Hello all!
As promised, here is a link to my Final Presentation. I gave my presentation this past Saturday and I think it went pretty well! Thank you to those of you who came to see it!
Finally, I just wanted to thank everybody who has been following my journey over the past few months. I've definitely enjoyed sitting down to write my blog posts at the end of each week! I hope you all enjoyed reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them.
P.S. It wouldn't really be a post on my blog if I didn't end with this: Happy Reading!
Monday, May 9, 2016
Monday, May 2, 2016
Chapter Thirteen: The Final Chapter
I officially had my last week at the Phoenix store, meaning that my internship has come to a close. Here's how I spent my last week!
I spent most of my time helping out at front information, taking orders, putting books on hold, and just generally answering questions. I've definitely come a long way from when I was too afraid that I would answer the phone and not know how to help someone! Pro tip: never hesitate to put someone on hold if you're unsure about something. It saves you from sounding clueless and it gives you a little time to ask some of the other employees around you! The largest order I had to complete was when a man came in looking for 7 different books! We didn't have any of them so I had to order them all, and I even had to do and access order on a few of them, meaning that there were only a handful of copies in the warehouse and I had to hold one of them until the book buyers place an order. It was a very long process, ad luckily it was for a man who was right in front of me, not on the phone, so he was extremely patient while I filled out all of the order forms!
I also got to do some shelving. I definitely was able to become comfortable with the layout of the store in Phoenix a bit faster I did at the Tempe store, probably because it's a much smaller store. There was also much less shelving to do in Phoenix since there are fewer, smaller sections, and I was able to whip through shelving in Phoenix whereas in Tempe I had to spend a good chunk of time.
Additionally, just as I did at the Tempe store, I conducted a customer survey. Most of the questions I asked were the same as the Tempe, with just a couple that referenced thing unique to Phoenix. Also, one of the questions asked if the customer had ever been to the Tempe store. I asked this to try to see if the Phoenix store is its own independent entity or just an extension of the Tempe store. A lot of the customers I talked to had been to the Tempe store before, but a portion of those people only visited the Tempe store because they shopped at the Phoenix store and loved it.
Finally, my last day was pretty special. There were even cupcakes waiting for me when I arrived from a bakery down the street (which were delicious, by the way). Bill Walton was also having a book signing and I got to talk to him for a bit and even got a picture with him!
It was a really great end to a really great internship. I couldn't have asked for a better experience and would do it all over again if I could! Everyone at Changing Hands really did everything they could to make me feel at home. I'll be posting my final presentation soon, but until then, happy reading!
I spent most of my time helping out at front information, taking orders, putting books on hold, and just generally answering questions. I've definitely come a long way from when I was too afraid that I would answer the phone and not know how to help someone! Pro tip: never hesitate to put someone on hold if you're unsure about something. It saves you from sounding clueless and it gives you a little time to ask some of the other employees around you! The largest order I had to complete was when a man came in looking for 7 different books! We didn't have any of them so I had to order them all, and I even had to do and access order on a few of them, meaning that there were only a handful of copies in the warehouse and I had to hold one of them until the book buyers place an order. It was a very long process, ad luckily it was for a man who was right in front of me, not on the phone, so he was extremely patient while I filled out all of the order forms!
I also got to do some shelving. I definitely was able to become comfortable with the layout of the store in Phoenix a bit faster I did at the Tempe store, probably because it's a much smaller store. There was also much less shelving to do in Phoenix since there are fewer, smaller sections, and I was able to whip through shelving in Phoenix whereas in Tempe I had to spend a good chunk of time.
Additionally, just as I did at the Tempe store, I conducted a customer survey. Most of the questions I asked were the same as the Tempe, with just a couple that referenced thing unique to Phoenix. Also, one of the questions asked if the customer had ever been to the Tempe store. I asked this to try to see if the Phoenix store is its own independent entity or just an extension of the Tempe store. A lot of the customers I talked to had been to the Tempe store before, but a portion of those people only visited the Tempe store because they shopped at the Phoenix store and loved it.
