5 CHEAP Ways to Get Books for a Classroom Library

As a reading teacher, I have a huge passion for constantly bringing new titles into my classroom library.  My first three years of teaching I looped with the same kids.  It became my priority to constantly update my classroom library so my students would not get bored of the same books throughout those three years.  These are my top 5 tips to getting books for CHEAP.

1.  Garage Sales
Garage sales are one of the best places to get used books for your classrooms.  Often times, people are willing to sell the books for dirt cheap.  I've seen books as low as ten cents each!  Some times you might even get lucky and have someone give you books for free when they hear you are a teacher.  I like to join local garage sale sites on Facebook.  People will usually post pictures of items they are going to have and you can easily tell if its worth your time to go.  I also found a 'teacher garage sale' group on Facebook specific for my area.  Teachers are often posting items they no longer need to sell or giveaway.  I'm not sure if these sites are typical for all areas, but take a look.

2. Good Will
Good Will can be hit or miss when trying to find quality books for your classroom.  My local location does not sort the books very well, so I'm always digging through activity books and coloring books to find the good stuff.  The positive of Good Will is the price!  My local Good Will sells all children books for 59cents.  I've seen some locations sell picture books for 59cents and chapter books for 99cents, which is still a good price.  I tend to stop by Good Will a few times a month to check out what they have.  I always leave with 2-3 new books, usually more.

3.  Thriftbooks.com
I just discovered ThriftBooks this summer (2016), and cannot believe what I've been missing!  ThriftBooks has a wide variety of used books for all ages.  The books range in price from $3.59 to almost full price.  Certain books qualify for "thrift deals," which means you can get 3 books for $10 or 4 for $12.  Shipping is free over $10 and once you spend $50 (can be over multiple orders), you get a $5 coupon for your next order.  I'm currently obsessed with this site and have spent way too much money there this summer.  I have ordered almost 30 books from there this summer (shhh don't tell), and they have all been in great shape.  If you want to check it out, you can use my link to get an extra 15% off you first order: http://bit.ly/THRIFTBOOKS



4.  Amazon Penny Books
Before I discovered ThriftBooks, I was purchasing a lot of books from Amazon for a penny.  If you search used books on Amazon, you can find many sellers selling books for one penny plus shipping.  Shipping is usually 3.99, so you end up paying about $4 for a book.  This makes it a bit more expensive than ThriftBooks.  I've found the quality of used books to be comparable to ThriftBooks.

5. Donor's Choose
Instead of purchasing books yourself, you can create projects on Donor's Choose for new books and have friends and family donate to the project.  I've had many books project funded.  Earlier this year I wrote a blog post with my simple tips to get projects funded quickly.  Check it out HERE.

What are some of your favorite ways to get books for your classroom?  Share in the comments so we can all learn from each other.

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