What’s the best solution when you have a lot of books to get rid of? For me, it was setting up a table full of free books near the English classrooms at my school.

The  staff have had something like this in the teachers’ lounge for years. One day I thought, ‘this would work great for students, wouldn’t it?’

Talking to my English teacher, Jill Gastrock, was the first step. She was enthused about the idea and suggested that I check with the principal.

Luckily, he also liked my proposition, and several teachers even agreed to hang up posters with relevant information. A few days later, I set out at least fifty gently-used books.

At first, nothing happened. People would grab a book every few days, but overall, traffic was slow. Then, things suddenly picked up! An anonymous donor supplied even more books, and several students enjoyed the books they had chosen.

I will admit that the idea has gone through some changes from my original plans. It’s in a completely different spot, for one thing. For another, there’s now a disclaimer in front of the books, advising students to check with their parents before selecting a more mature book. On the whole, however, I think this will improve the literary climate of our school.