Finally, my last day was pretty special. There were even cupcakes waiting for me when I arrived from a bakery down the street (which were delicious, by the way). Bill Walton was also having a book signing and I got to talk to him for a bit and even got a picture with him!
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| He's so tall that he told me to put my shoulder in front of him so I wouldn't disappear! |
Monday, April 25, 2016
Chapter Twelve: An Eventful Week in Phoenix
This week I got to experience a lot of new things! It's been really cool to be able to witness firsthand the differences between Phoenix and Tempe.
I started off by sitting in on the Teen Advisory Board meeting. The Teen Advisory Board is a group of around ten teens that meet with two staff members of Changing Hands to talk about things they want to change about or introduce to the teen section of the store. The meeting I sat in on was actually the group's first meeting, so I got to listen in as they discussed making various displays highlighting local authors, incorporating a graphic novel section in the teen section so that they are more accessible to teens, and having two meetings a month rather than just one so that they can also make the group a book club. It was really cool to see all of these teens who had such a strong love of books; much of the meeting was spent talking about books they loved and just nerding out in general.
Next, I helped set up an event for Frank Beddor's first book in a prequel series to The Looking Glass Wars, which is a series targeted towards teens. The setup that Phoenix is able to do for events is extremely different from the setup Tempe can do. Since the Phoenix store has access to the Commons for events, they have a designated event space that doesn't require them to rearrange shelves in the store (which is what happens in Tempe). The Commons also allows for more creativity with even setup. For instance, for the Frank Beddor event, the space was set up with rectangular tables with tablecloths, top hat centerpieces, and table confetti that went with the theme of the book. Additionally, during the event, there was a magician doing tricks and even a ballet performance by a local company! The event space in the Phoenix store is extremely unique, which is something that I think helps Changing Hands get that competitive edge against other venues that might be vouching for authors.
Over the next few days, I spent a lot of my time interacting with customers, both in store and on the phone. I was able to overcome my initial borderline-crippling fear of answering the phone and was able to answer questions with more ease, not afraid to put someone on hold to ask a manager or another employee for help. I got really good at putting books on hold in the system, which is something that people asked about a lot. Other than that, I put a good amount of time into ordering books that we didn't have in-store for people.
I also did some more section maintenance. This time, I worked on the science, social issues & politics, social issues & economics, and teen sections. The science section in particular was a lot of fun to work on because the entire top shelf is dedicated to display, so I got to choose from all of the books in the section to put up there! All of the science books have gorgeous covers, but I think I was especially partial to the books about space.
Some of the things I do at Changing Hands are a little less glamorous than most of the things I talk about. For instance, the other day I was given the task of going down to the basement to shred things until the shredder overheated. After two shredding sessions, I was able to tackle all of the bags, which was extremely satisfying. Another thing I did was stamp paper shopping bags with the Changing Hands and First Draft Book Bar logos.
This may seem like just another tedious task, but it's really good free advertising for Changing Hands. And, on top of that, it adds just another personal touch to the shopping experience.
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It was another eventful week at Changing Hands! Next week is my last week at the store as well as the last week of my Senior Project, so I just wanted to take this time to thank everyone who has taken the time to read my posts every week. Next week I will be sharing a link to my final presentation slides, but until then, happy reading!
Over the next few days, I spent a lot of my time interacting with customers, both in store and on the phone. I was able to overcome my initial borderline-crippling fear of answering the phone and was able to answer questions with more ease, not afraid to put someone on hold to ask a manager or another employee for help. I got really good at putting books on hold in the system, which is something that people asked about a lot. Other than that, I put a good amount of time into ordering books that we didn't have in-store for people.
