What Do School Librarians Buy with Their Own Money? ...and How to Break the Habit!

by Jenna Kammer, September 2021

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Huffington Post published an article about how classroom teachers spent their personal money to prepare their classrooms for distance learning, or to improve the health and safety for students within the physical classroom (Bond 2020). Other polls in the last few years have indicated teachers spend about $500 of their own money to buy school supplies, including school librarians who spent about $300 (see Table 1). Teaching is one of the few professions in which practioners lack the basic supplies needed to do their job to the fullest extent. For example, doctors do not need to purchase their own band-aids or personal protective equipment and do not ask patients to bring in these supplies either.

The concept of personal spending begs us to consider the question, "Why do school librarians spend their personal money for the library?" A 2008 study in Science magazine found that spending money on others is considered to be prosocial spending and can actually improve happiness (Dunn et al. 2008). Specifically, the authors stated that "investing income in others rather than oneself—may have measurable benefits for one's own happiness" (p. 1687). This aligns with school librarians' statements which indicate that they spend personal money on their school libraries so that the students have what they need, whether it is a new book, supplies, or food (Yorio 2018). In addition, school librarians are driven by a mission of access, providing students with what they need to find information and enjoy reading is at the core of the profession. Simply put, school librarians spend their money so that the students have access to what they need to learn, read, and enjoy the library.

Below we will consider some of the areas in which school librarians spend their own money, policies related to spending money in the library, and alternatives for securing funding outside of the library budget.

Out-of-Pocket Expenses

Personal spending by school librarians often occurs because the library (as well as public school classrooms in general) is not adequately funded. Due to low school library budgets, or budgets that are limited to books and do not account for other library needs like school supplies, prizes, or snacks for students, librarians are left without many options to fund the materials they need. Also, many school supply lists for parents do not necessarily include school library supply needs, unless the school has made arrangements to distribute classroom donations internally or included the library needs on the supply list.

It is well documented that teachers spend their personal money on school supplies, food for students, and more recently, cleaning supplies. However, less is known about similar spending by school librarians. Surveys suggest that librarians are purchasing books for the library, prizes, or other supplies (Kletter 2021; Yario 2018). Other school librarians may purchase items like personal hygiene products, clothing, or toiletries for students in need. In general, librarians may spend their own money on:

• Books
• Office supplies
• Arts and crafts supplies
• Library decorations
• Games
• Technology, apps, or learning resources (including subscriptions)
• Media (audiobooks, eBooks, video, etc.)
• Furniture
• Prizes
• Student needs (clothes, food, toiletries, snacks, etc.)
• Cleaning supplies

School Policies Related to Out-of-Pocket Spending

As teachers, school librarians are eligible to claim the Educator Expense Deduction, which allowed K-12 educators to deduct a maximum of $250 on the federal tax return in tax year 2020. The problem is that librarians may spend more than this or need to raise funds in other ways. However, there are often policy limitations set by the district which restrict how librarians can raise funds to supplement the school library budget.

One problem that leads to out-of-pocket spending may be that some library budgets are only for books. Restrictions on book budgets may not allow the librarian to use funds for office supplies or other items, requiring them to find other funding for those necessities. Another problem is that there are many barriers to making formal purchases using library budgets. In some cases, librarians choose to spend their own money to avoid the red-tape related to working within the restrictions set by their districts. For example, some schools require permissions and approval before making purchases with school funding, which can cause delays and make using out-of-pocket money that much easier. In other cases, there may be restrictions to soliciting donations from parents or the community, or integrating donated items into the library. Or, in other cases, the school librarian may hope that their purchases will be reimbursed, though they are not always sure of that when purchases are made.

Some schools also have restrictions related to what teachers and librarians are allowed to do to procure funding from other places. For example, Donor's Choose is a crowdfunding website where educators can raise money for classroom supplies and learning initiatives. However, many districts have banned teachers from using Donor's Choose since it was hard for them to monitor the requests and their alignment with district goals (Jones 2019). Also, many school librarians have tried to embark in used book sales or book drives to earn additional funding for new books, only to find that the district prohibits the resale of weeded or discarded books purchased with school funding.

