Hello, Family and Friends

NJ Public Library Memorial Donation Program

A friend of Ida Bell Publishing, LLC, who wishes to remain anonymous, has been buying books from Ida Bell Publishing, LLC to donate them to local New Jersey public libraries. The books are donated in memory of a family member.

Since libraries use taxpayer dollars and have finite space, books must undergo an approval process before they are accepted. Our friend, after contacting the library director and explaining the program,  takes the galleys, the promotional not-for-sale copies, to the libraries so a staff member or a committee, different libraries use different procedures, can read the book and decide whether to accept it or not. This is not the usual practice for libraries. Distributors sell libraries books–at a discount–that they have been hired by the publisher to sell.

Spotlight on New Books

Libraries put a spotlight on new books by putting them in a special area so patrons will notice them when they walk in the door. Our friend reports that An Extraordinary Life: Josephine E. Jones, with its unique cover, stands out among the other new books and will receive a great deal of attention.

Libraries Accepting Books

Through this program,  the following NJ public libraries have accepted copies of An Extraordinary Life: Josephine E. Jones:

Union, Vauxhall, Irvington, Hillside, Plainfield, Roselle, and Montclair.

Note: Union (they also have jurisdiction over Vauxhall) did not even need to read the galley. Just seeing the website was enough for them to accept that it was a serious book worthy of being in their library. I immediately sent a note to Ben Marshall to tell him again how much I appreciated his creative website.

THANK YOU!

Ida Bell Publishing, LLC  has thanked this friend in person, but thanks this anonymous donor publicly in this post (can you thank an anonymous donor publicly?)  for the imagination and heart to create and carry out such a fine program.