Teacher Retiring? What to Do With Your Classroom Library
After decades of building a classroom library, here’s how to sort it, save the best, and let the rest help other teachers.
Free pickup across New Mexico — from schools and homes
Last verified May 2026 · Original research by Josh Eldred
You Built This Library One Book at a Time
I want to start by saying something that doesn’t get said enough: what you did with your classroom library was extraordinary. You spent your own money. Year after year. Scholastic book fair orders. Saturday garage sale finds. Books you carried home from used bookstores because you knew one specific kid would love them. Parent donations that came in paper bags. Award winners you saved up for because you believed every child in your room deserved to hold a beautiful book.
I know this because I see it every time I pick up a retiring teacher’s collection. The shelves tell the story. There are the picture books with tape-repaired spines because forty kids a year loved them so hard. There are the chapter book series arranged by reading level because you tracked every student’s progress. There are the poetry anthologies with sticky notes marking the poems you read aloud on the first day of school, every year, for twenty years.
This library wasn’t just a collection. It was a teaching tool you built with your own hands, your own wallet, your own judgment about what mattered. And now that you’re retiring, you’re standing in front of it wondering what on earth to do with five hundred books, or a thousand, or more.
I’m Josh Eldred. I run the New Mexico Literacy Project out of a warehouse on Edith Boulevard in Albuquerque. I’ve picked up classroom libraries from teachers at APS schools, charter schools, BIA schools in Gallup and Zuni, private schools in Santa Fe, and one-room schoolhouses in communities most people have never heard of. I know what’s in these collections, I know what has value, and I know what it feels like to let them go.
This guide is for you. It’s practical, it’s honest, and it will help you sort through everything without losing the books that matter most or wasting time on the ones that don’t.
The Sorting Framework: Four Piles
Before you start boxing things up, take a breath. You don’t need to make every decision today. But you do need a framework, and this one works. I’ve refined it over hundreds of teacher pickups.
Pile One: Keep
These are the books that defined your teaching career. You know which ones they are. The picture book you read on the first day of school every single year. The novel that made a reluctant reader cry. The poetry collection you quoted at staff meetings. The signed copy from the author who visited your school in 2004.
Keep those. They’re not just books anymore — they’re artifacts of your career. They belong on your bookshelf at home, and someday you’ll read them to grandchildren, or you’ll pull one out at a retirement party and every teacher in the room will know exactly why it mattered.
Also keep: any Caldecott or Newbery Award winners in hardcover with dust jackets. Any first editions you’ve been holding onto. Anything signed by an author. Anything published before 1970 in good condition. I’ll talk about why in the next section.
Be honest with yourself about this pile. Most retiring teachers I work with want to keep everything because every book has a memory. But you’re not going to reread 500 books. Keep 20 or 30 that truly meant something. Let the rest help someone else.
Pile Two: Sell
This pile surprises people. Most teachers assume their classroom books are only worth what they paid for them at a Scholastic book fair, which is to say not much. But a specific subset of children’s books has genuine collector value, and teachers are more likely to own them than almost anyone else.
First editions of Caldecott and Newbery winners — especially from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s — can be worth significant money in good condition. First printings of beloved classics like Where the Wild Things Are, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, or The Giving Tree command serious attention from collectors. And if you taught for 30 years, there’s a real chance you bought one of these when it first came out.
Teacher reference books can also have resale value, but only if they’re current editions. A 2024 Fountas & Pinnell guide still sells. A 1998 version of the same thing doesn’t.
If you’re not sure what’s in this pile, that’s exactly what I do. I evaluate collections for valuable items before anything gets donated or recycled. You don’t need to sort this pile perfectly — just set aside anything that looks old, looks hardcover, or looks like it might be a first edition, and I’ll help with the rest.
Pile Three: Pass to Another Teacher
This is the pile that makes the biggest practical difference. New Mexico has a persistent teacher shortage, and new teachers walk into classrooms with empty shelves and empty budgets. A classroom set of 30 paperback copies of Esperanza Rising isn’t worth anything to a book dealer. But to a first-year teacher at a Title I school in the South Valley, it’s gold.
