A book can be so many things.
Books can be a bridge, a portal, a rocket speeding us from our present moment into other worlds. These worlds might be brighter, grander places than we could ever imagine for ourselves. They may be a student’s means of rising above the hardships they face day to day.
Books are windows to look beyond ourselves and into the lives of people we otherwise would have never met. For many students, a book provides their first insight into other diverse and beautiful nations, cultures, and customs – without the cost of a plane ticket.
Books are traveling teachers and portable schools, compact oceans of knowledge that not only teach us facts but show us how to learn. Books show students that while their own experiences are unique, they are also not alone. There is a community that is looking for them, and that will hold them up no matter how difficult their struggles may feel.
Did you know that alongside free classroom essentials and supplies, A Gift for Teaching has a free book section? Even on Pencil Boy Express – The Mobile Free Store! Every day teachers visit to browse the ever-changing selection for titles they feel will comfort, delight, and inspire their students.
Our shelves carry books appropriate for every age and grade level: picture books with gorgeous art, fiction from early reader chapter books to novels sought after by teens and young adults, and nonfiction books to introduce students to the natural world, space, stars, and the various exciting possibilities awaiting them in the fields of STEM. We even have books to inspire teachers to bring new and creative lesson plans to their classrooms.
I have been able to provide more than 50% of my students with basic supplies, like pencils and notebooks. This helps them be prepared and feel confident in class. I have been able to create materials for in-class escape rooms using the materials from A Gift for Teaching.
Additionally, I am able to give my students books they can keep, which for many is a first. – Orange County Public School Teacher
Since 1998, more than 2.3 million books have been taken into the classrooms to inspire future leaders. As with all of the free educational resources available at A Gift for Teaching, our selection of reading material wouldn’t exist without generous community donations of new and gently used books throughout the school year and community program partners.
Your giving is a force of change. For our 25th birthday, generous funders will magnify the impact of new monthly donors, our Classroom Heroes, and match every dollar every month for the first 12 months. Imagine the power your $25 monthly gift can provide to six local classrooms this year!
Join a passionate community of education advocates dedicated to empowering educators and inspiring future leaders all school year with continued access to free supplies and books.
