Colorado Gives Day 2016 Logo

Colorado Gives Day 2016 LogoColorado Gives Day is the largest one-day giving movements in the country, and it’s a great way to support the Jefferson County Library Foundation and the programs of the Jefferson County Public Library. What’s so great about it? Let us count the ways…

  1. On Colorado Gives Day, your donation is boosted by an incentive fund, a fund created by FirstBank and Community First Foundation to help your donation dollars go further.
  2. It’s easy. Making your donation online through ColoradoGives.org, saves you the hassle of snail mail, and it’s secure.
  3. You can spread your donation out. Instead of donating $120 at the end of the year, you can schedule $10-monthly donations, making donating easier on your budget.
  4. You can choose which Jefferson County Public Library program you’d like to support. On JCLF’s donation page, simply designate which program you’d like your donation to benefit in the “special instructions” box. Adult Computer Classes, Early Literacy, Library 2 You, Summer Reading—take your pick!
  5. You can donate in honor or in memory of a loved one, which makes for a great gift for the Library lover in your life!
  6. You can remain anonymous—completely anonymous. (Though that doesn’t mean we’ll be any less grateful for your gift).
  7. You can shout it from the rooftops—and even help JCLF win a prize! Simply post #COGivesDay and your favorite nonprofit profiled on ColoradoGives on FirstBank’s Facebook page. FirstBank will randomly draw five names and the nonprofit they posted will win the cash prize.
  8. Your donation is tax deductible.

The BIGGEST reason of all: Every donation supports the mission of the Jefferson County Public Library—to help build an educated and vibrant community by providing equal access to information and opportunities.

Why wait? Support JCPL programming today, tomorrow and for generations to come. Visit our Colorado Gives page by clicking here.

Whale Parking

Beautiful weather for this October sale.

Following on years of tradition, the Foundation’s Fall Whale of a Used Book Sale was held on the third weekend of October 2016 at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds.

As you can guess from the name, it was another enormous sale! Not only did it raise $61,000 for JCPL programs, but this year we broke from our usual tradition in a very different way.

Over the past few years, the rise of online book-buying and the decline of books in print have changed the book industry. And though there will always be loyal book lovers, our Foundation discovered that we just couldn’t sell as many books at the sales as we used to. So . . . we decided to focus on bringing fewer – but better – books to the sale. This meant that boxes of books piled under the table (usually two high) were absent in most sections.

Lower volume made for easier browsing, less clutter, and less hefting and hauling for volunteers, but it did not mean lower sales.

In fact, sales on the Friends’ Preview Night (Oct. 20) were more than $4,000 higher than in spring, and $5,000 higher than the previous Fall Whale Sale. Sales were perfectly on pace with the Spring Whale of a Used Book Sale, as a whole, and we attribute this to bringing in better books with good sales records.

While we’re excited about the results, we know that some patrons were unfortunately disappointed. Inventory went quickly, and customers who were accustomed to getting great deals on a bag of books on Sunday (the final sale day), didn’t find as many books left over to choose from.

As we strive to improve our Whale Sales, the Foundation will continue to bring out the best
books at bargain prices, and we’ll also work, as always, towards hosting even better Whale Sales for our Jefferson County book lovers.

The 2017 Spring Whale of a Used Book Sale will be held the first weekend in June.

 

LET’S GIVE A WHALE OF A THANK YOU TO OUR EVENT SPONSORS!
Our 2016 Fall Whale of a Used Book Sale made a big splash, thanks to these supporting businesses:

Westerra Credit Union
The Book Stop
Bean Fosters
City of Lakewood

Media Sponsors
93.7 The Rock radio
Colorado Community Media

In-Kind Donors
Chick-fil-A
Chipotle Mexican Grill
Golden Real Estate

holiday-snip

It might be a little early to trim the tree, but it isn’t too early to plan for our holiday sales!

We set aside the best books all year round just for these special sales, where you can find great gifts at great prices. Best of all–proceeds from these sales go back to help the Jefferson County Library Foundation and the programs and services of Jefferson County Public Library.

December 2 & 3: Columbine Library
10:00am-5:00pm (Friday) | 12:00-3:00pm (Saturday)

December 10 & 11: Standley Lake Library

10:00am-5:00pm (Saturday) | 12:00-3:00pm (Sunday)

December: Month-long holidays specials at the Friends Gift & Book Shop in the Belmar Library