HollieKThis book was donated the other day, and my first thought was "What are the Daleks doing invading Venice?"
Monday's book donations were fairly typical in volume, but heavily skewed towards books needing to be ragged and books to go to the warehouse as donations. We kept 96 books for processing, sent 154 books to the warehouse as donations, and 181 books for ragging. It took most of the afternoon to sort through all of them, and it was irritating that people had donated over 180 books that were in poor enough condition that the best outcome is that we can get a few pence per kilo for them as ragged books, rather than going into the bin and costing money to dispose of - which is what might happen to some of them.
The boxes of books to go to the warehouse were collected last Thursday, so by Monday we were back to normal with book donations, and donations in general. We had just over 50 boxes and bags donated on Monday, which is par for the course. Over the course of a week, we probably get at least 300-350 donations in, which is why we can get clogged up at times, and can't take any more in. When we're that full, we can't "just store it somewhere," because we have already used up all our storage space. We do try to limit the amount of time that we aren't taking in donations, but it is something that happens.
The stockroom has been tidied to within an inch of its life, and we are busy appreciating it while it lasts. The bags and boxes to go to the clearance shop have gone, and although the boxes of books to go to the warehouse won't be moved until Tuesday, at least they're tidy. The charity's CEO arrived for a short, unannounced visit on Wednesday, and he was very complimentary about how good it looked, which was also very nice.
Some of the items we packed up yesterday, for moving on to the clearance shop:
- Chestnut roaster
- Bread bin
- French horn
- Cutlery set
If they don't get collected today, they'll just have to wait until next Tuesday, when deliveries and collections should be back to normal.
As we've got a pause on donations this week, we decided to tidy up and sort out the stockroom shelves, as stuff tends to pile up and they get cluttered. It went really well - we unearthed and packed up a load of random bric-a-brac that can hopefully get sent off to the clearance shop tomorrow, found a lot of kids' toys that can go out straightaway, and discovered that we have even more crockery, puzzles and games than we thought. Now that it's all visible and tidy, it will be a lot easier to find things to put out. It's not going to stay that tidy for long, especially when we are able to take donations again, but it looks good for now.
This week is going to be difficult, as the warehouse is overwhelmed, and we can't accept donations - the only thing they will be collecting from any of our group of shops is culled clothes. Luckily, there haven't been many complaints so far, although one customer was affronted as she is signed up to gift aid, had travelled 10 miles to get into town, and had never needed to phone up before, to check if donations were being accepted. She then wondered if we couldn't "just store them somewhere." If we had anywhere to store them, we wouldn't be rejecting donations!
Someone donated To Kill the President yesterday. I read the blurb and blinked - not exactly an explosive thriller nowadays.
"The unthinkable has happened…
The United States has elected a volatile demagogue as president, backed by his ruthless chief strategist, Crawford ‘Mac’ McNamara.
When a war of words with the North Korean regime spirals out of control and the President comes perilously close to launching a nuclear attack, it's clear someone has to act, or the world will be reduced to ashes.
Soon Maggie Costello, a seasoned Washington operator and stubbornly principled, discovers an inside plot to kill the President – and faces the ultimate moral dilemma. Should she save the President and leave the free world at the mercy of an increasingly crazed would-be tyrant – or commit treason against her Commander in Chief and risk plunging the country into a civil war?"
We've got an embargo on donations for the next week, as the warehouse is overwhelmed, and van drivers are thin on the ground as well, so they won't be collecting anything from any of the shops.
Yesterday someone bought 7 books from our window display on Military History, for a grand total of £22.40. Apparently he lives abroad and needs some books to read - happy to oblige! 📚