Page 226 - One Thousand Ways to Make $1000

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T IS easy to start a circulating library but it is not so easy to get customers.
So when Mrs. Gertrude Murphy started a library in her home, she decided to
do something spectacular and unusual to attract customers.

She had previously used a rental library operated in a neighborhood drug
store in Chicago and found that the main reason the druggist lost “readers”
was his unwillingness to add new books to the library. Three or four months
would pass before the latest fiction was available.

“I’ll start a library and specialize on ‘best sellers,’” Mrs. Murphy decided. To
get going quickly she adopted the “door-prize” idea, commonly used at
bridge parties. Each time a member came in to rent a book, she was given a
small piece of pasteboard on which the date was stamped. The member wrote
her name and address on this card and dropped it into a box. On Wednesdays
and Saturdays of each week, the names of three members were drawn from
this box and prizes, usually inexpensive articles such as ash-trays,
handkerchiefs, or dishes, were given the lucky winners.

Mrs. Murphy’s plan for operating the library was similar to that of the drug
store’s. Books were rented at three cents a day and a dollar membership fee
was required. This membership fee was used to buy additional books and in
less than a month she had one hundred and ninety books on her shelves.
Meanwhile eighty members were enrolled by the “doorprize” feature.
Women frequently took out books for their husbands and daughters. At the
end of this first month, Mrs. Murphy discovered that each member averaged
two books a day. Her only investment was fifteen dollars spent at the outset
for books, the membership and rental fees being sufficient to cover all other
expenses.

You can start a rental library on a similar plan with twenty books. Order
direct from publishers or wholesale booksellers who will give you a special
discount. Well-selected books pay for themselves in rentals many times over
before they lose their popularity. It is advisable to have two or three copies of
“best sellers” on your shelves in order to meet the demand. The library can be
conducted from your home or you may be able to make arrangements with