Beyond the Book Fair...Alternatives to Out-of-Pocket Spending

Ideally, school library budgets would be large enough to provide the books and resources needed for the library. When the library budget is not enough, librarians resort to other strategies for procuring funds. Most librarians fundraise through book fairs each year, which is a time-consuming process but can generate the funds needed to operate the library. There are many options to seek funding outside of the library budget besides running a book fair or fundraising so that librarians do not need to spend their personal money if they do not want to. For example, librarians can set up an Amazon Smile account where families can choose the library or school as their charitable organization and the library will receive a percentage of all Amazon purchases made. Or, Better World Book's Discard and Donation Systems for Libraries program provides libraries with a percentage of sales for any used books they are able to resell.

Librarians can seek free items through online services that specifically support teachers. For example, the Kids in Need Foundation has several programs for teachers in underserved schools that provide free seasonal items retail stores no longer need. NAEIR (National Association for the Exchange of Industrial Resources) has a similar program that provides many school supplies from brand-name companies at significant discounts to teachers. Also, some vendors may provide free posters or other items for librarians who purchase from them. Bookstores, like Half Price Books, select classrooms and school libraries to which they will give free books.

School librarians also can seek donations through social media, Amazon Wish Lists, or requests to parent-teacher associations. If district policy allows for crowdsourcing, librarians can also seek donations on Donor's Choose or Teachers Pay Teachers.

There are also many programs that offer free books to school libraries. Programs like the Rainbow Library and Hope in a Box provide a collection of free LGBTQIA+ books for school libraries. The Reading Resource Project (PreK-grade 2) also provides a collection of 100 free soft-cover books to school libraries. Your state may offer other initiatives to support book exchanges between libraries. For example, in Missouri, we had the Missouri Association of School Librarians Caring/Sharing Weeded Book Program through which school librarians could donate and acquire books for their collection.

There are many grant opportunities that provide funding to schools and libraries. The Snapdragon Book Foundation and the Laura Bush Foundation for America's Libraries provide grants to enhance school library collections. Also, corporations like Home Depot or Wells Fargo have offered grants to schools and libraries in the past.

Lastly, it never hurts to ask! Ask your district or administrator if there is more funding for your library. One administrator said when interviewed that they would consider funding more projects but were never asked (Jones 2019). School librarians may be able to secure new books for students quickly through partnerships with the public libraries as well, including using services like courier delivery or creating library cards for student access.

Works Cited

Bond, Casey. "Teachers Are Spending Their Own Money on School Supplies Due to COVID-19." Huffington Post (September 5, 2020). https://www.huffpost.com/entry/teachers-spending-money-school-supplies-covid_l_5f5005d1c5b6946f3eacc5c4#.

Dunn, Elizabeth W., Lara B. Aknin, and Michael I. Norton. "Spending Money on Others Promotes Happiness." Science 319, no. 5870 (2008): 1687-1688.

Fishbowl. "96 Percent of Teachers Personally Pay for Supplies for Students." Fishbowlapp.com (July 16, 2019). https://www.fishbowlapp.com/insights/2019/07/16/96-percent-of-teachers-personally-pay-for-supplies-for-students/.

Haglage, Abby. "'Things Have Just Gotten so Bad': Why Teachers in America Are Leaving the Classroom for Good." Yahoo!Life (September 24, 2019). https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/things-have-just-gotten-so-bad-why-teachers-in-america-are-leaving-the-classroom-for-good-133358169.html.

Jones, Sasha. "Teachers Are Fired Up about District Bans on DonorsChoose." Education Week (March 20, 2019). https://www.edweek.org/leadership/teachers-are-fired-up-about-district-bans-on-donorschoose/2019/03.

Kletter, Melanie. "A Digital Shift." School Library Journal 67, no. 3 (March 2021): 52–55.

Spiegelman, Maura. "Public School Teacher Spending on Classroom Supplies. Data Point. NCES 2018-097." National Center for Education Statistics (2018).

Yorio, Kara. "Librarians Spending on Students." School Library Journal 64, no 9 (2018): 12–13.