Current, good-condition books that belong in this pile include: classroom novel sets (even partial ones), picture books that teachers actually use for read-alouds, popular chapter book series like Magic Tree House, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Dog Man, Wings of Fire, and Captain Underpants. Guided reading level sets. Bilingual books in good shape. Nonfiction sets organized by topic.
These books aren’t valuable in the collector sense. They’re valuable in the teacher sense. And there are specific channels for getting them into the right hands. I’ll cover those later in this guide.
Pile Four: Donate or Recycle
I want to be honest about this pile because no one else will be. A lot of what’s in a retiring teacher’s classroom falls here. Outdated textbooks from two or three adoption cycles ago. Water-damaged books from that time the roof leaked. Incomplete series sets. Mass-market chapter books in rough shape — cover torn off, spine cracked, pages falling out.
These books don’t have resale value, and they’re not useful to other teachers in their current condition. But they shouldn’t go in the dumpster. Book paper is recyclable, and responsible recycling is part of what I do at NMLP.
The good news is that you don’t have to sort this pile from the others. When I come for a pickup, I take everything — all four piles — and sort it myself at the warehouse. You just need to have a general sense of what you’re looking at so you can pull the keepers and anything that might be valuable before I arrive.
Children’s Books That Are Actually Worth Money
Here’s the section that pays for itself. If you taught elementary or middle school for two or three decades, there’s a realistic chance you own children’s books with genuine collector value. Most teachers don’t know this, and most book buyers don’t bother to check because they don’t know the children’s book market. I do.
Caldecott and Newbery Winners, Pre-1970
First edition Caldecott and Newbery Medal winners from the 1930s through the 1960s are the blue chips of children’s book collecting. If the book still has its dust jacket, and the jacket mentions the medal, you may be holding something worth real money. Honor books from the same era can also carry significant value. Even books from the 1970s and 1980s, if they’re true first printings in clean dust jackets, attract collector attention.
The key is condition and edition. A 1964 Caldecott winner in a battered ex-library binding is a different conversation than the same book in a clean first-edition dust jacket. Both are worth looking at. Only one is worth money.
The Classics Everyone Knows
Certain children’s books have become cultural landmarks, and first editions of these titles are actively collected. Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are from 1963 is one of the most sought-after children’s books in the world if it’s a first printing in the original dust jacket. Dr. Seuss first editions — The Cat in the Hat from 1957, Green Eggs and Ham from 1960, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish from the same year — are perennially in demand.
Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree from 1964 in first edition with the green dust jacket is a significant book. Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar from 1969, especially in the original oversized format with the die-cut pages intact, is another one that surprises teachers who bought it at a bookstore thirty years ago and never thought about it again.
Chapter Book Authors With Collector Markets
Roald Dahl first editions are seriously collected — Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, The BFG. Early Beverly Cleary titles, especially the Ramona books in first printing, have a dedicated following. Judy Blume first editions from the 1970s are sought after. Lois Lowry’s The Giver in first edition is a book I look for every single time I walk into a teacher’s collection.
More recent titles can also have value. First editions of the Harry Potter series, particularly the American Scholastic editions, are collected. First printings of Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Dav Pilkey’s Captain Underpants series, and Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson books are starting to attract attention from collectors who grew up reading them.
New Mexico-Specific Children’s Books
This is where I get excited, and it’s where New Mexico teachers have an advantage that teachers in other states don’t. If you taught in NM, your classroom library probably contains books with specific regional value.
Byrd Baylor’s books — The Desert Is Theirs, When Clay Sings, Hawk, I’m Your Brother, illustrated by Peter Parnall — are collected by both children’s book collectors and Southwest literature collectors. Early printings in good condition are worth evaluating.
Joe Hayes is New Mexico’s master storyteller, and his bilingual books are part of the classroom furniture in this state. Most copies are well-used, but first editions and signed copies have value. If Hayes ever visited your school and signed your classroom copies, don’t put those in the giveaway pile.
BIA Readers — the readers produced for Bureau of Indian Education schools in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s — are genuinely rare and historically significant. They were printed in small runs, often with artwork by Native artists, and many were discarded when curricula changed. If you taught at a BIA school or inherited materials from one, these readers can be the most valuable items in your collection.
