Finding affordable books for your classroom library for a reasonable price that fits into your teaching budget can be challenging. However, having a well-stocked classroom library and novel set collection is essential for any English Language Arts (ELA teacher. Schools do not always have the budget to provide these resources for their teachers, leaving many teachers to be the ones to purchase these books.
Below is a list of great places to start your search for classroom novels.
Finding Affordable Books For Your Classroom Library
Novel Sets
When purchasing novel sets of six or more books for literature circles, book clubs, or a class novel study, it can get costly. Check out the ideas below to help find affordable books for your classroom library:
- Book Outlet Canada or USA
- Your local bookstore sale rack – check big box and small bookstores as they often have great deals on their sales rack. If you can’t find it, ask! It might be worth it.
- Scholastic Warehouse Sales
- Scholastic Reading Club monthly flyers – their $1.99 specials are very good. I try to check all of the upper grades flyers for specials. Canada or USA
Classroom Library
Finding reasonably priced fiction and non-fiction books for your classroom library requires a little bargain shopping, but it is possible. In additino to the ideas listed above for novel sets, you can also check out the places below to find books for your classroom library:
- Book Sale Finder
- Public library discards rack
- Garage sales – read the newspaper regularly in the summer
- Retired teachers sales – check garage sale and online sale listings
- Thrift Stores – check local thrift stores and ones in nearby towns/cities
- Thrift Books Website – discount book website.
- Paperback Swap – swap your current novels for different ones
- First Book Marketplace
Other Ways to Find Affordable Books for Your Classroom Library:
- Redeem rewards points for gift cards to book stores.
- Collect and save your Scholastic points from monthly book sale flyer sales.
- Ask friends, family, and neighbours in person and via social media to donate any gently used books to your classroom.
- If permitted, ask parents of students in your class to donate books their children have finished reading.
Digital Books
Teaching students about ebooks and showing them how to find them for free is a great way to bring books into your classroom without spending money.
Where to find online books:
- Project Gutenberg
- The Bluford Series
- LibriVox
- ESL Bits
- List of online books from Book Riot
- Library of Congress
- Open Library
- You can also make an instructional handout or video for your students on how to access your school and/or public library using their library card number.
It doesn’t have to be difficult to find affordable books for your classroom library – there are many places online and probably within your city to find books your students will want to read. Do you have any other ways to find affordable books for your classroom library? Let me know through my contact form or on social media.
Additional Classroom Library Resources:
- 10 Ways to Cultivate a Love of Reading
- Why Classroom Libraries Are Important
- Creating an Engaging Middle School Classroom Library
- Free Classroom Library Guide
- Everything You Wanted To Know About Classroom Libraries
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