GLENDALE, Colo. — Kyle Kimmal is always looking for new books for his students.
“Books come and go in fashion. You’ll go years where kids won’t read a series. So we have to weed [them out], which is hard, we have a limited budget,” he said.
He’s a fifth-grade language arts teacher at a school in Denver. And when he does find new books to buy, the cost comes from his own wallet.
“Our school doesn’t have a school library. Having books in the classroom is really important to me,” he said. “I’d rather spend what limited funds I have on books than on other things.”
But last summer, Kimmal joined a “wish list” where other people offer to buy books for teachers and thier classrooms. It was started by The Bookies Bookstore in Glendale and continues to grow.
“We know how many teachers come in here and spend their money. We offer a discount, but that only goes so far,” said store manager, Krista Carlton. “One way was to offer a wish list, a registry, that would allow them to pick out books they wanted, occasionally games they wanted, and people would buy them for them.”
What started with just a handful of teachers and a few books quickly grew. Today, Carlton said about 150 teachers have shared their wish lists and the number of books sold is exploding.
“Last time we checked, which was June 18, we were just cresting 1,500. But I think today, alone, we hit another 150-200. It's been wild,” she said.
“I’ve probably received, this year, over 100 books from the registry,” Kimmal said. “I wouldn’t have been able to buy, maybe, 15 books I would have been able to purchase [myself].”
Purchases come from parents, former students, visiting authors, and even strangers. And every book sold also helps The Bookies.
“I really limit what I buy from Amazon, book-wise,” Kimmal said. “We need the independent bookstore. I want to support our indies.”
“Some of it was in response to Amazon, its just the nature of the beast,” Carlton said, adding, “And we are a store that supports teachers.”
The lists reflect teachers’ wishes for their students – granted, by others who just love to read.
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