Ann Nolan Clark’s children’s books, written in partnership with Pueblo communities — In My Mother’s House, Little Navajo Bluebird — are collected as both children’s literature and Southwest Americana. Clark won the Newbery Medal in 1953 for Secret of the Andes, and her New Mexico-based work is the foundation of a collecting niche that very few people know about.
Signed copies from author visits to NM schools are a special category. New Mexico has a remarkably active community of children’s authors. If you hosted author visits over the years and kept the signed copies in your classroom rather than sending them home with students, those books may have value beyond what you’d expect.
For a deeper look at which children’s books carry collector value, I’ve written a complete guide to children’s books worth money.
Not Sure What’s Valuable?
Call or text and I’ll walk you through it. No obligation, no pressure. I just like talking about books.
Call or Text 702-496-4214The Textbook Reality
I’m going to be direct about this because too many people waste time trying to sell old textbooks and end up frustrated. The vast majority of classroom textbooks have zero resale value. None. Not a penny.
Here’s why. Textbook publishers operate on edition cycles of five to seven years. When a new edition comes out, the previous edition becomes functionally worthless overnight. It doesn’t matter that the content is 95% the same. It doesn’t matter that the binding is perfect. School districts require the current edition, college professors assign the current edition, and the used-book market only wants the current edition.
If you’re retiring with a shelf of Houghton Mifflin reading textbooks from 2011, or McGraw-Hill math texts from 2014, or Pearson science books from any year that isn’t this one — they’re not going to sell. I won’t pretend otherwise.
The Exceptions
There are two categories of textbooks that buck this trend, and both show up in teacher collections.
Current-edition college-level reference texts. If you taught AP courses or dual-enrollment classes and purchased your own copies of college textbooks, those may still be current editions with resale value. Check the copyright date and edition number. If it’s within the last two or three years, it’s worth evaluating.
Vintage textbooks that have become collectible. This is the fun exception. Textbooks from before 1950 — especially regional readers, state history textbooks, primers with original illustrations, and early bilingual education materials — are collected by historians, educators, and Southwestern Americana collectors. Pre-statehood New Mexico readers are genuine rarities. Dick and Jane readers from the 1930s and 1940s have their own collector market. If you inherited materials from an older teacher when you started your career, or if your school had a closet full of ancient textbooks that everyone forgot about, those may be the most interesting items in your collection.
What to Do With Outdated Textbooks
Don’t throw them in the dumpster. Textbooks are heavy, they take up landfill space, and the paper and binding materials can be recycled. Bring them to NMLP or call me for a pickup. I take everything — including the textbooks nobody wants — and I recycle responsibly. You don’t need to sort textbooks from trade books before I come. I do that at the warehouse. For a detailed walkthrough of teacher and school textbook logistics, see my teacher textbook donation guide.
New Mexico Teacher-Specific Situations
New Mexico isn’t like other states when it comes to classroom libraries. The diversity of school types, the bilingual education legacy, the geographic spread, and the cultural richness of the communities teachers serve all create unique situations that a generic book donation guide doesn’t address. Here’s what I’ve learned from working with NM teachers across the state.
APS — Albuquerque Public Schools
APS is the largest school district in New Mexico, and it produces the largest volume of retiring teacher collections. Every spring, I get calls from APS teachers who are finishing their last year and facing the reality of clearing out a classroom they’ve occupied for 15, 20, sometimes 30 years.
The challenge with APS retirements is timing. The end-of-year rush happens fast. You’re finishing grades, attending ceremonies, cleaning out your desk, and trying to figure out what belongs to the district and what belongs to you. Most classroom library books are personal property — you bought them with your own money — but classroom sets provided by the district need to stay. If you’re not sure which is which, your building librarian or department chair can usually help clarify.
I pick up from APS schools regularly. I coordinate with front office staff, work around school schedules, and can come during teacher workdays when the building is quieter. If you’d rather bring everything home first and sort at your own pace, I do home pickups across the metro area.
BIA and Bureau of Indian Education Schools
Teachers at BIA schools and tribally controlled schools often have classroom materials you won’t find anywhere else. Bilingual and tri-lingual readers. Curriculum materials developed specifically for Navajo, Pueblo, or Apache communities. Textbooks published by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in limited runs. Locally produced educational materials that were never commercially distributed.
