BUILDING
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| BookCloseouts.com offers the lowest prices I have seen
for books. I have ordered from them several times, and I have not been
disappointed. In the
publishing trade their product is often called
"remainders". These are books which, in a
previous life, were on the shelves at chain and
independent bookstores around the world. The bookstore
operators needed to make space for new stock, so they
sent these titles back to the publishers. When thousands
of bookstores do this simultaneously, the publishers have
a problem they dont have room for all those
returns, and BookCloseouts.com is happy to help them out
and pass the savings on to you.
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Book clubs -- You'll earn
points for every dollar your students spend. Even if they
don't buy much, the points soon add up--especially when
the club offers double or triple points. You can use the
points to get FREE books. Even if you buy some books to
earn free points, you end up getting a bargain.
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| Smart.Readers.org -- Apply online for book donations. You have to create an account, but it is simple and FREE. The online portion of the program was recently started (April 2003). I applied 12 June, 2003. I'll keep you updated on the progress of my request. Since it's free, I figured I didn't have anything to lose. |
| eBay.com. -- You look at a
categorized list and bid on the items that interest you.
You set a maximum amount so the system can up your bid in
your absence if necessary. If you are outbid by another
buyer, you are notified by email. If you win the bid, you
and the seller contact each other and work out
shipping arrangements. I have won several auctions, and
haven't been disappointed with any of the sellers. Check out the link below for
more information. The process isn't as difficult as it
sounds.
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| DoverPublications.com offers many books for under $5.00. They also offer free samples that you can download. |
| I began my first year teaching 4th grade for Richmond Public Schools.
Starting with nothing, I tried my best to find as many books as possible to
start a classroom library. I had a lot of luck buying used books from
my local public library. They were not always in the best condition,
but I was able to purchase a lot of them, each for only 50 cents. I
also found that family friends of mine are ready to get rid of a lot of
their old children's books. I didn't have much to decorate the
classroom yet, but I had two huge boxes full of books.
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| Some libraries have ongoing sales, some have HUGE sales once or twice a
year, and some have Friends groups which run little book sale stores. They
sell both discarded library books (which are often sturdy and not even
heavily used library bindings) and donated books. Their prices are usually
very, very low, and sometimes when you tell them you're buying for your
school they reduce them even further. If you get to know some
librarians, they may agree to call you when they are weeding the collection,
so you can get dibs.
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Another idea is to ask parents to buy one book for the classroom library when they place a book club order for their own child. You can even sweeten it with a bookplate naming the family as donor of the book.
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My daughter assembled quite a large classroom library simply by passing the word to my friends, her friends and their parents, and teachers at her college that she needed book donations for her class.
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| Flea markets--sometimes you
can get a whole box of books for a few dollars. | |
| Garage sales--books don't
usually sell well at garage sales, so you can find them
for as little as a nickel a book. | |
| Used book stores--if your
community has one, go check it out. You'll be amazed at
what you can find. |
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kimskorner4teachertalk.com This site last updated 14 November 2007. External links last verified 2 September 2007. All material at this site copyright ©
1997-2007, Kimberly Steele,
unless otherwise noted or credited. You may print and reproduce materials from
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