It is always a great encouragement to hear from fellow Christians eager to serve the Lord and support our work. Though based in the Southern Highlands we have regular volunteers coming from Wollongong and the South Coast as well folk prepared to travel from Campbelltown and different areas of the Highlands.
Our original army of volunteers came through the work of Rockdale Christian Bookshop and we were supported by many in the Presbyterian Church at Rockdale.
Christan Books Australia is not financially supported by any church or Christian organisation so the work of Book Aid (Australia) is very much dependent on books sales through Christian Books Australia. Our next step is very much to explore how both Book Aid (Australia) and Christian Books Australia could be set up formally as trust, charity or non profitmaking body. Originally Book Aid (Australia) was set up as a charity in 1995 but when insurance premiums rose inordinately we were foced to drop the charitable status and place Book Aid (Australia) under the work of Christian Books Australia.
In many respects I would like to see the work of Book Aid (Australia) given greater focus but time and resources have not allowed this. In any case we have always found the two branches of our work Book Aid and Christian Books Australia complement each other well. About 75% of our donations and books purchased are earmarked for overseas. The remaining 25% are earmarked for sale through Christian Books Australia. The CBA books tend to be specialist academic works, older collectible items and books, many out of print, with a ready market here in Australia.
We also stock a range of new books which tend to be what we consider the best items available for sale to Christians here in Australia. These tend to be reformed and conservative evangelical items. Though other bookshops and in particular Reformers have a wider range of new books we consider it our responsibility to have readily available an alternative source of the best books in new condition. These books are available for church bookstalls which can be readily supplied. At the moment we do not have a range of new books for children, bible study booklets or bibles. We recommend Koorong for Bibles and childrens materials and Reformers for their range of bible study booklets from the Good Book Company.
Areas of Volunteering
Trust development (Charity or Non for Profit Body) - For the future we would like to see Christian Books Australia and Book Aid (Australia) be set up as a trust with long term oversight. A lawyer, accountant or someone with a legal mind to see this through would be appropriate
Facebook - Establishing a Facebook page or a site specifically to highlight the work of Book Aid (Australia). This would include: Details of new requests for books, Current Projects, Details of Drop off points, Collector networks, Go Fund Me and projects in need of sponsorship. There are good You Tube videos showing how to set up such pages for non profit organisations but with limited time they are beyond me.
Collecter Network - Our aim would be to set up a network of collectors in NSW so books can be dropped at specific locations. When a consignment is ready for collection arrangements would be made for a pick up. Collection points in South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania and Queensland are also needed. If you are interested in this please let me know.
Cataloguing - This is very much the backbone of our work. Because so many items that are catalogued are highly specialst in nature turnover is quite low. We try to maintain a ready supply of sought after titles so always have stocks of books awaiting to be catalogued. Exploring new listing methods through ISBN Barcode scanning has potential.
Book Reviews - This would include conducting literature reviews for featured books is a vital work in the future. This could include topical searches.
Photographing - All books are photographed after they are catalogued. Files of 1000 photographs are sent to Bangladesh to be edited.
Boxing Books - This is a relatively straightforward task of putting all catalogued books into boxes. Labeling boxes and entering book location on our database. We box books for security and ease of location. Unfortunately this rules out customers being able to browse the shelves.
Picking & Packing Orders at Fitzroy Falls - this almost requires a full time staff member
Church Bookstalls - Providing selections of books for churches proposing to have bookstalls
Customer Service - We used to operate a bookshop from Rockdale Presbyterian Church. Other churches seeking to combine a service to other churches in an area as well as undertaking an evangelistic outreach through literature could set up similar projects.
The main difficulty for volunteers is that most of our work is conducted from Fitzroy Falls. Certainly cataloguing can be undertaken from home as also reviewing books but at some point books have to be returned for storage at Fitzroy Falls. As an incentive we can cover costs of travel and expenses to Fitzroy Falls. Additionally for highly specialist legal services and web site development we are happy to cover market rate costs.
