Ed-Tech Policy

Cyber Swapping

By Amanda Jones — July 10, 2007 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Norwood, Colo., sits more than a mile above sea level on Wright’s Mesa, surrounded by Lone Cone Mountain and the Uncompahgre Plateau. The town, population 456, offers plenty of scenery but few amenities. “There are no bookstores to browse in, unless I drive over two hours,” Michelle Barkemeyer laments. And for Barkemeyer, who is working on a teacher’s budget and has limited free time, the half-day trek is quite an investment.

Enter online book swapping. Cheaper than Amazon and more efficient than eBay, it’s useful for rural residents and city slickers alike. Barkemeyer was thrilled when she found PaperBackSwap.com in an online teacher forum.

“For me, it’s convenience and price,” she says. “The more things I can do online, the easier my life becomes.”

PaperBackSwap, BookMooch, FrugalReader, and Zunafish, all popular book-swapping sites, were each started as pet projects by entrepreneurs who wanted to clear the clutter from their houses and get something in return.

The first three sites are free to join, charging only for postage. Each operates on a point or credit system, allowing customers to list the books they currently have and utilize the points from those sales to swap for other members’ listings. Zunafish, which also offers CDs and DVDs, charges a dollar per purchase and works under a direct trading system between members.

A Classroom Resource

Online book-swapping services have found a growing audience among teachers—a group that is always on the look out for inexpensive resources and is becoming increasingly involved in online networking.

Ninth-grade English teacher Stephanie Hyatt, a self-confessed bookworm, uses PaperBackSwap for more than just swapping books. “It’s a big community system with forums where people can trade ideas and discuss things they are teaching and thought about teaching,” says Hyatt.

“Just like with any local book club, it’s about sharing your experiences, and that includes the social aspect of the club; discussion forums, personal messaging, live chats,” says PaperBackSwap co-founder Richard Pickering. “What we’re finding is that members are creating long lasting friendships in situations where they may never meet.”

President and founder of FrugalReader Gene McCabe describes a similar cyberspace community on his site. After one of FrugalReader’s teacher members posted a message saying her school could not afford enough books for its students, she received hundreds of donated credits in response, and now posts regular updates about how her class is doing.

John Buckman, the founder of BookMooch, encourages teachers to register their schools as a charity so they can receive free points from community members. “A small number of libraries have already signed up, but I’d love to have more [schools], because people prefer to give points in their neighborhoods,” he says.

Zunafish co-founders Dan Elias and Billy Bloom point to the environmental benefits that extend beyond membership—the inherent lesson for students and adults in the site’s anti-consumerism message. English teacher Hyatt agrees, “It’s the ultimate in recycling.”

Barkemeyer and Hyatt, however, admit to a downside. Because the books are sent by media mail, it sometimes takes a while to receive them. Hyatt mailed books from Huntsville, Ala., to Georgia and Montana, and while the Montana book arrived in three days, the Georgia book took two weeks.

But unless it’s the latest Harry Potter book or Dan Brown thriller you’re searching for, both teachers—who use the site mainly for teacher resource books—find the process to be worth the wait. There may even be something in the mailbox to tide you over—FrugalReader members have been known to send each other birthday cards and get well letters.

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Reading & Literacy Webinar
(Re)Focus on Dyslexia: Moving Beyond Diagnosis & Toward Transformation
Move beyond dyslexia diagnoses & focus on effective literacy instruction for ALL students. Join us to learn research-based strategies that benefit learners in PreK-8.
Content provided by EPS Learning
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School Climate & Safety Webinar
How to Use Data to Combat Bullying and Enhance School Safety
Join our webinar to learn how data can help identify bullying, implement effective interventions, & foster student well-being.
Content provided by Panorama Education
Classroom Technology Live Online Discussion A Seat at the Table: Is AI Out to Take Your Job or Help You Do It Better?
With all of the uncertainty K-12 educators have around what AI means might mean for the future, how can the field best prepare young people for an AI-powered future?

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Ed-Tech Policy From Our Research Center Why Schools Are Getting a Jump on Their Smartwatch Policies
A small but growing number of schools are adding smartwatches to their cellphone policies.
4 min read
Student is working in a school notebook with a pen. He has a smart watch on his wrist.
Forty percent of educators think smartwatches pose a behavioral or disciplinary challenge, new research shows.
galitskaya/iStock/Getty
Ed-Tech Policy 'A Solid Start': States Are Crafting AI Guidance for Schools, But Have More to Do
State education agencies are stepping up to try to meet the AI moment, report finds.
2 min read
USmap ai states 535889663 02
Laura Baker/Education Week with iStock/Getty
Ed-Tech Policy Teachers Want Cellphones Out of Classrooms
Members of the nation's largest teachers' union say they want bans on cellphones during class time.
3 min read
A sign is shown over a phone holder in a classroom at Delta High School, Friday, Feb. 23, 2024, in Delta, Utah. At the rural Utah school, there is a strict policy requiring students to check their phones at the door when entering every class. Each classroom has a cellphone storage unit that looks like an over-the-door shoe bag with three dozen smartphone-sized slots.
A sign in a classroom at Delta High School in February reinforces the policy of the rural Utah school that students check their phones at the door as they enter each classroom.
Rick Bowmer/AP
Ed-Tech Policy E-Rate Is in Legal Jeopardy. Here’s What Schools Stand to Lose
The FCC released a fact sheet about how the E-rate helps schools in response to a court ruling that threatens the program's funding.
1 min read
Photograph of a young girl reading, wearing headphones and working at her desk at home with laptop near by.
iStock/Getty Images Plus