If you’re a teacher in a Title I School, you need to know about First Book Marketplace.
I’ve heard about it in passing so many times, and this week I decided to dive in and figure out how it works. And boy, does it work.
Today I just want to walk you through how this site works so that you can start taking advantage of its many resources as soon as possible.
Now, if you’re NOT a teacher in a Title I School, and you’re also trying to find resources to support your wish to bring incredible books to your students, I’m going to refer you back to episode 56, The Dos and Don’ts of Donors Choose, where I’ll walk you through the best way to get funding on that site.
OK, for now, let’s dig into First Book Marketplace and how you can get started with it right away.
Who Can Join First Book Marketplace, and Why?
There’s a quick introduction to the mission of First Book Marketplace when you click into their registration page.
“First Book is a nonprofit social enterprise committed to ensuring educational equity by eliminating barriers to education for children living in under-resourced communities.
All those who work with children in need can join us. If you work or volunteer in a Title I-eligible school, early childhood program, afterschool program, literacy program, shelter, health clinic, faith-based organization, or any other organization where at least 70 percent of kids served come from low-income families, you are eligible to become a First Book member. Sign up is FREE and takes about 5 minutes!”
Why would you want to join First Book Marketplace?
First Book partners with publishing companies and various corporations to provide DEEPLY discounted books for your classroom. Individual books for your choice reading library, and also text sets for literature circles.
Here are some examples of what I found this week:
The First to Die at the End for $5.35.
Darius the Great is not Okay for $4.05.
Amari and the Great Game for $4.10.
Starfish for $4.05.
American Born Chinese for $5.10.
I Must Betray You for $5.25.
All My Rage for $5.25.
Me, Moth for $4.60
Jason Reynolds’ Track Series at $3.75 each (starting with Ghost).
How can you search First Book Marketplace?
You can browse titles by age, but popping an author like Jason Reynolds, Angie Thomas, or Gareth Hinds into the search bar is also a great way to go. By the way, you can get Gareth Hinds’ graphic novel versions of the classics in the $6-7 dollar range here, half of what you’d pay on a site like Amazon.
You can also search categories like “Graphic Novels & Comics,” “Fantasy and Scifi,” Best of the Year, etc. to give you ideas in the areas you’re hoping to build your collection.
Understanding the Book Bank
Inside the Book Bank, you can find donated books that are available to educators who can cover only the shipping. Here you can find class texts or literature circles sets, because you’ll see cartons of copies at incredibly low prices. For example, they’ve got a carton of 20 of Rick Riordan’s Daughter of the Deep for $14.00. This section is, as you might expect, more hit or miss. But definitely worth taking a look at now and then.
Getting a Funding Bump from Corporate Sponsors
When I browsed the collection last week, Pizza Hut was sponsoring all checkouts with a 50% off code. That funding has been used up now, but you never know when there might be something similar again. As with Donors Choose, keeping an eye on the site to watch for huge deals can be well worth it.
