Cheap Giveaway Books

It is Summer Reading time and our library likes to give children a free book when they meet their Summer Reading goals.  Of course, free to them is not free to us.  We are a small suburban library with a modest program budget, so I budgeted only $3 a book for the summer reading prizes. Here are my three favorite places to get brand new children's books for only $3 or less per book.

I like the Reading Warehouse because you can choose which books you want to order, instead of having to buy them as a set, half of which you don't want.  I go straight to their "bargain bin", search by category, and then sort by price. Sometimes you can get nice hardback picture books for less than $3.  The caveat with Reading Warehouse is that they do add shipping, so you have to consider that when thinking about cost/book.



Book Outlet also allows you to choose only the books you want.  They have the added bonus of offering free shipping if you order over a certain amount.  The disadvantage to Book Outlet is that their books are remainders, (books that used to be in a store, but didn't sell) so they each have a dot or mark with marker, usually on the page edges on the bottom, to show that they cannot be sold at full market price.  If you and your patrons are okay with that, they are a great source for inexpensive books.


This one might be surprising, but it is a place to get inexpensive children's books, if you buy them in the boxed sets.  For example, last week I bought a "Newbery" boxed set with 8 books for about 20 dollars.  If you do the math, that is less than my $3/book cut off.  I just throw away the box, and give the books out individually. The advantage of Costco is that if I find I am running low on give-away books, I can go there, same day, and come back with what I need.

So there you have it, three places to buy cheap children's books for Summer Reading prizes.

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