The Penny Pinching Librarian

Last year our library did a children's event called "The Fairytale Ball." I wanted it to be a real experience for the kids, one that would transport them into a fairy tale world for an afternoon.  To do that I needed great decorations, but I didn't have a big budget to work with.  I wanted to make our city's council chambers (We don't have a big program room) into a ballroom, so I turned to tulle.  Tulle, you may say, is not that cheap.  Actually it is, if you get it at the right place.  The Tulle Shop is an online store that has 40 yard bolts of 54in wide tulle in a variety of colors for about $6/bolt.  They also have great prices on other widths of tulle and on both satin and cross grain ribbon.  They do charge shipping, but even with that added in it is a great buy. In my experience they get you your order in about a week.  Here is what I did with 3 bolts of tulle and 2 rolls 1 1/2 in. satin ribbon, total price less than $50.

When I became a new library director, I found some unused shelves in a storage room and decided to install them.  They were cantilever style shelves but I didn't have any end panels for them.  I looked on the standard library supply websites and was staggered to see that they charged $200-$400 per shelf end panel!  As far as I could tell they were just press board with laminate coating.  I walked around my local hardware store to see if there was something I could use instead.  No real luck there.  Then I was cruising on Amazon and found Lorell Utility Table Tops .  They were the right width, 24 inches, for my cantilever shelves and had the cherry finish I needed to match the other shelves in my library.  They had different lengths, longer for my tall shelves and shorter for my shorter shelves. The lengths weren't exactly right, but I am handy with a jigsaw, so I ordered them.  When they arrived I was pleased with the quality and look.  ...

It is Summer Reading time and our library likes to give children a free book when they meet their Summer Reading goals.  Of course, free to them is not free to us.  We are a small suburban library with a modest program budget, so I budgeted only $3 a book for the summer reading prizes. Here are my three favorite places to get brand new children's books for only $3 or less per book. I like the Reading Warehouse because you can choose which books you want to order, instead of having to buy them as a set, half of which you don't want.  I go straight to their "bargain bin", search by category, and then sort by price. Sometimes you can get nice hardback picture books for less than $3.  The caveat with Reading Warehouse is that they do add shipping, so you have to consider that when thinking about cost/book. Book Outlet also allows you to choose only the books you want.  They have the added bonus of offering free shipping if you order over a certain amount....