Can any Dopers help me try to get books?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Little background first…

I volunteer at an inner city school in Birmingham for a program called MORE (Motivators Of Reading Enrichment).

Each week the kids are required to read a book from a selected list and complete a book report for me. I grade them and if they score 70% or higher then I reward them with their choice of a book from my book bin. When they complete 5 reports they win a T-shirt. 10 reports they win a candy bar. 20 reports and they win a blue ribbon.

The object is to encourage kids to read and to help them build up their own “library” in their homes. Most of these kids do not have books at home. In fact, most of these kids don’t have clothes, food, shelter, parents that give a damn, etc.

Each year I do extra things for the school I am in as I can afford to. Last year my father bought 24 cases of oranges around the holidays and I bagged up 10 oranges a piece for the kids. You would have thought I had given them bags of gold. During Valentine’s Day I bought all of them new crayons and coloring books. The company I worked for matched what money I raised around Christmas last year and I was able to contribute 18 complete school uniforms (pants, belt, shirt, back pack and heavy winter jacket) for the school uniform bank.

Anyway, I always try to buy each child in my class a hard back copy of the Dr. Seuss book “Oh, The Places You Will Go”. I read this book to them and talk about setting goals and the things they can accomplish and how not to let anyone distract them from their goals. It is a very good tool and it gets the kids thinking that there is a chance of having a better life than what they are living now.

These kids have next to nothing. They crave attention from an adult…any adult. I am the only white person in the school and I have to build up trust with these kids for the first few weeks. I become very close to my class each year and you would not believe the stories I hear from these babies. Abuse. “Being molested by a family member and that is why I moved to Alabama”. Neglect. Coming to school hungry and their teachers giving them breakfast. Uniforms that are so threadbare from being passed down from child to child that you can almost see through them.

The staff at this school is amazing. The principal actually has a washer and dryer (that was donated by Alabama Power Company) in the back of her office to try and keep these kids clothes clean. She told me, “I can’t do a thing about their homelife sometimes but I can make sure they feel good about themselves by having a clean, pressed uniform to wear.”

I have moved to a new company and unfortunately it doesn’t look like I am not going to be able to get as much help funding my projects at the school this year.

I have tried getting in touch with different publishing companies to see if I can buy the books at a bulk rate or get any kind of discount but I can’t seem to get anyone to call me back.

So I turn to Dopers. Do any of you work in the publishing industry or might be able to point me in the right direction on how to go about applying for a donation of books or a reduced price so I can afford to buy them?

Thank you in advance for thinking about it and if nothing else, if you guys could keep these kids and this school in your thoughts and prayers and send good vibes our way I would appreciate it.

I meet my new class next week and I can’t wait. I’ve already been told that they had to cut the 4th grade down from 4 classes to only 2 so I should have a huge class this year.
Thanks again! :slight_smile:

Aries

2

Aries - You have come to the right place. I am an avid bibliophile and would thoroughly enjoy heloping out your ‘oh so wonderful’ cause. Tho I can not offer you any books myself, I used to work in the industry - many moons ago - and I can offer you some direction that may be helpful. I’ll offer you a website for a truly unique used book store. The Bookbarn is located in Connecticut, it is owned by a husband and wife team. Randy - the all knowing leader of the book barn - is a wonderful man very generous and thoughtful. Now he buys books by the pound and sells what we can and chucks what he can’t use.
If you contact him via phone - look in ‘contact us’ on the website, and you tell him your plight I guarantee he will help you out with copious amounts of books…possibly for free if you pay shipping.

Why send you to any old used book store you ask?? Well this is not just any bookstore. The place is enormous! 5 separate buildings each chock full of books, a warehouse full of overstock just waiting to be used. Tell him that one of his faithful local patrons directed you to him…he should be open to your plight.

Second

Try Appealing to the leading wholesaler of trade books Ingram . getting past a few secretaries to talk to a distribution or marketing person may be a wonderful way to get books donated. However, as they are the biggest wholesaler, you may need to be persistant with who you ask to speak with. I’d try someone in sales, and or marketing, maybe asking them for a donation of last years trade copies in whatever genre you choose. You can decide the verbiage, but persistence can pay off.

Thirdly - A grant. Why not look up literature foundations and childrens book foundations and even the Suess foundation if one exists and log onto their website to see if they offer any grants for books.

I wish you all the luck in the world, and do hope you succeed in your plight. E-mail me if you need anything else…Best wishes with your endeavor!