These materials can be historically significant and genuinely rare. BIA Readers from the mid-20th century — with their distinctive illustrations and culturally specific content — are sought after by collectors, historians, and tribal libraries. If you taught at a BIA school in Gallup, Zuni, Laguna, Shiprock, or anywhere on tribal land, your classroom materials deserve careful evaluation before anything gets recycled.
I’ve made pickups from BIA schools across the state, and I treat these collections with the cultural respect they deserve. Some materials may be more appropriately returned to tribal libraries or cultural centers than sold, and I’ll help you figure out what goes where.
Rural New Mexico Schools
New Mexico still has schools in communities so small that the nearest bookstore is two hours away. Teachers in Mosquero, Roy, Wagon Mound, Magdalena, Reserve, and Mountainair build classroom libraries through sheer determination — mail-ordering books, driving to Albuquerque or Santa Fe on weekends, and accepting every donation that comes their way.
When these teachers retire, or when small schools consolidate or close, entire classroom libraries need homes. And because these collections were built over decades with limited resources, they sometimes contain unexpected items — old textbooks that nobody threw away, donations from community members who cleaned out their own attics, and materials from earlier eras of education that simply never got discarded because there was nowhere to send them.
I pick up from rural New Mexico. If you’re more than two hours from Albuquerque, I coordinate a trip that makes logistical sense — sometimes combining multiple pickups in the same region. The distance doesn’t change what I do. I take everything, evaluate everything, and handle the rest.
Charter School Closures
New Mexico has seen a significant number of charter school closures over the past decade. When a charter closes, the entire school’s inventory needs to be dealt with quickly — often over a single summer. Classroom libraries that individual teachers built are mixed in with school-purchased materials, and the urgency of the timeline makes careful sorting difficult.
If you taught at a charter school that closed, or if you’re involved in the wind-down process, call me early. The earlier I get involved, the better the chance of salvaging valuable items and routing useful materials to other schools rather than having everything end up in a storage unit or a dumpster.
Spanish-Language and Bilingual Materials
New Mexico’s bilingual education legacy is unique in the United States. I’ve had bilingual programs since long before they were trendy, and NM classroom libraries reflect that history. Teachers in bilingual programs accumulate Spanish-language children’s books, bilingual editions, and ESL materials that have their own value and their own audience.
Spanish-language children’s books are in high demand for bilingual programs across the state. Many of the titles that NM teachers have are out of print and hard to find. If you’ve been teaching in a bilingual or dual-language program for two or three decades, your Spanish-language collection may be more useful and more valuable than you think.
Joe Hayes bilingual editions, books from Cinco Puntos Press in El Paso, Spanish translations of Caldecott winners, and locally produced bilingual materials all have audiences beyond your classroom. I sort and evaluate these separately from English-language materials because the market and the need are different.
Title I School Libraries
If you taught at a Title I school, your classroom library probably shows it. These books were heavily used because they were often the only books available to students. The condition may be rough — covers worn, spines cracked, pages dog-eared and annotated by generations of children.
The condition tells a story of service, and it doesn’t change what I do. I still pick up everything, still evaluate for valuable items, and still route usable books to other schools. Some of the most important children’s books I’ve found have come from Title I classrooms — first editions hidden among the paperbacks, signed copies shelved with the read-alouds, vintage picture books that nobody realized were worth looking at twice.
Retiring This Spring?
May and June fill up fast. Schedule your pickup now and I’ll work around your end-of-year calendar.
What to Do With the Bulk
You’ve pulled the keepers. You’ve set aside anything that might be valuable. You’ve identified the classroom sets worth passing to another teacher. And you’re still looking at 300, 400, maybe 500 books that need to go somewhere. Here’s how to handle the bulk.
Call NMLP
This is the simplest option and the one I recommend. Call or text me at 702-496-4214. I pick up from schools and homes across the Albuquerque metro area and throughout New Mexico. I take everything: picture books, chapter books, textbooks, teacher guides, answer keys, curriculum binders, manipulatives that come with books, even the posters and educational charts you taped to the wall for fifteen years.
