Organise a book sale

Book sales are a great way of meeting your neighbours and raising vital funds for children and young people.

Please use our tips to organise a book sale in your community.

Organisation and promotion tips

Give yourself a few weeks to collect as many books as you can. You can ask anyone you think of - friends, neighbours, relatives, teachers or colleagues - for books they no longer need. Consider asking someone to help you judge if you have unknowingly been given a valuable antique!

Categorise the books - you could do this by author, subject, or title although subject is probably the best. You could display them in trays with the spine facing up so people can read the titles easily.

Price the books - look at the original price and whether the book is in good condition. It might be good to get a large amount of book donations to ensure you can price them cheaply.

Sort the books - separate really tattered ones - and if any have great illustrations, you could separate these for local artists or make a separate section called 'Old books, cheap!' and see what you get. 

Advertise by putting up signs around town, mentioning that you are supporting The Children's Society. Also call your friends and neighbours and invite them to come. 

Special touch

You could serve cakes and biscuits as well to keep people browsing!

If you'd like to ask a committee with book-sale experience a question, please contact us.

You could also

• Join one of our runs or take to the sky with a parachute jump.
• Organise a cake sale at work - read about the Melksham committee's cake bakes - you'd be surprised how many people will want to show off their baking skills for you!
• Take a journey in a gym - on a rowing machine, row the width of the channel, or cycle the distance between Land's End and John O’Groats on a stationary bicycle.
• Download our fundraising guide for groups and committees, which has contains numerous tips and resources when organising your own fundraising event.

If you've organised this type of event before or have questions for others who have, please leave us a message in the comments section.