Phlosphr

3

Also, can you tell me more about their school uniforms? For some reason, our local thrift store seems to always have a bunch of uniform blouses and other stuff, brand new, that some store must dump. I’ve always thought it was a shame to see those on the racks and wondered how there couldn’t be some school, somewhere, that needed them for their kids.

4

Great advice…Thanks! I’ll start working on those leads.

As to the uniform question…basic white shirt, navy pants, brown or black belts. Navy sweaters. Navy jumpsuits for the girls. Our local thrift store has a lot too and I try to pick them up as I can.

I really enjoy this program and I usually end up putting a lot of my personal finances into it as I can.

The kids are so appreciative of the things I have done. They write me thank you notes. They bring their parents or grandparents to the school on program days and make sure to drag me over to introduce myself. 9 out of 10 times their mothers are younger than I am and have these 10 and 11 year old kids.

I have established a great relationship with the principal and I try to stay in the loop as to what items the school really needs and get what I can.

Supplies are very limited and a lot of the teachers buy things and pay for them out of their own pockets.

At the end of the program last year my class presented me with a $20 gift certificate to a local department store. I could barely get through the program because $20 doesn’t seem like a lot to most people but every kid in my class brought in $1 each to do that for me and it really got to me.

I went to Disney World last fall and brought all of them back a sucker shaped like Mickey and many of them said they were never going to open them because then they could look at them and think about Disney World and how much fun it must be.

It’s times like that that I wish I had buckets of money so I could do more for them.

5

Here’s a thought on the books:

I was once passing by a Barnes & Nobles in NYC early one morning, when I saw a few people, a couple dressed in business suits, sifting through a couple of large dumpsters. Turns out that the bookstore had just dumped loads of books into the trash, though I’m not sure exactly why. I suspect that they were damaged, perhaps thy couldn’t sell them, and didn’t feel like selling them to a close-out type place or half-price book store. So maybe Barnes & Nobles does this thing regularly, and by calling them up and asking them what they do with old books, you might be able to grab their unwanted stock.

Just a thought.

6

I just love this community spirit.

I looked on Google, and here’s what I found:

Dr. Seuss Foundation
7301 Encelia Dr.
La Jolla, CA 92037
Funding interests include: museums, performing arts, health associations, cancer, medical research, human services, youth services, and foundations.

(Ref: http://cbdd.wsu.edu/schools/resources.html)

Foundation president: Audrey S. Geisel (multiple sites)

7

I think, though I’m not positive, that if a bookstore like Barnes & Noble throws a book away they’re supposed to remove the cover to prove to the publisher it was destroyed.
-Lil

8

Aries - Scuba_Ben did a very good job finding that site for the suess foundation. Writing Grants is not difficult. Download the grant application and find out when it is due. Give them all the details they want and send it away. You should be fine.

And Ben - community helping people with-in are a wonder and should be nurtured…especially in this day and age. I agree with you.

9

Again, wonderful advice and links. I have my work cut out for me and I’ll get started on it. I guess I just needed a push in the right direction.

In all seriousness, if I could afford to quit my job I would do nothing but work like I am doing at this school. I have never felt such personal satisfaction in doing something as I do with this.

Thanks everybody for the input.

I’ll keep you posted throughout the year after I get my class and see how things are going.

10

And while I’m shamelessly soliciting…

I am always on the look out for interesting things to discuss with my kids and to expose them to things they normally would have no access to.

If you live somewhere that has a neat local event or have anything you think might be of interest, shoot me an email or let me know.

I would espeically love to get them some candy from different places sometime this year and would be happy to buy it and pay to ship it.

Thanks again to everyone for your suggestions!

11

My friend used to teach at a school like this in Detroit, BTW.

I feel like going to break things when I think about all the money we spend as a country on some things, while public schools in some districts are scraping by with next to nothing.

But then that’s for Great Debates. Or, more appropriately, the Pit.

12

Have you tried scholastic? I work with a woman who used to work there - I just asked her if they give out books to programs like this and she says that they do. She suggested you call the main office and tell them about your after school program and ask for their help.

Good luck!

13

Pretty much, though we’d usually tear them in half (down the spine), too. It always killed me to see all those books going to waste, but it’s not something we could control.

14

Have you looked into RIF/ Reading is FUNdamental? My mother did RIF for years in the elementary school my brother and sister attended. It is a fantastic way to gt books into the hands of kids. And because you get to go CHOOSE the books you can tailor the matrial to the tastes of picky readers. Mother had one boy that absolutely REFUSED to read. He was a great artist and loved to draw so Mother chose several art books for him. Many many years later he saw Mother at the store and thanked her for the books and for opening his mind to what reading was really like.