Here’s what happens after I pick up. Everything goes to the warehouse on Edith Boulevard. I evaluate the collection for valuable items — first editions, signed copies, out-of-print titles, NM-specific materials with collector value. Books with resale value are sold through my sister site, SellBooksABQ. Usable classroom books are routed to other teachers and schools. Everything else is recycled responsibly. Nothing goes in a landfill.
Timing Matters: The May-June Rush
Every year, the last two weeks of the school year bring a wave of teacher pickups. Schools are being cleaned, classrooms are being emptied, and everyone needs help at the same time. If you know you’re retiring, call me in March or April. I can schedule your pickup for a specific date, work around your end-of-year obligations, and avoid the crunch.
If it’s already June and you’re reading this with a car full of boxes, call anyway. I’ll fit you in. But the earlier you plan, the easier everything goes.
Other Options for Specific Items
DonorsChoose. If you have specific classroom sets in good condition and you know a teacher who needs them, DonorsChoose is an excellent platform for teacher-to-teacher connections. New teachers can post requests for specific books, and retiring teachers can fulfill those requests directly.
Little Free Libraries. Albuquerque has hundreds of Little Free Libraries. Good-condition picture books and chapter books are always welcome. This is a great option for the handful of books that are in good shape but don’t have collector value — the kind of books you want a child to pick up and take home.
NM school district surplus programs. Some districts, including APS, have internal systems for transferring surplus materials between schools. If your school has a book room or media center coordinator, check whether your classroom books can be redistributed within the district before you take them home.
Your school’s library. Talk to your school librarian. They may want specific titles to fill gaps in the school collection, or they may know another teacher in the building who is building a classroom library from scratch.
Passing Books to the Next Generation of Teachers
This is the part that makes the work meaningful for me, and I suspect it matters to you too. New Mexico has one of the highest teacher turnover rates in the country. New teachers enter classrooms with almost nothing — empty bookshelves, empty budgets, and the expectation that they’ll somehow build a classroom library from scratch on a starting salary that barely covers rent.
Your classroom library can change that for someone. Here’s how to make the connection.
Ask Within Your School
Before you leave, talk to your principal or department chair. Is there a new teacher coming in who could use your books? Is there a teacher in the building who’s been trying to expand their classroom library? Schools rarely have formal systems for this, so it falls on individual teachers to make the offer. A five-minute conversation in the workroom can transfer years of resources to someone who needs them.
Teacher-to-Teacher Networks
New Mexico has an active community of educators on social media. Facebook groups like NM Teachers Helping Teachers and Albuquerque Educators are places where retiring teachers can post lists of available books and new teachers can claim what they need. These groups work especially well for classroom novel sets, guided reading levels, and bilingual materials.
DonorsChoose Wishlists
If you don’t know a specific teacher to give your books to, DonorsChoose lets you browse active projects from NM teachers requesting books for their classrooms. You can fulfill requests directly by donating your books rather than purchasing new ones. It’s not a perfect system for used books, but it’s a way to connect supply with demand.
NMLP Routing to Title I Schools
When I pick up a teacher’s collection, one of the things I do is identify classroom-ready books and route them to teachers and schools that need them. I work with Title I schools across Albuquerque and have relationships with teachers who are actively building classroom libraries. If you want your books to go to a classroom rather than a recycling bin, tell me. I’ll make it happen.
District Surplus Programs
APS and some other NM districts have surplus property processes that allow materials to be transferred between schools. The process can be bureaucratic, but it exists. If you have large quantities of books — especially classroom sets purchased with district funds — your school’s business manager can advise on the proper process for transferring them to another school within the district.
Ready to Clear the Classroom?
One call. I handle the pickup, the sorting, and the heavy lifting. You handled the teaching.
Call or Text 702-496-4214Frequently Asked Questions
Can you pick up from my school?
Yes. I pick up from schools across the Albuquerque metro area and throughout New Mexico. I coordinate with the front office or custodial staff so everything goes smoothly. I’ve picked up from APS schools, charter schools, private schools, and BIA schools. Let me know when and where, and I’ll make it work.
What about summer — my school is locked?
If you’ve already brought books home, I’ll pick up from your house. If the books are still at school, I can sometimes coordinate with custodial or admin staff for summer access. But the most common approach is for teachers to box everything up during the last week of school and have me come to their home in June or July. That gives you time to sort through the keepers at your own pace.
