“Every year, our PTA’s biggest fundraiser is a used book sale held along with the town’s Labor Day festival. We collect donated books throughout August. A local grocery store offers a drop-off bin that we empty twice a day. People bring books to the school, and people call for book pickup from our volunteers. Then we sort them at the school, storing them in boxes labeled with general categories such as ‘children’s’ or ‘general fiction.’ Last year we received about 24,000 donated books. The books were priced to sell at 50 cents a paperback and a dollar for a hard cover. We make about $4,500 during the four-day festival. And we do it while encouraging the whole town to read and recycle.”