What do 41,267 books look like, you ask?
Well, they come nicely wrapped on 16 large pallets. They barely fit in our back receiving area.
Then when you cut the shrink wrap and start separating them, those pesky boxes fill the rows. You have to fill the rows, unpack all the boxes, then fill up the row again. It can be a little insanity-inducing.
Your only choice at that point is to dive right in. (Simon’s Cat is inspirational for this kind of work, you know)
Since Monday night, the four of us have logged over 70 hours, countless squats, lifts, forward bends, and back stretches, and this morning, the end is in sight. Today we should be able to get the last boxes unpacked, everything counted, and then the clean up complete. 
Lots and lots of soap has been used to wash hands – you can count on your fingernails being gray for weeks. And it’s a certainty that the recycling container won’t be able to hold all the shipping boxes we’ve broken down.
These 41,267 books look fantastic on the shelves and there are so many great titles, it’s mind-boggling.
And tomorrow our customers start coming in to pick their assortments. Which means we’ll be pulling and boxing 36,000 books back up to go out to area schools. Good thing we’ve got candy to keep our energy up 🙂
Come and get ’em!