We have also started what we call the Birthday Book Club. We hold a "party" at lunch 4 times per year for the birthdays that quarter. We send home a notice to parents asking for a donation ($20). In return, the children get to attend the party and choose a book. We place a sticker in the book with the child's name on it. The child gets to check the book out first and return it 2 weeks later. We have done this for 2 years and we have added so many books to the library...it is amazing! The kids like to look in each book to see who donated it. The librarian and 2 parent volunteers select and order the books. From the money donated to the birthday book club we also purchase AR tests for the books, bookmarks and party supplies.
We have found that we get a great response when asking our parents for money when parents can see where the money is going, and this is a great example of that.
mlcti - what is your total annual PTO budget? I'd say the determination if $1,000 is "too much" depends on what percent it represents of your PTO's total budget.
Our PTO sponsers 2 bookfairs/year through scholastic. All profits from our first one, in the fall, go to our library. This September we earned $1900.00...it all went to the library. Do I think $1000.00/year is too much? No Way! With as much time as I spend at our school and know how much our students love the library and our librarian, it is worth every cent! Congratulations on being able to give so much every year!
We probably do something in the same range, with less than 500 students. I guess it all depends on what the Library does and how much support yours gets from the city. Historically libraries are not supported as much as they should be.
The library at my children's school purchases new books, accelerated reading quizes, reading patches, etc.
What I have tried to do is setup for 50% of the raised funds from the book fair to be allocated to the library. Since we use that area for the book sale it just makes sense.
If I was you I would have your Treasurer go back over the past year or two and see how much was spent and on what. Maybe discuss this with the librarian. It's possible that she is not going about things through the optimal way. For example, last year my wife and I went to a moving sale at Scholastic, the company that we use for the book fairs, and we made out great. This can be a huge cost saver.
We have ~720 students at our elementary school. Our PTO has historically budgeted $1000/year for new books. I love that this supports all students, but is it too much year after year? Thanks.
