You did read that right! We gave away 37,080 free children’s books last week at our 3 day Teachers and Educators event!
The event started on the 3rd August with over 250 teachers signed up to attend. We were ready to be rushed off our feet with eager teachers keen to get new (preloved!) books for the start of the school year. At Better World Books literacy is our mission and our passion, so we were excited to help teachers stock up their class/school libraries.
We weren’t wrong about being rushed off our feet! In the first hour of the first day we had already given away 3,500 books. What a start to the event! The buzz in the room was immense with everyone being very positive about the quality of the books they were finding.
After 4 hours we had given away 10,500 books and were ready to replenish our stock. There was no sign of it slowing down in the afternoon and by the end of the day we’d had over 80 teachers visit us and take 16,522 books to new homes.
In between packing boxes and digging deep for more books the teachers had time to talk to us.
“It’s fantastic to collect books and look for ones that will help in the classroom.”
“I could just stay in a place like this for weeks!”
After a fantastic first day, more bookings flooded in overnight and we had 65 teachers take away 10,958 books on the second day. It was great to hear the teachers talking about the difference that these books will make to the kids in their class.
We were worried that we’d run out of books on day three, but after donating a further 9,600 books we still had some left! One teacher told us: “My class will love the books. We had one shelf and now can have at least five!” That’s music to our ears!
Teachers travelled from all over Scotland to attend the event and one even came from Newcastle! This just shows the demand for books in schools and we’re so glad that we can help by providing free books. We received so many comments and so many ideas which we’ll use to make the next event in February 2017 even better.
“What’s the catch?” “Are you sure the books are free?” We quite often get asked these questions. There is no catch, and the books are free! Good quality children’s books that we can’t sell because we already have lots on our shelves and there are lots in the marketplace are set aside for donations. We want to help children develop literacy skills and a love for reading, and keep books out of landfill. We know that books have the power to inspire, educate, entertain and delight. That’s why we work with schools and other organisations to make sure that these books get a new life.
Thank you to all of the teachers that came along and have given new homes to 37,080 books! #BWBcares.
Future donation events will be posted on our Facebook and Twitter. We also offer donations of adult and children’s books all year round. For more information or to request a donation please email [email protected]