I also did some more section maintenance. This time, I worked on the science, social issues & politics, social issues & economics, and teen sections. The science section in particular was a lot of fun to work on because the entire top shelf is dedicated to display, so I got to choose from all of the books in the section to put up there! All of the science books have gorgeous covers, but I think I was especially partial to the books about space.
Some of the things I do at Changing Hands are a little less glamorous than most of the things I talk about. For instance, the other day I was given the task of going down to the basement to shred things until the shredder overheated. After two shredding sessions, I was able to tackle all of the bags, which was extremely satisfying. Another thing I did was stamp paper shopping bags with the Changing Hands and First Draft Book Bar logos.
This may seem like just another tedious task, but it's really good free advertising for Changing Hands. And, on top of that, it adds just another personal touch to the shopping experience.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was another eventful week at Changing Hands! Next week is my last week at the store as well as the last week of my Senior Project, so I just wanted to take this time to thank everyone who has taken the time to read my posts every week. Next week I will be sharing a link to my final presentation slides, but until then, happy reading!
Friday, April 15, 2016
Chapter Eleven: New Week, New Store (New Me?)
This week I had my first day at the Phoenix store! I was a bit nervous going into it, but I ended up having a really great day!
When I first walked into the store, I was relieved to see some familiar faces. Brandi, Camilla, and Daniel were working at the Phoenix location today. A lot of the employees at the Tempe location actually also spend some time in the Phoenix store. They help transfer stock between stores and overall just help the much newer Phoenix store run smoothly.
I started off by getting a tour of the store from the manager, Elisa. The only way I can really describe the Phoenix store to someone who has never seen it is that it is a modern bite-sized version of the Tempe store. Also, while the Tempe store is attached to Wildflower Bread Company, the Phoenix store sports First Draft Book Bar, which serves alcohol, coffee, tea, and other light refreshments. Customers can even shop around the store while drinking their beverage from the bar!
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| Sorry for the low-quality picture. I couldn't get the lighting right but still wanted to share this awesome sign!! |
Another exciting aspect of the Phoenix store is that the offices and break room are located in the basement, affectionately nicknamed the bat cave, which has the oddly satisfying feeling of a bunker.
After touring the store itself, Elisa showed me The Newton itself, which is the center that the store is located in. Right off the bar is the community room where Changing Hands holds its events. However, the space is not exclusive to Changing Hands and can be rented out for private events, something that I hadn't realized before. There meeting rooms down the hall that can also be rented out. Changing Hands also shares the complex with Southern Rail Restaurant, Southwest Gardener, and a consulting company. It was really cool to see how the center was a sort of haven for small business, something that I though reflected the spirit of Changing Hands.
After my tour was completed, Elisa and I went back up to front info, where I helped answer a phone call! This was pretty nerve-wracking for me since I felt like I wasn't knowledgeable enough to help customers, but I was able to put a book on hold for the customer, which made me feel very accomplished.
Although I never encountered them much in Tempe, Changing Hands does have some regulars. One of the Phoenix regulars actually emails Elisa with a list of books to be ordered for her, some of which don't come out for a few more months. I helped write out order slips for her latest list and placed a book that we actually had in stock on hold for her. It's pretty amazing to see the kind of customer loyalty that Changing Hands has.
Next I went down into the "bat cave" with Heather to shadow her while she makes a list of event books to order for the month of June using information in the event calendar. For signings, she not only adds the authors newest book to the list, but also other recent and/or popular books by the author. Once finished, this list will be used to place the book orders themselves.
After doing a bit or shelving, which was a bit difficult because I'm not yet completely familiar with the store, I actually did some section maintenance for the World Religions section. There's a bunch of different subsections packed in there, but overall it wasn't too difficult.
Finally, I helped Daniel out by labeling some cards. This may not seem very exciting, but I got to use the fancy price gun, which made me feel pretty awesome and official.
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I had a really great first day at Changing Hands in Phoenix! I can't wait to get to know it better! I have two more weeks of my project to go, but for now, happy reading!
