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Project Goal

As a media specialist, one of my primary goals is ensuring students have access to books. With the outbreak of COVID-19 in early 2020 and the subsequent closure of schools, my students lost access to so many important resources including our media center and their classroom libraries. When schools returned to in-person learning, there were still many unknowns about the virus and library access continued to be limited because it was not clear if COVID-19 could be spread through contact with books.

In April and May of 2020, I created book packages for students using books that had been purchased for giveaways the previous year. As I handed them out during the summer, I started thinking of ways I could continue to give students books that they could keep and use to build their own home libraries. Research led me to First Book, a nonprofit dedicated to removing barriers to equitable education. Their online marketplace has a Book Bank where educators with limited budgets can buy brand-new books in bulk for just the cost of shipping and handling.  

 

How Project Benefits Students

Since September 2020, I have been able to purchase over 12,000 new books from First Book’s National Book Bank to give to my students. Once or twice a year, I put all of the books I currently have on tables sorted by reading level and invite classes to come in one-by-one to choose their books. Students usually leave with four to five books each and, over the course of three years, most of my students have been able to get around twenty-four books in total. They always leave the media center absolutely thrilled with their new books.  

 

Expected Outcome(s)

Items available in First Book’s Book Bank are donated by their publishing partners and other vendors. While this means its selection is variable, I have estimated based on previous prices that $2,000 could purchase at least 2,300 books. Each of my students would be able to choose another five books to add to their home libraries. I take care to maximize the number of books I can get while also selecting titles that I know my students will love.  

 

Detailed Cost Summary

Each book carton usually contains between twenty and sixty copies of the same title, though this number can be higher or lower depending on the book format (hardcover, paperback, board book, etc.). For example, a typical carton of hardcover picture books has 24 copies and costs around $21.60, $0.90 per book. A typical carton of paperback chapter books has 48 copies and costs around $38.40, $0.80 per book.  

 

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