LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Hundreds of educators lined up outside the East Las Vegas Library on Saturday for an exclusive teachers-only book sale, an event organizers said is designed to help teachers stretch limited budgets as the new school year approaches.
The National Retail Federation estimates parents will spend an average of $800 per child on back-to-school shopping this year. For teachers, out-of-pocket classroom spending adds another layer of financial strain. A survey by the National Education Association found teachers spend an average of $500 to $900 of their own money each year on classroom supplies.
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‘Ten cents, twenty-five cents’
The line stretched around the building Saturday morning as teachers waited to enter the sale. Books were available for as little as 10 and 25 cents.
“It’s very important when you can come in and buy books for ten cents, twenty-five cents,” said Kelvin Watson, executive director of the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District. “Especially in this economy where they’re trying to make their dollars stretch.”
Teachers describe the financial burden
Ava Crowell, a first-year music teacher at Hickey Elementary, said the personal spending has added up quickly.
“It’s a little bit distressing,” Crowell said. “As a first-year teacher, I have spent about half my paycheck… so, about six hundred, eight hundred.”
Crowell, who works at a Title I school, said nearly half of her students come from low-income families and often arrive without basic supplies.
“They don’t come with pencils. They don’t come with notebooks. Because it’s music, they don’t think to bring it. So, I keep all that in supply in case. And if they need something, like, even if it’s down to a snack,” she said.
Emily Gillette, a fifth-grade lead at Pinecrest Cadence, said her school’s parent-teacher organization hosts fundraisers to help cover classroom costs — but she still spends several hundred dollars each year.
“The money that I spend is more on my classroom atmosphere, you know, making sure that kids feel welcome and safe and ready to learn,” Gillette said.
Gillette said the sale directly addressed a gap in her classroom resources.
“I don’t have a lot of books that are in the fourth- and fifth-grade reading level. So coming here and being able to purchase books for so cheap, I can fill my classroom library,” she said.
“I would not have had a classroom library if it wasn’t for the public library,” Gillette added.
How to help
Organizers said Saturday’s sale is part of a greater, year-round effort. Families and community members are encouraged to donate gently used books or contribute to a teacher’s wish list. The Clark County Library District operates a year-round bookstore program; information is available at thelibrarydistrict.org/bookstores.
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