Turning Trash into Treasure: How BookSmiles Helps Teachers Stock Their Classrooms

May 29, 2026 - 21:43

By Larry Abrams

When I was a first-year teacher, a police officer caught me rooting through a dumpster behind my town's library. I had scooped up books to grow my classroom library on a shoestring budget. That moment of embarrassment sparked an idea that would eventually become BookSmiles, a nonprofit dedicated to putting free books into the hands of educators and students.

BookSmiles collects gently used and new books from community donations, then distributes them to teachers who often spend hundreds of dollars of their own money on classroom materials. The organization operates on a simple premise: no teacher should have to dig through trash to give their students something to read.

Since its founding, BookSmiles has distributed hundreds of thousands of books across schools in need. Teachers can visit the warehouse and select books for their classrooms at no cost. The organization also runs mobile book fairs and special events for schools in underserved areas.

The impact goes beyond just saving teachers money. Students who might not have books at home get to take them home. Classrooms that once had bare shelves now have colorful libraries. And teachers who felt alone in their struggle find a community that understands their challenges.

BookSmiles continues to grow, relying on volunteers and donations to keep the mission alive. For educators, it means turning the page on a problem that should never have existed in the first place.