Or maybe try contacting Daedalus.com they are a remainder outlet. They always have wonderful books in their catalogs. And their S&H is a great price.
GOOD LUCK!

this Cat firmly believes in giving children books. Her Bear’s pile is almost as tall as hers!

15

Aries, do they like antique / classic cars? We just had the somethingth annual Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg festival round here and I can see if I can dig up some flyers / magazines / whatever from it. They also have a website , if that helps at all. I can check around for “stuff”, if you want.

We also have a local Gourmet chocolatier. Kind of expensive, but DeBrand’s does taste terrific. They also ship. Don’t know if that’s the kind of thing you were looking for, or what. They have several different kinds of candies - some of which aren’t too terribly expensive. Check around their site for the race cars. Those’re cute. I’d link directly to the race cars, but it’s either frames or Java or something and leaves just the main URL in the address bar.

And hooray for you for trying to give these kids something they can keep and being a Bright Spot in their lives!

16

Aries, this is just awesome, what you are doing.

I have an idea that I thought I would throw out. You might ask your local Masonic Lodge if they would like to help you out as a service project. Service is part of their mission and they might be able to help raise money or have a book drive. Our local Masonic Lodge’s service project is a KidsID program (to photograph and fingerprint kids). They contacted me about doing a joint service project with our mom’s group…we did the advertising and got people to bring their kids, they provided all the equipment and staffing. I was really impressed with them and we had a great event, working together. Maybe they could help you out too.

I wonder if a Doper Book Drive would be feasable? I know I certainly would pick up a few books and mail them to you, media rate shipping is pretty cheap. I’d be happy to help you organize this if it sounds like a good idea…

RE: different experiences…here in Minneapolis they are opening the Mill City Museum this weekend. There was a series of articles in our local paper about how the flour industry boomed here in the late 1800s and how it was so revolutionary back then (in the same way Microsoft was in our lifetime). I know today we totally take flour and bread for granted but it wasn’t always this way. I found the articles interesting and I will probably put together some lessons for my students based on them. Maybe they will spark some ideas for your students too. Here’s a link to the stories they’ve been running this week:

http://www.startribune.com/stories/330/

RE: Candy…I am going to the Mall of America on Monday and would LOVE to buy some candy for you and send it to you (maybe from Camp Snoopy?)…no payment needed on your part. Feel free to email me and let me know how much you need.

Take care,
hill

17

I know it may sound strange, but you might want to contact your local motercycle clubs as well. My mother used to be in one, and every year they did different charity drives, raising money for children’s causes. Many of these kinds of clubs do the same thing, and the bikers I used to know were big fans of Dr. Seuss.

18

You might try shopping at http://sciplus.com/ . It’s a bargain hunter’s dream, selling closeouts, overruns, and misprints. You can, for instance, get 1000 crayons (250 each of red, yellow, green, and blue) for $25 plus shipping. These have labels from a chain of steakhouses, but they are good quality crayons. The stock varies, of course, but I imagine that you can find quite a few useful items each time you visit.

19

Aries, how old are your kids and are you limited to specific titles, or are you the one who makes the list up based on what books you have?

Several times a year, our local library has a HUGE book sale that Spiny Norman and I go to. They sell paperbacks for 35¢ or 3 for $1.00. We haven’t been to one of the hardback book sales yet, so I have no idea how much they charge, but there’s one coming up next month and I’d be happy to check it out, and if they have the kinds of books you’d be interested in, I’ll pick some up for you (at our expense!).

Have you tried e-bay? People often sell books in lots, so you can get them fairly cheap. For instance, here’s a lot of 20 Little Golden Books that are currently at $3.50 (no reserve). There’s a Lot of 53 here (current price, $13.50). 18 Babysitter’s Club books here for $9.99. For kids who are a little older, here’s 12 Nancy Drews for $5.00. I’d even bet that if you told the sellers the reason you’re buying them, that they’d be willing to knock the shipping charges down, too, or ship them at no charge (I often negotiate shipping on multiple purchases and I’ve had sellers waive it entirely).

And don’t overlook garage sales, either. Go at the end of the day and negotiate a deal to take leftovers at a really cheap price (believe me, at the end of a day like that, people just want to get rid of the stuff and may even just give it to you for free. Thomas and I filled the car up with our leftovers and took them to the Goodwill Store).

So let me know and I’ll check out that library sale for you.

20

I work for thrift shops. You can ask them to keep books for your kids, they should probably have a lot for free.