8 Great Ways to Get FREE Books to Build A Child’s Library

We all love the word FREE.  Pair that word with books.  Yes, FREE BOOKS for kids! Are you excited? Here are some of my favorite ways to get lots of great books to build a child’s library at home or to build a classroom collection of books for kids.

8 Ideas for Getting Free Books for Kids

1)Publishers

Many publishers offer giveaways in the form of sweepstakes or contests on social media.  They will often give away their brand-new titles or collections.  Follow your favorite publishers on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.  Here are a few that I follow that do giveaways several times a year.

• Little Tiger Press has lots and lots of giveaways on its Facebook page.
• Scholastic
• Candlewick Press
• Read Brightly (A Penguin Random House Company)

2)Host a Book Party

Did you know that you can host a book party in your home or online? It’s the easiest and fastest way to jump-start your home library.   You invite your friends to a live or virtual party and your consultant shares great books and literacy tips.   For being a hostess, you can earn hundreds of dollars in free books!

Paper Piehas a wonderful selection of non-fiction and fiction titles.  I happen to be a Paper Pie consultant and would love to help you build your library with free books.  I’m currently booking online parties.  Just send me an email at jodie (at) growingbookbook (dot) com and I’ll get you set up to host a party.  Please put Paper Pie in the subject line.

Barefoot Books is another publisher that offers party hosting opportunities for book rewards. Barefoot Books has some terrific multicultural titles and books that include cds.

3)Little Free Libraries

Oh, how I love Little Free Libraries!  They are book boxes that you will hopefully find in your own neighborhood.  There are currently over 90,000 of them worldwide.  Check at a local bank, neighbor’s yard or playground for one of these special boxes. The premise is that you take a book or two and return a book or two on your next visit.  Find a location near you or start your own!

4)Dolly Parton Imagination Library

The Dolly Parton Imagination Library is a unique book gifting program that mails a brand new, age-appropriate book to enrolled children every month from birth until five years of age.  It is open to various communities in the USA, Canada and the UK. 

5)Blogs and Instagram Influencers

There are many bloggers and online influencers who share great books for kids.  Here are a few that hold at least 4 giveaways a year on their blog or through their newsletter.

• I’ll start with myself!  You have lots of opportunities to win free books throughout the year at Growing Book by Book.  You will want to sign up for my FREE newsletter because I have a monthly book giveaway that are exclusively for newsletter subscribers too.—>Sign up for the free Growing Book by Book Newsletter: CLICK HERE  . Also, I host several giveaways on Instagram.  Follow me there too.—->Follow Growing Book by Book on Instagram

Here are other Instagram Influencers who also do giveaways.

• Pragmatic Mom
• All Done Monkey
• Library Mom Books
• Book Bloom
• Homeschool By The Beach

6)Book Swaps

Attend or host a book swap.  Families who have gently used books, that they no longer read, swap them for other books they would like to add to their libraries.  If a family brings five books, they get to take five different books home.

This can easily be done as a school swap too.

7)Summer Reading Programs and Special Event Days

There are various organizations and libraries that reward kids with a free book for tracking their reading over the summer.

• Barnes and Noble allow a child to earn a free book after eight books have been read.
• If you have an account with TD Bank, you will want to check out their summer reading program that begins in June. Children who read or listen to 10 books can have $10 deposited into their savings account which makes a nice investment for future book buying!

Check local parenting blogs for more summer reading programs in your area!

Each year for Multicultural Children’s Book Day, organizers give out a free diverse book to classrooms. Multicultural Children’s Book Day is the last Friday in January.  For more information, CLICK HERE.

Each fall/winter several bookagrammers host the Bookstagram Choice Awards.  There are lots of books given away at the end of this event near Christmas on Instagram.  Follow along HERE.

8)The Library

And the number one resource for getting free books….THE LIBRARY!  Borrowing books from your local library is one of the best ways to increase the number of books your children have access to each day.

Teachers can even contact their youth librarian to pull themed collections and have them waiting for you when you arrive.

Also, take advantage of digital downloads from your library too.  You can download books to read or even better, my favorite, audiobooks.

Don’t forget to check your library for book sales. Although not free, you can usually pick up children’s books for about 50 cents.  You could also wait for the last day of the sale and fill a paper bag with books for a $1.

Do you have an idea for acquiring free books for kids?  Please share below so we can grow this resource list.

Now that you are building that library, you’ll want to keep it organized.  These posts can help.

Book Rotation– An easy way to organize books

Book Label Bins– Organize and categorize with these printable book labels.

Book Ambulance– A great idea for books that need repair

*This post first appeared on GBBB on 4/27/15.