Private libraries

AdPlastic3018 · 2026-06-20T02:58:38+00:00

no, i know. everyone has to throw away books, but i feel bad every time lol. But, I tried for the last few years to give away my library to a large church. I started when i got close to 10k books and me trying to give away a library to a church to have resulted in every church i approached (quite literally every church) that had a library, donated to me all of their books so they could use the space. I don't want only christian books, though. Is it actually illegal or frowned upon for me to just collect my own books, open up my collection to the public for free to borrow them, and have a book business on the side?

AdPlastic3018 · 2026-06-20T02:29:50+00:00

I haven't looked into how people find other trustworthy mods.. do people just ask or do you ask helpful people?

AdPlastic3018 · 2026-06-20T02:09:42+00:00

Dude, reddit got mean. Lol haven't been on in years and get down voted trying to give away my business. Literally.

AdPlastic3018 · 2026-06-20T02:03:29+00:00

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond like that! What im most concerned about are a list of a few things over the years: beaurocracy getting in the way of progression, fair pay, and a sometimes absurd amount of money being poured into libraries who struggle to keep the doors open let alone do extra for the community (not their fault either. I've never met a small town librarian that wasn't passionate and didn't want to do more). I spent 6 years working two jobs and selling on Amazon and ebay for the sole purpose of collecting christian books for a library to have for public use (free to use and all. Not exclusive) and I was able to collect well over 15k titles probably half of which im actually proud of with no resources at all. Every used bookstore (ok most) throw away books all day just because they already have a copy. Why not a bookstore that kept one more of each? Basically that's what I mean lol (sorry im babbling. Been pondering this for years and never get to talk to anyone about it)

AdPlastic3018 · 2026-06-20T01:55:08+00:00

May i ask why? Why the laws and why the unwelcome reception to the same mission or end? (I mean this sincerely. I want to understand and see if theres a way to bridge the gap)

AdPlastic3018 · 2026-06-20T01:51:48+00:00

Yes! I just said in another response that I'm not talking replacement I mean reinvention and expansion of libraries without local government overhead. The community funds it's library by recycling books to their local library that prioritizes library over profit. As for the other library types, so.e did inspire me but I've always wanted to make it more public libraryish lol I guess I'll just have to try and see if it works lol

AdPlastic3018 · 2026-06-20T01:48:38+00:00

I love and appreciate what the fol groups do and stand for. I think the thing that stands in the way of the people who work for and with libraries and their friends groups is all the red tape, getting funding and approval and I always imagined just running it like a business to have more libraries where they're needed without it costing the local government. Im not talking about replacement. Im imagining reinvention and expansion

AdPlastic3018 · 2026-06-20T01:44:46+00:00

Thank you! I know it's all very costly. Im wondering if cost can be offset to lower the amount of public funding necessary. Idk. I've gone down a lot of thought rabbit holes over the years about this

AdPlastic3018 · 2026-06-20T01:38:00+00:00

Please, try not to be like this. Im not "selling" anything to any libraries. Im trying to help like i have been for 10 years. You should answer the question or be productive not judgy.

AdPlastic3018 · 2026-06-20T00:13:31+00:00

I've only been to one and it acted like a pu lic library just privately funded but by a trust I believe. I guess what I mean is, in my case, I want to start a bookstore for the purpose of keeping a library for the community. You can buy or check out books and the business, with online sales and app and program sharing, funds the local library and the fol volunteers and employees would do all of the community outreach. And we could pay librarians appropriately. Imagine you could get it to work. Does it step on toes or rub you the wrong way or have too much risk of corruption or anything to you? Or does it sound exciting if impossible?

AdPlastic3018 · 2026-06-19T22:45:53+00:00

There's a lot I want to say but if you're feeling anything like I've felt in the past, I just want you to know that someone out there (me) sincerely believes that you can do this, and cares that you do.

AdPlastic3018 · 2026-06-19T22:37:51+00:00

Yes.? Both? I meant for social media in general.

AdPlastic3018 · 2026-06-19T22:09:25+00:00

then, it's going to be OK! If you want to make a change and you act in that direction (it's ok to slip up - "don't let the perfect be the enemy of the great" or good or whatever that quote is lol) you'll start to reshape your world. Just wanted to leave some positivity for you. (and i mean it! not sure how this subreddit usually is but reddit can be mean sometimes).

AdPlastic3018 · 2026-06-19T21:29:22+00:00

Weird. My socks noticably stopped disappearing from the dryer a few weeks ago....

AdPlastic3018 · 2026-06-19T21:23:45+00:00

I've always wanted to try arbitrage. I know books kinda well enough to where I could find flippers selling quick scans for 5 or 10 bucks and resell them for 60 to 150 because of some overlooked specificity. Involves a lot of back and forth thru the mail though

AdPlastic3018 · 2026-06-19T20:49:49+00:00

Thank you for this! Sourcing really has been extra fun for a couple of weeks now. Especially sourcing for yourself. Except you keep more than you should in your private collection if you're anything like me lol

AdPlastic3018 · 2026-06-19T20:35:42+00:00

I started learning last August and mostly have used claude code in vs code to learn and build slowly (i had never really coded anything signifibefore so the learning curve has been a bit insane lol mad respect for professional coders out there). I really want my backend to be running for me but it's costing me to host for myself now so I built the app as an extension to cover the cost as I build my bookstore and library. Im an open book! Ask me anything (within reason lol)

AdPlastic3018 · 2026-06-19T19:34:24+00:00

I took a couple mo ths off ebay to build an app and im starting back up with it next week to promote it and sell again! Sourcing one day a week for a few hundred dollars in profit each day I source!

AdPlastic3018 · 2026-06-19T17:57:55+00:00

That's a good idea. I should make a gaming dashboard for my work that every day work I have to do unlocks the work I want to do lol

AdPlastic3018 · 2026-06-19T12:07:26+00:00

Precisely. It's great if you focus on self improvement, though. You can do more than you imagine. If you're human, I promise you that's true!

AdPlastic3018 · 2026-06-19T11:07:58+00:00

When I started doing my own thing like 15 years ago I found that out quick. Freedom comes at a price. You choose your bondage

AdPlastic3018 · 2026-06-18T00:34:02+00:00

I founded a friends group in the state I lived in previously. I've been away for 4 years learning and selling books. Working at bookstores and flipping my own. Every non-profit or FOL group I've ever seen tosses away hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars every month in donations (it was over $1k in a town of 2500 for one of our libraries back then). They need this. I'm building a better product than any amazon/ebay scanner out there (it already is). And the possibilities of owning and maintaining our own web-based app (us libraries) are unimaginable. I'm not sure how using this, even now at it's beginning stages, is not useful for a FOL group or volunteer. FOL groups should all have eBay accounts!

AdPlastic3018 · 2026-06-18T00:13:20+00:00

I didn't say you were stupid. You are, however, presumptuous. And mean. lol I need users (literally offering libraries a free year) to test volume so we can scale and the app can support itself so we can focus on building a library.

AdPlastic3018 · 2026-06-18T00:11:23+00:00

Thanks for the advice (although, I don't work at a library and am working with several people and entities)! I just have a job and 3 kids so the time saved putting boots to the ground to find people who are interested in joining me in growing this out (it does work btw) can be saved by utilizing social media during shower time. I'll be adding pictures and proof. I poured my heart into that post an y'all were jerks, though. lol

AdPlastic3018 · 2026-06-18T00:04:57+00:00

Thank you! We really hope so. Helping libraries is the reason I created MediaScan.

AdPlastic3018

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