Are any of my textbooks worth anything?
Probably not, but I check everything. Most classroom textbooks lose all resale value within five to seven years of publication because new editions replace them. The exceptions are current-edition college-level reference texts and vintage textbooks from before 1950, which can be collectible. I take all textbooks regardless — if they’re not sellable, I recycle them responsibly.
I have 30 copies of the same novel — is that useful?
Absolutely. Complete classroom sets of commonly taught novels are one of the most useful items a retiring teacher can pass along. I route them to other teachers and Title I schools across the state. Even partial sets — 15 out of 30 copies — are worth picking up. Teachers who are building classroom libraries work with what they can get.
What about teacher guides and answer keys?
I take them all. Teacher editions, answer keys, assessment binders, curriculum guides, everything. Some current-edition teacher guides have real resale value — especially for widely adopted reading and math programs. Older ones are less likely to sell, but I sort through everything and find the ones that do.
I spent thousands on these books — can I get anything back?
I want to be honest with you. Most classroom library books — Scholastic paperbacks, mass-market chapter books, well-loved picture books — have limited individual resale value. The market for used children’s books is small, and condition matters enormously. That said, some books in your collection may have genuine collector value. First editions, signed copies, out-of-print titles, and NM-specific children’s books can surprise you. I evaluate every collection I pick up and let you know what I find. The value may not match what you spent, but it’s worth looking.
What about my personal teaching library — pedagogy and reference books?
Professional education books are a mixed bag. Current-edition titles on literacy instruction (Lucy Calkins, Fountas & Pinnell, Jennifer Serravallo), classroom management, differentiated instruction, and special education methodology hold value. They sell well to new teachers and graduate students. Older pedagogy books — the ones from your master’s program in 1998 — generally don’t sell, but I take them all and sort through the collection myself. You don’t need to be the judge of what’s current and what’s not.
Can I get a donation receipt for tax purposes?
I’m a for-profit business, not a 501(c)(3), so I can’t provide a tax-deductible donation receipt. I’m upfront about this. What I can offer is free pickup, careful evaluation of your collection for valuable items, responsible recycling of everything that can’t be sold, and the peace of mind that comes from knowing your books aren’t going in a dumpster. If a tax deduction is important to you, organizations like Better World Books and local nonprofits like Bookworks Foundation can provide receipts, though they may not offer pickup service.
What about damaged but beloved books?
I take everything regardless of condition. Water-damaged, spine-broken, taped-together, crayon-colored, coffee-stained, dog-chewed — all of it. I’ve seen classroom books held together with rubber bands and duct tape. You don’t need to sort by condition or apologize for wear. Books that are too damaged to sell or pass along are recycled responsibly. The ones that can be saved, I save.
What about my Scholastic book fair books?
Most Scholastic book fair paperbacks are mass-market editions printed in huge quantities, which means limited resale value individually. But here’s the thing: some older Scholastic editions — especially hardcovers from the 1960s through the 1980s — can surprise you. Scholastic published its own editions of now-collectible titles, and those early printings are sometimes worth more than people expect. I look through everything when I evaluate a collection. Don’t throw away the Scholastic books just because they look ordinary.
Related Guides
Children’s Books Worth Money
Which children’s books have real collector value and how to identify them.
Teacher Classroom Book Donations
Stories and logistics from teacher collections I’ve picked up across NM.
Book Condition Grading Guide
How condition affects value — from Fine to Poor and everything between.
Free Book Pickup Albuquerque
How my free pickup works, what I take, and how to schedule.
Donate Books — Complete Guide
Every option for donating books in the Albuquerque area, compared.
What to Do With Books After Someone Dies
A patient, grief-aware guide for handling a loved one’s book collection.
Teacher Textbook Donations
For teachers with classroom textbook sets, curriculum materials, and adopted-program volumes.
Thank You for Decades of Teaching
The books will find new readers. The classroom sets will go to new teachers. The valuable items won’t be overlooked. When you’re ready to handle the books, I’m here.
Call Josh at 702-496-4214Free pickup across New Mexico — schools, homes, anywhere