Woodland (Calif.) Public Library hopes to offset statewide budget cuts with the April 16 opening of Shop for the Library, an Internet shopping mall that features more than 200 online merchants who will give the library between 2% and 55% commissions from sales referred from the site.
The online mall features such sites as Amazon.com, Ebay, and Expedia as well as the library’s own boutique, which offers cards, posters, and apparel items depicting images held in local archives. The library’s merchandise collection was created through Zazzle.com, an online venture that allows organizations or individuals to upload jpeg images on which they own the copyright or from the public domain, and use them to create gift items.
“We have a clear choice in this economy—cut back or fight back,” library Director Marie Bryan said. “We’re fighting. We got a grant to cover the costs of setting up Shop for the Library, and now all proceeds we raise will go to support services to the public.”
The project is supported by a Library Services and Technology Act grant.
Posted April 21, 2003.