From Jan. 22 through Jan. 26, the library held its first-ever book swap to introduce new books to the library and provide new books for other students and staff to read and own.
The library wanted to influence kids to read outside of school, so they set aside books they were willing to give away. Students and staff could bring in books they no longer wanted and trade them out for books they hadn’t read. The book swap was put in place as a substitute for a book fair since companies didn’t support it at the high school level.
“Kids are racing in here in the morning and beating us to the door, all ready to go with their stack of books,” librarian Amanda Gehrke said. “We didn’t keep track, but I would say we’ve gotten between 50 and 100 [books] so far.”
Many students and staff were excited to take advantage of the opportunity that the library provided to them. The exchange of books allowed the library to gain new books to change up the variety and also allowed others to spice up the variety of books they had at home.
“I love the idea,” social studies teacher Amanda Watson said. “My whole family loves books, and I have five kids, so we have a ton of books at home. I just have a hard time donating them or getting rid of them because I think one of my little kids will want to read them. So, I thought this was a good idea because I took books that we had already read and got other books to bring home to see if the kids would like them. I think I swapped maybe 15 books and brought home six or seven.”
The book swap lets students and staff save money on books and share the books they have already read.
“I wanted to participate in the book swap because I’m always looking for something new to read, and I just love to browse bookstores and libraries,” sophomore Charlotte Fox said. “I also have tons of random old books at home, so I figured it would be a great way to get rid of them in exchange for some I’ve never read or might be more interested in. In total, I brought in 14 books. The books I brought to the book exchange were mostly old hand-me-downs from my cousins. Most of the hand-me-downs were old young adult or juvenile fiction books I’d already read before, so it made sense to trade them in.”
Because the book swap was such a huge success this year, there will be no doubt another one will take place in the near future. Students sharing and reading new books is the library’s main goal, and they hope the book swap impacts the school.
