Gifted Guru

Resources, Ideas and Tips for Educators & Parents of the Gifted

Looking for something?

  • Home
  • About
  • Speaking
  • English Class
  • Books
    • Perfectionism
    • Living Gifted
  • Resources
  • Free Downloads
  • Shop
  • Contact

Bread upon the Waters – Giving Away Books on Purpose

By Lisa Van Gemert Leave a Comment

Gifted people tend to gravitate towards books (not always, so no hate mail from misobibliists –  I just made that word up, to be honest, and spellcheck is yelling at me in red squiggly lines). Sometimes all this bibiophilia creates a problem. Recently, I was in a used bookstore with my book group picking out our latest read. My book group consists of me and one other person, actually, so put it in air quotes when you read the phrase. While we were there, my friend mentioned that she didn’t understand people who could sell their books or give them away. Hard as it can be, however, there are times when books simply MUST GO and seek their fortune elsewhere.

Sometimes you need to give away and sometimes you need to gather, so here are some ideas for casting your bread upon the waters (giving books away) and in my next post, I’ll talk about gathering in the sheaves (bringing new books into your life).

First, out with the old. Here are ten things to do with books that need to find a new home:

1)      Donate them to your local library. If they don’t put them into circulation, they can sell them at book sales that generate cash.

2)      Donate them to a shelter or school or prison or thrift shop.

3)      Trade them away on book exchange sites (more on that in the next post) like Paperback Swap.

4)      Sell them on half.com or other internet site.

5)      Sell them to a used book store (although don’t expect to finance anything extravagant with the money – like a cup of coffee – because you don’t get much for them).

6)      If you don’t have books to give away, but you want to spread books around the world, consider donating to Books for Africa. Books for Africa is a highly-regarded charity that ships books to Africa. The books are donated to them and they raise money to ship the books. It costs about fifty cents for them to ship a book to Africa. Consider skipping your latte today and send eight books to kids starving for them instead. Another great charity along the same lines is Room to Read.

7)      Re-purpose them – Idea #1: Create an altered book with it. An altered book is made when you take an old book (hardback works best) and turn it into something different using a variety of craft and art supplies by cutting, gluing, tearing, adding things, making pockets, stamping, painting, coloring, or adding three-dimensional stuff to it. Find ideas here. More specific how-tos are available here:  Some artists are amazing with this medium, and you can see some pictures here.

8)      Re-purpose them – Idea #2: Put the pages through your shredder and use the shredded paper in place of that expensive crinkle paper for gift baskets. It works in Easter baskets, too!

9)      Re-purpose them – Idea #3: Make an “apple” out of a paperback book (see tutorial here). These are really cute. It almost makes me want to go buy a cheap paperback at the thrift store so I can make one.

10)  Leave them in random places for others to find (coffee shops, salons, parks, hospital waiting rooms, etc.). You can do this just on your own, or you can participate in a more organized effort through a group like Bookcrossing. With Bookcrossing, you register your book, give it an ID number, and then put the information in it. Whoever finds it logs into the site and registers it. The book can travel around like  Flat Stanley!

Once you’ve cleared your shelves, it’s time to fill them up again with new books! Stay tuned next time for how to get more books into your life.

In the meantime, watch this video of the catchy tune “I Love Books.”

Share this post:

Twitter Facebook Pinterest LinkedIn Email

Filed Under: RESOURCES Tagged With: Bookcrossing, books, Books for Africa, charity, reading

← Teacher Learns some Lessons Inviting New Books into Your Life →

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


Hi! I’m Lisa. I love sharing tips and ideas to help educators and parents of bright kiddos. Here you’ll find tons of resources to help make the world safe for gifted kids.

FREE TIPS FOR PARENTS AND EDUCATORS

Sign up for the monthly newsletter and receive a free copy of 15 Ways to Help Gifted Kids Thrive in School.

Categories

  • ADVOCACY
  • BOOK REVIEW
  • DEPTH & COMPLEXITY
  • DIFFERENTIATION
  • EMOTIONAL NEEDS OF THE GIFTED
  • FREEBIES & DOWNLOADS
  • GENERAL INFO
  • INTERVIEW WITH A GIFTED KID
  • PARENTING
  • READER Q&A
  • RESOURCES
  • STRATEGIES
  • TEACHERS PAY TEACHERS
  • TEACHING
  • TECH
  • TUTORIAL
  • YEAR IN REVIEW

Recent Posts

  • Depth and Complexity Question Stems Ebook
  • New Year Teaching Ideas
  • How to Help a Gifted Child Succeed
  • Depth and Complexity Image Analysis Activity
  • Digital Kanban Board for Students
  • Why You Should Not Use Gifted Students as Tutors
  • Encouraging Words about Virtual Learning
  • Interview with a Gifted Kid: James
  • 6 Steps to Prepare for Blended Virtual Learning
  • Interview with a Gifted Kid: Kassidy

Gifted Guru

Gifted Guru is a website devoted to sharing information and resources with parents and teachers of gifted children. Gifted educators and parents will find support, encouragement, and the occasional terrific book recommendation.

Privacy & Comment Policies

Click here to read the comment policy.

Click here to read the privacy policy.

License & Trademark

Copyright 2020 | All rights reserved

Gifted Guru is a registered trademark.

Please email lisa@giftedguru.com for permissions.

Copyright © 2021 · Epik on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in