By Bhava Sandhi Devi Dasi
It all started a decade ago with the 50/50 Campaign, an initiative by the BBT to celebrate the 50-year anniversary of ISKCON, which encouraged devotees to distribute 50 of Srila Prabhupada’s books in 2016. I wanted to come up with different ways to distribute books because, as a working mother, I didn’t have a lot of time to go out on the street. I was reading Our Family Business by Vaisesika Dasa, for inspiration, and came across the idea of a “Smart Table.”
In the past, I had used “Smart Boxes” that displayed Srila Prabhupada’s books in local corner shops and Indian stores, along with an honesty donation box for people to pay for the books. The article drew my attention to the possibility of setting up a table in the temple entrance foyer for guests to purchase Srila Prabhupada’s books, even if no devotees are present to assist, using a simple system with books on display and multiple payment methods. I was excited to try this out and increase the scope for distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books in my temple in Auckland. I checked in with our temple president, Kalasamvara Dasa, who always encourages book distribution and, in true kiwi style, said: “Go for it.” So I got a trestle table, cloth, a money box screwed to the table, price stickers, Srila Prabhupada’s books, and instructions on how to pay for them. For payment, those purchasing books can put Laxmi in the donation box screwed to the table, or pay by card at the donation kiosk at reception, and put the receipt in the box.
Read more: https://iskconnews.org/how-a-smart-table-quietly-distributes-thousands-of-books/
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