Agenda

Return

C. 18

To:	Board of Supervisors
From:	Melinda Cervantes, County Librarian
Date:	April 14, 2020

Contra

Costa

County

Subject:

Agreement with Better World Books

APPROVE	OTHER
RECOMMENDATION OF CNTY ADMINISTRATOR	RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE

Action of Board On: 04/14/2020

APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED

OTHER

Clerks Notes:

VOTE OF SUPERVISORS

AYE:

John Gioia, District I Supervisor
Candace Andersen, District II Supervisor
Diane Burgis, District III Supervisor
Karen Mitchoff, District IV Supervisor
Federal D. Glover, District V Supervisor

Contact:

Gail McPartland, 925-608-7704

I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of the Board of Supervisors on the date shown.
ATTESTED: April 14, 2020
David Twa,

BY:	, Deputy

RECOMMENDATION(S):

APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the County Librarian, or designee, to execute a contract with Qumpus, Inc. (dba Better World Books), for the removal and subsequent sale, donation or recycling of library books and materials that the County Librarian has determined to be surplus to the Library’s needs.

FISCAL IMPACT:

No impact on the General Fund. Potential positive impact on the Library Fund as a result of cost savings associated with discontinuing annual public giveaways and from the County’s share of sale proceeds.

BACKGROUND:

The County Librarian is authorized to declare as surplus library materials that are determined to be outdated, damaged, superseded or no longer relevant to the collection. The County Librarian is also empowered to make arrangements with the County Purchasing Agent to dispose of surplus library materials by making donations to “Friends” organizations, community organizations, other governmental agencies, or in any other way deemed appropriate.

BACKGROUND: (CONT'D)

Historically, the County has found that very few “Friends” groups take advantage of library surplus items as part of their fund-raising efforts. Instead, the Library has made surplus items available to the public through annual book giveaways held each summer at the Pleasant Hill Library. The annual giveaway is

time consuming and labor intensive as the Library must transport boxes of materials from other community libraries to the Pleasant Hill Library, sort the boxes, lay out boxes for public viewing and dispose of items not taken by the public. In addition, this approach to dealing with surplus items depends on the availability of storage space at the Pleasant Hill Library to assemble items for giveaway. Because the Pleasant Hill Library is scheduled to be permanently closed in June, the Library’s ability to conduct an annual giveaway to dispose of surplus materials is no longer a viable option.

Under the proposed agreement with Qumpus, Inc. (dba Better World Books), each community Library will be able to schedule pickups of surplus materials with the vendor. The vendor will then assess the items, making those in saleable condition available online for purchase. The Library will receive a portion of the proceeds when items are sold. If items are not sold, the vendor may donate them to a literacy or educational organization or dispose of them in an environmentally sensitive manner.

The Library will use any sale proceeds to support Library collections and literacy initiatives.

CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:

If the agreement with Better World Books is not approved, the Library may not be able to move out of the Pleasant Hill Library as scheduled due to all the surplus materials on hand. Furthermore, the Library will have to consider other options for dealing with surplus materials in the future.