Sunday, April 10, 2016
Chapter Ten: Farewell to Tempe
This week marked the last of my time at Changing Hands' Tempe location, a bittersweet thing because although I am excited to move over to the Phoenix location for the final three weeks of my project, I really enjoyed working with and getting to know all of the people in Tempe. Here's what I did during my final week in Tempe:
Day One
Today I got bounced around a bit, which I didn't actually mind because it meant I got to work on a bunch of different things throughout the day rather than just one or two like I had been doing for the past couple of weeks. I started by entering a batch of used books until I had to get out of the way so that a new used book trader could be trained.
I then moved over to the children's section to do a bit of section maintenance. The children's section is by far the largest section in the store, basically a miniature version of the store since it has almost all of the same sections and genres for kids as there are for adults throughout the store. Because of this, all of the shelves require constant maintenance to get them into their proper orders, especially since kids probably pay the least attention to alphabetization of all of Changing Hands' customers. I worked specifically on the kid's graphic novels section, a section that I had noticed was never quite in the right order every time I tried to shelve there. Although that section only consists of one bookcase, there are a few different sections within it, making its organization a bit tricky. However, I did manage to get all of the serial graphic novels in order (alphabetical by series title) before moving on to the next project.
Next, got to help out Jazmin again with a new project of hers. If you'll recall, Jazmin is one of the gift buyers, and last time I worked with her, I helped both Faith and her with some spring book and gift displays. This time, Jazmin was working on the beginning of a new display system for all of the cards that the store sells. By the end of this project, the idea is that there will be a uniform, color-coded labeling system for all the different types of cards for various occasions. The occasion I helped out with was birthday, so I helped fold a pretty hefty stack of card holders. Here's a look at what I was doing:
Day One
Today I got bounced around a bit, which I didn't actually mind because it meant I got to work on a bunch of different things throughout the day rather than just one or two like I had been doing for the past couple of weeks. I started by entering a batch of used books until I had to get out of the way so that a new used book trader could be trained.
I then moved over to the children's section to do a bit of section maintenance. The children's section is by far the largest section in the store, basically a miniature version of the store since it has almost all of the same sections and genres for kids as there are for adults throughout the store. Because of this, all of the shelves require constant maintenance to get them into their proper orders, especially since kids probably pay the least attention to alphabetization of all of Changing Hands' customers. I worked specifically on the kid's graphic novels section, a section that I had noticed was never quite in the right order every time I tried to shelve there. Although that section only consists of one bookcase, there are a few different sections within it, making its organization a bit tricky. However, I did manage to get all of the serial graphic novels in order (alphabetical by series title) before moving on to the next project.
Next, got to help out Jazmin again with a new project of hers. If you'll recall, Jazmin is one of the gift buyers, and last time I worked with her, I helped both Faith and her with some spring book and gift displays. This time, Jazmin was working on the beginning of a new display system for all of the cards that the store sells. By the end of this project, the idea is that there will be a uniform, color-coded labeling system for all the different types of cards for various occasions. The occasion I helped out with was birthday, so I helped fold a pretty hefty stack of card holders. Here's a look at what I was doing:
After folding to my heart's content, I worked on restocking the displays in the front from backstock. I feel like I was kind of terrible at this because I would forget what needed to be brought to the front by the time I got to the back. However, after a few haphazard trips back and forth, one of the employees, Leah suggested that I take pictures of the displays to look at once I got to the back. This made my productivity go up significantly, and eventually I finished up and moved onto the next activity.
For my penultimate activity of the day, I got to work with Joel and see how ticketing and promotion for events works. First, we printed out the tickets for an upcoming event and labeled them with the different letter groups that are used to put the line in order. Then, Joel showed me the template he uses to create the posters for events and how he fills it in with all of the specific information for different events using the information that is put on Changing Hands' website.
