Monday, July 30, 2007

Hey ho! Rentabook adds up.

Yes, it all adds up. Every last dollar. It's the end of the month and time to decide what we'll sponsor at the School of St Jude this month.

I don't really mind what I sponsor, 'cos I see that the money is well-used. Good planning goes a long way towards ensuring that things go smoothly, but there are always hiccoughs and glitches that mean that plans need to be adapted.

Earlier this year, the School commissioned an internet upgrade that involved a satellite dish and more. After several months of service failure, they have gone back to their previous supplier -- a more limited service, but more reliable! We have to expect these things to happen and to be flexible.



This month, I'd like to remind you about my brainwave – the Rentabook Scheme. This is so simple, it is silly. All you do is stick one of my St Jude's bookplates into the front of your books, then lend them or give them away as usual. The bookplate encourages the borrower (or recipient) to make a small donation to the School of St Jude – they rent the book for a small fee. The fees are paid here on my blog via the ChipIn tool at the top of the page.

Give it a go. Download the bookplates here. Stick them in. Get those books circulating!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is a really interesting idea, but I'm not sure that anything based on the honor system will work any more.

Gillian said...

Yes, Ned, that's a limitation. And there's also the barrier of good intentions that don't quite translate into action. And just plain old inertia... I 'should' get round to doing that.

But still, maybe there will be a little benefit.

I thought about the success of sites like 'Bookcrossing' where you can register a book and watch it travel around when people pick it up and pass it on. This system seems to flourish in backpacker hostels.

Maybe my Rentabook idea needs to find the place where it can flourish. Any ideas?