Tips for Volunteers

If you would like to volunteer at the Authors & Artists Fair

Please send an email to sullivan@efn.org telling us how you would like to help!

Some volunteers are needed from 8:30am-9:30am for setup. Others are needed for two-hour shifts from 9:30am-11:30am, 11:30-1:30pm, 1:30-3:30pm, and 3:30-5:30pm as credit card cashiers and roving author/artists hospitality helpers. Credit card cashiers greet people as they come in the door. Visitors are encouraged to donate $1-$5 for the summer reading program; for $1 they get a bag, and for $5 they get their choice of 2 children's books. Cashiers also run "Square"-type credit card readers  and tally sales (which is not as difficult as it sounds). Hospitality helpers bring bottled water and VISA slips to authors/artists and offer to watch tables while authors/artists take short breaks. Please arrive for your shift 5-15 minutes early so that you can learn your duties from the previous volunteer.

Parking is free at the Lane County Fairgrounds (take the entrance at Jefferson & 13th Avenue). We're in the "Atrium", the glass-roofed hall in the middle of the largest exhibition building, between Holiday Market's two giant halls. If you arrive before 10am the FRONT DOORS WILL BE LOCKED, so you will have to enter at the BACK of the building between the “LOADING DOCK” signs.

SETUP people move tables and chairs, lay out tablecloths, hang banners, and distribute nameplates. If they can also help at the end of the day by stacking tables and chairs, that would be wonderful.

HOSPITALITY HELPERS take care of our event's stars. Your job is to keep the authors and artists happy. Walk around the fair and talk to them when they're not busy. We'll have bottled water that you can offer them. If they need to go to the bathroom or take a break, you may offer to watch their spot for a short time.

You should also make sure they have VISA slips and help them to understand the credit card sales system. If an artist or author wants their customers to use our online credit card system, they should fill out a white VISA sales slips, writing in the vendor’s name, the title, and the amount. After filling out the slip, they should give it to the customer and tell them to pay at the VISA cashier near the front doors. Customers should have a different slip for each different vendor. After the customer returns with the slip stamped “Paid”, the author/artist can give the customer the book or artwork. The author/artist should keep the slip for their records. The customers do not need a printed receipt because they will receive receipts by email or text, if they wish.

CASHIERS sit at the tables by the front doors, where they can keep an eye on the donation bucket as people come and go. Authors and artists will handle their own cash sales, so you don't have to deal with cash or checks. But many of the authors and artists do not have their own credit card machines, and that's why we're allowing shoppers to make credit card purchases here. We're using an online credit system called the “Square”. This electronic device uses the “LEC” network with the probable password “December2024”. Your job has several steps:

 1. Customers will arrive with one or more white credit card charge slips. First, TALLY THE SALES onto the list of authors and artists by the cash box. This is important, so when we settle up at the end of the day, we know how much we owe each author and artist. For example, if the sales slip says "Jasheway book 18.95" and "Peterson art 230.00", make sure you list those amounts on the tally sheet, so Leigh Anne Jasheway and Lynn Peterson get their money.

 2. Ask, “Would you like to round up to help the Lane Library League? A dollar wins you a bag and $5 wins you a children’s book.”

 3. Make sure the iPad or iPhone is opened to the “Square” app, and that the iPod is plugged into a battery to recharge, as needed. If the screen asks for a password, enter 683712. If the screen is open to the Square app, but is still displaying something odd, tap the CHECKOUT icon at the bottom left of the screen and/or the “KEYPAD” button at the top left of the screen. Then you’ll see the keypad for entering the charge amount.

 4. On the screen, use your finger to type in the total charge amount. For example, for “Jasheway book 18.95” and “Peterson art 230.00” the total charge would be $248.95, so you would type in “24895”. Don’t type in decimals or periods. If you need to make a correction, tap “C” at the bottom left of the keypad. This will clear the amount.

 5. Slide the credit card through the slot in the white plastic device attached to the iPod or iPhone. Make sure the magnetic stripe on the back of the card is facing the thicker side of the plastic device. Swipe the card quickly and be sure it stays straight as you swipe. If the iPad says “CARD NOT CHARGED” you may have to swipe the card several times until it recognizes the card.

 ((5a). If the customer wants to “tap to pay” using their phone, click on the blue “Review Sale” bar at the bottom of the transaction screen, then click on the blue “Charge” bar at the bottom of he next screen, and then click on the blue “Tap to Pay on iPhone” bar.)

 6. When the Square recognizes the card, it will think a few seconds and display the word “Approved”. At this point, give the customer back his/her card. If the Square rejects the card for any reason, try entering the transaction one more time. If it still fails, ask if the customer has a different card. If it still fails, apologize and ask if the customer can pay with cash, or if they could use the ATM machine in the hall to get cash.

 7. When the card is approved, the screen may offer to “SEND RECEIPT.” Just tap “NO RECEIPT.” The Square will send a receipt by email or text anyway if the customer has ever used the Square before. 

8. Stamp the vendor’s white slip “PAID”. Hand the slip to the customer and tell them to give it to the vendor.

9. Recheck to make sure that you have entered the sale amount in the list of authors and artists. This is the only written record we have of these amounts, so please keep a close eye on it.

10.  At the end of the day the cashier will be accepting the sales tally sheets of authors & artists, along with any money they owe based on their 25% fee. For those who have had a lot of credit card sales, we will own them money. Send these people to Bill so he can write them a check.

Thanks for helping the Lane Library League!