Finally, as my last project of the day, I worked with Faith on putting together donations for various organizations. These consisted of giftcards and Changing Hands mugs wrapped up all nice and pretty. This put my bow-tying skills to the test, but at the end of the day I managed to make all of the packages look nice, so that's all that really matters, right?
Day Two
Today was a bit of a slow day at Changing Hands because some shipments were going to be arriving late because of a truck malfunction. Thus, I spent the day yet again entering used books. Something I never really mentioned before when I talked about entering used books is the advantage of being one of the first people to see what books are coming into the store. Today, I saw a copy of Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews come in, a book that I had been wanting to read for a while. Since it is a very popular book, used copies never stay on the shelf for long, so I or course took advantage of this and grabbed it for myself. Also, when I was putting some used books on the shelf at the front of the store that holds more of the popular books that come across the used book counter. While I was there, I noticed that there was a signed first edition of The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, which I was pretty excited by until I noticed a signed first edition of Seveneves by Neal Stephenson. If you remember, I mentioned in a previous post that I saw this book in the science fiction section and was really interested in reading it. Since the used, signed copy was half the price of a new one (and a one-of-a-kind copy in the store), I couldn't help myself and just had to pick it up.
Day Three
I spent my last day at the Tempe Location conducting a customer survey. I was asking questions about how often customers shop at Changing Hands, what their book-buying habits are, and why they chose to come specifically to Changing Hands. I got 25 responses, and although I haven't gone through all of them yet, the overwhelming consensus of all of the customers I talked to was that the store was someplace that they felt was important to stay open.
In between getting survey responses, I helped out a bunch of customers at back info. A few customers were asking for book recommendations, something that I should have been super confident in since I love reading, but actually ended up being one of the most difficult things to help with. Every time someone asks me for a book recommendation, for some reason my mind goes blank and I forget pretty much everything I've ever read. However, with the help of some of the other employees and a quick look at the shelves, I was able to give out some recommendations for books I truly did enjoy.
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I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the Tempe location and and so grateful for the amount I was able to learn and experience. Next week I will be writing about my escapades in Phoenix, but until then, happy reading!
Friday, April 1, 2016
Chapter Nine: Customer Service Extraordinaire
This week was especially fun and festive because Changing Hands turned 42. Here's what I got up to this week!
Day One
Today I spent all day at back info helping customers with the other trainees. They especially made an effort to let me help most of the customers that came up to us since I had spent less time training then they had. This helped me get more accustomed to using the inventory search function of Booklog as well as more comfortable in general with talking with customers. The most rewarding customer interaction was when a woman came to the back info station asking for help finding a book that she had read in German but didn't know the name of. She was able to tell me enough about the premise of the book that finally, after many far-fetched Google searches later, I was able to identify the book and find the one we had on hand for her to purchase. It was truly an experience unique to an indie bookstore purely based on the amount of personalized attention that I was able to give the customer. She was extremely excited when we found the book and left a satisfied customer, which is everything a bookseller could ever ask for.
Today I also spent some time doing shelf maintenance on the science and fantasy & science fiction sections, which was fun because I got to see some new books that I want to read, including A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab and Seveneves by Neal Stephenson. I read one of V. E. Schwab's other books, Vicious, about a year ago and loved it, darkness and all, and can't wait to pick up this one!
Day Two
Today I was again working at back info, this time with just a couple of the trainees. I again got to help a bunch of customers, which was again super satisfying. When things got a bit slow, I completely organized the yoga and body section. Here's what my finished product looked like:
Thanks for checking out my blog this week, and a special thanks to everyone who nominated my blog post for blog of the week last week!! That's all for now, folks, and until next week, happy reading!
