I have a coworker who goes out of her way to stock up on school supplies each fall (when they are on sale for Back to School) and then she resales them for the same price she paid, using a bit of our display area.  My first thoughts: Okay, that’s wierd. What a hassle!  Why bother?

But now that school is back in session, I’m seeing the genius of her idea.  We are located in a poor urban neighborhood.  There is not a nearby dollar store and many of our patrons get around using inadequate public transit.  Perhaps for these reasons or perhaps simply because it’s fun, students are stocking up on padlocks, notebooks, colored pencils and more.  There is even the option to buy binders to submit reports in.   

On the surface, selling school supplies is totally beyond the normal function of a public library but in reality it’s just making a simple effort to help students start the school year off on the right foot. Any other public libraries get creative about supporting students succeed at school?