Book Swap

Hello,

I’ve mentioned the idea of having a Book Swap previously, but it has been a while and I thought you might not mind a repeat. One student came to me at the first of the year and asked if we were going to have a book swap this year. We talked about it and his recommendation was to have two book swaps; one in December and another one again in May. I told him that he had a good idea and to remind me about it the first of November. This morning he came to my desk, and reminded me. I guess it is close enough to the first of November to remind me, so I thanked him and he went on his way.

Here’s what I do when I have a book swap.

A few weeks before the swap I make an announcement letting students and parents know about the swap, what kind of books to bring, and what to expect. I put this in our newsletter and I put up posters around the school. I also announce it during library classes for a week or two before the swap.

I hold the Book Swap for only one day and a Wednesday works best for me. I don’t have it on Thursday or Friday since that would interfere with my library classes. Students bring their books to swap on the Monday and Tuesday just before the swap and I give them a ticket for each book they bring. The first year I carefully checked each book as it was brought in and would not give any tickets for books that did not fit the guidelines. I didn’t have too many, but the disappointed faces I saw were too much for me. I now don’t worry about subject matter or condition of the book; I just give them a ticket for each book. The reason I don’t mention subject matter or condition is because I don’t want any student to feel hurt or upset. Later, I weed out any inappropriate books and quietly dispose of the few that may show up. I have extra books that I put in the swap which help make up the difference. I print out tickets as needed so I don’t waste paper. You can easily make your own ticket.

I put twelve tickets on one sheet of paper and cut off the amount a student needs. Students are responsible for their own tickets and if they lose them, that is unfortunate. I recommend they keep them in their desks or lockers so they will be here for the swap.

Only students with tickets are allowed into the swap until after the lunch period is over. Then, any student may come through and ‘buy’ books either with a ticket or for the nominal price of 10 cents each. Money goes to the library. After the school day is over, any books left over belong to the library for me to do with what I want.

On the day of the swap, I let the older students come through first. I learned this reading about another swap at a school. That school’s first swap had the younger students coming through and choosing thick novels that were appropriate for the older students and by the time the older kids came to the swap, only younger picture books were left. They changed the order the next year and their swap went much better.

If you have any questions, please let me know. I hope you decide to have a book swap and that it is fun for you and your students.

Have a great week.
Audrey