The Bookcase: MECLA and SIFE’s New Venture

In the Summer of 2010, SMSU SIFE’s bookstore, The Village, closed but not without the hope of new possibilities. This closure left SIFE with over 5,000 generously donated books that were just waiting for a good home; soon one was found.

MECLA, Marshal East Campus Learning Alternatives, is an alternative school that helps students receive lost credits and graduate from high school. This local school has all the tools students need to succeed, except one, a library.

One of our BAB members then introduced MECLA to our SIFE team and we discovered that by working together the students of MECLA can receive a fully stocked library and a can start their own bookstore! MECLA is not only a school, but a coffee shop. The students can earn extra credits by managing and working at their coffee shop located inside their school; what goes better with a cup of coffee than a book?!? By using their current coffee shop location and adding books, MECLA’s profits will raise and the students will gain more entrepreneurial experience.

Planning for this project is now in process and giant milestones have already been completed. SIFE’s 5,000 books and 20 bookshelves have been moved from storage into MECLA. MECLA students and faculty have been sorting the books to be displayed in both the library and the bookstore. SIFE members presented to MECLA students about how to run a successful bookstore, where to get the tools to succeed, and the importance of goals.

With these first milestones complete, the next steps are to create a marketing and advertising campaign for “The Bookcase” and find the proper method to keep inventory and financials in place. With the help of SMSU SIFE and the excitement of the MECLA students, we hope to have this book store up and running in the beginning of January.

SIFE is all about empowering people; by donating our books to MECLA and giving them the opportunity to run a bookstore, they will have the power and knowledge to be their own entrepreneurs.