I'm a U of Illinois GSLIS student (woo!) and I've drummed up an idea about using trained volunteers to find the kinds of high interest/low reading level books desperately needed in some underserved schools by checking thrift stores and garage sales. Has something like this already been done? Friends of mine in Teach for America began teaching with no books in their classrooms, and I find lots of great books at thrift stores. I'm hoping there could be a beautiful relationship built of this.
Hi,
I searched a few databases and couldn't find any articles about teachers who have done this, but it seems like a good idea. Librarians would be the best ones to do this kind of work!
As one other RR volunteer suggested, you should ask around on listservs and groups to ask what others have done to alleviate book shortages. In my searches I found that book shortages are dealt with in various ways by school systems.
See:
Title: Analysis: How New York City public schools are working with the private sector to make up for shortages in school supplies
Authors: ALEX CHADWICK
Source: Day to Day (NPR); 12/22/2003
and
Title: Textbook Shortages Spur Digital Alternatives.
Authors: Hurst, Marianne D.
Source: Education Week; 5/5/2004, Vol. 23 Issue 34, p5-5, 1/2p
I searched Ebsco host to get these articles.
Good luck!