Day One
Today I spent all day at back info helping customers with the other trainees. They especially made an effort to let me help most of the customers that came up to us since I had spent less time training then they had. This helped me get more accustomed to using the inventory search function of Booklog as well as more comfortable in general with talking with customers. The most rewarding customer interaction was when a woman came to the back info station asking for help finding a book that she had read in German but didn't know the name of. She was able to tell me enough about the premise of the book that finally, after many far-fetched Google searches later, I was able to identify the book and find the one we had on hand for her to purchase. It was truly an experience unique to an indie bookstore purely based on the amount of personalized attention that I was able to give the customer. She was extremely excited when we found the book and left a satisfied customer, which is everything a bookseller could ever ask for.
Today I also spent some time doing shelf maintenance on the science and fantasy & science fiction sections, which was fun because I got to see some new books that I want to read, including A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab and Seveneves by Neal Stephenson. I read one of V. E. Schwab's other books, Vicious, about a year ago and loved it, darkness and all, and can't wait to pick up this one!
Day Two
Today I was again working at back info, this time with just a couple of the trainees. I again got to help a bunch of customers, which was again super satisfying. When things got a bit slow, I completely organized the yoga and body section. Here's what my finished product looked like:
Day Three
Today I worked on a little bit of shelving and then for the rest of the day I worked on entering used books--two carts worth! However, today I also got to see another aspect of retail: shoplifting. This kind of thing happens very rarely, but is still sadly something that comes along with running a store. After all of the excitement died down, my time at the store this week was over.
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Thanks for checking out my blog this week, and a special thanks to everyone who nominated my blog post for blog of the week last week!! That's all for now, folks, and until next week, happy reading!
Saturday, March 26, 2016
Chapter Eight: Tackling Trades
This week left me feeling even more at home in the store. Here's a look at what I got up to!
Day One
Today I was working with the three other trainees. We were with Heather manning the front information station. Things weren't too busy while we were there but we did get to help an elderly woman find some of the books she needed for her book club and give people books that they had ordered or were on hold for them.
Then, the rest of the crew changed over to back info while I worked on entering used books so that they would have shelving to do. While I was entering, I noticed that a book came up around three or four times while it wasn't in the system at all when the woman from earlier was looking for it. This made me think about the upsides of many of Changing Hands's employees working in various roles because that way, they become more familiar with all of the ins and outs of the store, even down to the specific books that it carries.
Next, I met back up with the rest of the trainees as Sarah gave us a much more in-depth tour of all of the store's sections (and some of the quirks that come along with them). I ended off the day by working yet again on some shelving.
Day Two
Today I got to Changing Hands bright and early a couple of hours before it opened to work with Lauren on the weekly Ingram book order. Ingram is the distributing company where Changing Hands and other bookstores get most of their books. Every Wednesday morning, Lauren goes into Booklog and pulls up what has sold in the last week. Then, she will order replacements based on how well the book has been selling and how many there still are in stock. This is also when she looks at the special orders that have been placed throughout the week as well as any books that an employee marked as "TBO" or "to be ordered". An employee will TBO a book if it is a book they feel like the store should sell because they like it, customers have been asking for it, or a combination of the two. Not all TBO requests end up getting ordered, but it's important to consider them and take into account what books employees are excited about selling. Another thing Lauren does when she is working on the order is go and look at which books are low on the bestseller and staff picks display wall since it is important to keep those displays well-stocked.
After Lauren finished up working on the order, I worked on some shelving until more of the other employees started trickling in (not many people come long before the store opens at 10). Then, once the other trainees arrived and were also tackling the shelving cart, I moved over to the used book counter to tackle the seemingly never-ending shelf of books to be entered (but this time I took pictures!!).
