Living Wage Surcharge FAQ

What is the Living Wage Surcharge?

• It an incremental charge of 5% to help pay living wages. 

How will Books Around the Corner’s use the money raised from the living wage surcharge?

• 100% of the funds from the living wage surcharge will be used to increase compensation to staff.

Why doesn’t Books Around the Corner’s just raise prices?

• Books have a list price printed on them and this makes it logistically challenging to change the prices on thousands of books. Adding a living wage surcharge is our solution for this problem. 

What’s the gap between Books Around the Corner’s staff’s current compensation and living wages?

• A bookseller earns a starting wage of $15 per hour. The living wage for an adult in Multonomah County is $21.60 per hour. 

How else can I help Books Around the Corner close the gap between current wages and living wages?

• You can support Books Around the Corner by preordering and ordering regularly and encouraging your friends and family to do the same. 

Why shouldn’t I shop for my books on Amazon and pay lower prices?

• The money you spend at Books Around the Corner keeps us being able to serve the community, offer our Little Free Library, support other local businesses, offer a community book club,  and support the livelihood of our hardworking staff.