity and healthy self esteem.
From a business standpoint, the concept makes perfect sense. We are already out there in the community collecting children's books every day. Why not collect all books and sell the ones we can't use for our programs? Thank you again, Queens team. We have found people are happy to let go of their twice read, taking-up-too-much-space novels when they learn it is going to such a worthy cause.
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| The Sandbox Co-Founder Mara Campolungo |
So folks, clean off your book shelves and donate what you no longer read. Bring those books to our book fair on December 1st and 2nd at the Carolina Business Interior warehouse on Yancey Rd. Bring the kids, we'll have story time with Erm and Erma the Bookworm(a)s. Check out our limited Edition "Magic Reading Totes"gems and turn ordinary books in to Magic Books. (A perfect gift for any young reader!) Browse the Sandbox Boutique and help us support yet another great Charlotte cause (www.gotsandbox.org.) Don't forget to bring in a canned food item or two for The Sandbox Holiday food drive. When you done with all this giving and shopping, refresh your palette with Amalie's French Bakery goodies generously donated to support our cause. Enjoy your new books and sweet treats in our Promising Cafe!
We look forward to meeting you in person. Thank you for supporting our One Million Books Revolution Campaign and for helping us change the world, one child and one book at a time. If you see me, give me a wink. It will be a personal reminder of your support, not only of our book mission, but of the marketing plan that will be driving it. Speaking of driving, take a "spin" and get your picture taken in our Magic Book Mobile, it's just a mock up now but one day soon it will be a reality. I just know it.
Go forth, buy books and prosper!
-Kristina Cruise
Founder, Promising Pages
