Bookmentors.org

OMG!  I feel like I've discovered Narnia or something!  Or like I'm the first person to send a tweet.

All teachers love free stuff, especially if it means we can stop forking over our own cash to get the things we need to help our students.  

All free from bookmentors.org (this is not everything, I still get more almost every week)!

Bookmentors.org does that for me.  It's a lot like Donors Choose, but 100% with books.  I discovered Book Mentors (don't tell my boss) during an inservice about something I've been trained in 3-4 times already.  I signed up and started filling out requests.  Within a week I had 2 free hardback copies of Wonder by R.J. Palacio.  I sent an email to the rest of the staff and we set up a simple book drive (took minutes).  Within 3 months we've received 55+ books.  I am able to use these in my classroom library, give them away for home book access, and I've even helped stock our school library.  

You don't get everything at once, but for me, 36 free books over the course of a semester is pretty awesome.  

Some tips:

• When finding books to request, sort by grade level.  I could see all 80 books on hand that worked for me and decide which to request.
• Request in groups of 1-2 books.  I've gotten an order of 10 books before, but that's rare.  90% of my fulfilled requests have been 1-2 books, because it's a manageable chunk for the donor.  
• Put some thought into your school description and book tributes.  The better it is, the more attractive your request is to donors.  
• Share that stuff.  The more people that see Book Mentors working, the more donors there will be.  The more donors there are, the more books I... we will get.  When you get your books, take a picture.  Intagram, tweet or Google+ that stuff all around.

All of my other friends who signed up and joined our drive (three so far) have gotten books.  I hope you find this useful, I really have.  

-Mr. Phillips