“I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.” ― Jorge Luis Borges. Our classrooms should be a paradise for our students. We must fill our paradise, or our classroom library with books in the target language. But how can we build our Spanish classroom library on a budget? There are so many ways to find free books for teachers, or at least cheap books! Take a look at why I go on the hunt to build my classroom library. Plus find out how I do it for little to no cost!
I always begin the school year by asking my high school Spanish students to think about how they learned their native language. For most of them, English is their first language. Their parents read books to them, they watched TV shows, played with alphabet puzzles. They heard their parents and teachers talking to them only in English… all. the. time… complete immersion. So, I explain that immersion is the best way to learn a language and we will do our best to stay in the target language this year. In your middle or high school Spanish classroom, you need a Spanish classroom library to create the immersion experience. On a teacher’s salary, you may be thinking this is impossible, but it is far from that! I will give you 9 easy ways to build your high school Spanish classroom library on a budget.
Why do you need a classroom library?
I know when I was younger, my parents read books to me constantly. There were always books around the house and I loved picking them up and flipping through them, even if I couldn’t read the words yet. This makes me a firm believer that reading is the key to language acquisition. Your students should be surrounded by a Spanish classroom library filled with engaging, comprehensible books for their level.
If you read any children’s book, you will realize that there is a lot of repetition (on purpose!). Children acquire a language by hearing and reading something over and over again. This helps them to understand sentence structure, vocabulary, etc. Even high school students that are learning a world language will need this same repetition. If they were to read children’s books in their native language while at a high school reading level, that would not be beneficial. They are not at a high school reading level in their L2. In fact, they are probably at a very basic elementary level, which makes any and all children’s books perfect for their skillset! Students at the more advanced levels, probably SPA 4, 5, or AP for example, would benefit from short stories, which are still easy to find. You can see my finds below!
Where to find cheap books for your classroom library?
- Book Sale Finder – This website lists all of the local book sales in your state, most of which are libraries or community sales. What is best about this site is that it gives you detailed info about each sale so you don’t waste your time driving long distances for small sales. Prices are even listed! Pay close attention because usually on the last day of the sales, there are “stuff a bag” deals!
- Yard Sale Search – You can search for local yard sales by zip code with this website. Usually the seller will post some pictures or at least a description so you can get an idea of what you will find at their sale.
- Facebook Marketplace (search garage sale or books) – You can usually negotiate with the seller to get a better price. Don’t be afraid to pull your “teacher card” and explain that you are building your classroom library with your own money!
- Craigslist – This is very similar to Yard Sale Search, but you will probably find different results. So, it is beneficial to check more than one resource!
- Estate sales – Once you have all of your classroom library books, where are you going to put them? You may need book shelves or cube organizers, and estate sales are a great place to find gently used furniture.
- Church sales – These sales are usually listed in newspapers, on Facebook, Craigslist, or advertised in your community.
- Local library – Some libraries have weekly or monthly book sales. These are the best because you know you aren’t digging through items that are not books. Plus, you have a better chance of finding books in your target language. My local library had Chinese, Japanese, French, Spanish, Arabic, and more!
- Good Will & thrift stores – I’ve found complete sets of books here that people have donated. This is another location that you won’t have to sift through other items. Go right to the book section.
- Scholastic Warehouse Sales – When I taught in NJ, I taught in the same town as one of the Scholastic warehouses. A few times a year, there would be a big sale where the public could go through the warehouse and purchase books at a discounted rate. Most of the warehouse was typical prices, but there was always a decent sized section of aisles included in the “Fill a box for $25!” And let me tell you, the Spanish section was amazing!!! Here are some of the books I bought for my classroom from the Scholastic Warehouse.
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