Here's a look at my entering station at the used book counter:
I spent an hour or two entering and creating more and more ambitious stacks of books. Here's what one batch looked like all stacked up:
After a very successful entering session, I ended up with a full cart and a slightly emptier shelf:
Day Three
Today I spent most of my time entering used books, although the shelf was much emptier today so I was actually able to clear it off completely! However, today my ambitious book-stacking reached its climax as halfway through one batch of books two stacks came tumbling down. Now, things could've been a lot worse: I could've just finished an entire three huge stacks that I would then have to pick up and label, or I could've accidentally banged up some books. Luckily, I was dealing for the most part with picture books (which, now that I'm thinking about it, may have been the source of the problem what with their inherent lack of stability--and apparent lack of stackability) so no books were harmed by my chronic clumsiness. Nevertheless, it was slightly irritating to have to painstakingly search through the roll of labels to find the right one for the now out-of-order books. But we live and learn. I I finished off all of the rest of the books on the shelf, careful now to make more stable stacks. I then helped shelve the books I had entered until it was time for me to leave.
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I'm having such an amazing experience at Changing Hands and can't believe that I'm already halfway through my time there! I'll be back next week with another update, but until then, happy reading!
Day One
Today I was working with the three other trainees. We were with Heather manning the front information station. Things weren't too busy while we were there but we did get to help an elderly woman find some of the books she needed for her book club and give people books that they had ordered or were on hold for them.
Then, the rest of the crew changed over to back info while I worked on entering used books so that they would have shelving to do. While I was entering, I noticed that a book came up around three or four times while it wasn't in the system at all when the woman from earlier was looking for it. This made me think about the upsides of many of Changing Hands's employees working in various roles because that way, they become more familiar with all of the ins and outs of the store, even down to the specific books that it carries.
Next, I met back up with the rest of the trainees as Sarah gave us a much more in-depth tour of all of the store's sections (and some of the quirks that come along with them). I ended off the day by working yet again on some shelving.
Day Two
Today I got to Changing Hands bright and early a couple of hours before it opened to work with Lauren on the weekly Ingram book order. Ingram is the distributing company where Changing Hands and other bookstores get most of their books. Every Wednesday morning, Lauren goes into Booklog and pulls up what has sold in the last week. Then, she will order replacements based on how well the book has been selling and how many there still are in stock. This is also when she looks at the special orders that have been placed throughout the week as well as any books that an employee marked as "TBO" or "to be ordered". An employee will TBO a book if it is a book they feel like the store should sell because they like it, customers have been asking for it, or a combination of the two. Not all TBO requests end up getting ordered, but it's important to consider them and take into account what books employees are excited about selling. Another thing Lauren does when she is working on the order is go and look at which books are low on the bestseller and staff picks display wall since it is important to keep those displays well-stocked.
After Lauren finished up working on the order, I worked on some shelving until more of the other employees started trickling in (not many people come long before the store opens at 10). Then, once the other trainees arrived and were also tackling the shelving cart, I moved over to the used book counter to tackle the seemingly never-ending shelf of books to be entered (but this time I took pictures!!).
Here's a look at my entering station at the used book counter:
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| The shelf on the right is where the books I'm entering com from. As you can see, it gets pretty full when trades get busy!! |
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| The empty cart I started with...the calm before the storm if you will. |
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| Things were getting a bit precarious!! |
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| All of the labels for the above books |
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| Keep in mind trades were going on and books were being added all while I was entering. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself!! |
Today I spent most of my time entering used books, although the shelf was much emptier today so I was actually able to clear it off completely! However, today my ambitious book-stacking reached its climax as halfway through one batch of books two stacks came tumbling down. Now, things could've been a lot worse: I could've just finished an entire three huge stacks that I would then have to pick up and label, or I could've accidentally banged up some books. Luckily, I was dealing for the most part with picture books (which, now that I'm thinking about it, may have been the source of the problem what with their inherent lack of stability--and apparent lack of stackability) so no books were harmed by my chronic clumsiness. Nevertheless, it was slightly irritating to have to painstakingly search through the roll of labels to find the right one for the now out-of-order books. But we live and learn. I I finished off all of the rest of the books on the shelf, careful now to make more stable stacks. I then helped shelve the books I had entered until it was time for me to leave.
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I'm having such an amazing experience at Changing Hands and can't believe that I'm already halfway through my time there! I'll be back next week with another update, but until then, happy reading!
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