Can I do business with Library?

Question

I have my ambition is to become a Library owner. I love reading and I ve a lot of saving books. I want to share reading my books to other and want to read more books as well. I want to open Library. But I need monthly income to feed myself and two cats. I understand that Library is a kind of NGO job which cannot get income.
How can I complete my ambition? Can anyone give me advise?

Answer 1

People who work in libraries do get paid (by the government out of taxes), so perhaps the simplest solution is to apply for a job there.



As the anonymous answer says, there used to be private libraries, where people would pay to borrow a book, but public libraries, run by the government and free to use, have largely killed them off. The question you then have to answer is why anyone who can't afford to buy books, or wants to read a specific book but doesn't want to buy it, would pay you to let them read a book when they could get it for free.



You would have to offer them something that the public library doesn't, and which they think is worth your prices. I'm struggling to think what that might be, though.

Answer 2

You can run a private or commercial library - Boots the Chemist used to do it.

the concept was called 'circulating libraries.'

http://www.reading.ac.uk/web/files/deal/bootsandthenovel.pdf



But since you are in competition with free public libraries, e-books and cheap paperback editions

you won t get many customers - which is why Boots no longer do it - unless you make it a highly specialized library.



What you can do is supply library services as a private sector contractor to a public authority. Many councils are now outsourcing their libraries - though I think most retain ownership of the stock and buildings.



I inherited 1000s of books and have my own library - as Anthony Powell says: books do furnish a room.

Answer 3

You are more likely to lose your books than obtain money from renting them. Some users of the public library misplace or deface what they borrow, or they steal them. You will need to keep records of who has what for how long, and pay a collection agency to take the worst offenders to small claims court.



You will need to have what people want to read. You will also need to advertise your business. Your competition is the public library, bookstores and the online information systems on the internet.



You could sell your books. Create your own online store and compete with the others advertised on abebooks.com and Amazon. Like any startup business, you will need money to start it. Check with your bank and your city hall what business plans and papers you should present to get finding.

Answer 4

Libraries are part of the city's infrastructure, they aren't independently owned.



Bookstores are independents, privately owned.