Books by the Box

So some time ago, while on Pinterest, I somehow stumbled upon this site called Books by the Foot. Books by the Foot is a company that started out providing boxes of books to interior decorators, offices, film makers, and anyone looking for large quantities of books to use as props or fill a space. They offer books grouped by color or size and various other categories. 

The company ventured into curating large boxes of used books for teachers, day cares, shelters, and other places that needed instant libraries. The best part about this, is that anyone can go onto the site and purchase these "Books by the Box".

They have children's boxes which you can purchase by age, but you can also get a box filled with books suitable for all ages (from baby - middle grade). They also have a box filled with Inspiration and Bible themed books and two types of Young Adult - Adult boxes (one called Shelf Filler which has a mix of paperback and hardback and one with strictly paperbacks in it). You can also choose to have your box filled with one specific genre! If you prefer newer books, they also have boxes specifically filled with newer books as well.

Prices vary per box, but they range from $12 - $20 and shipping is based on your location. Shipping may be a little steep because of this, but the price of the box alone is well worth it. The children's box alone has roughly 100 books in it and the YA and Adult boxes have a minimum of 65 books in them. 

As someone who absolutely loves to read, and a mom who is dead set on raising two readers, I was very interested in this so I decided to give it a shot. The books took about a week to process and were here within a day after I got the shipment notification. As a matter of fact, they arrived two days earlier than estimated. Of course, it takes some time to gather the books and fill the boxes, especially if you choose to pick your own subjects, so be sure to keep in mind that shipment times may vary. 

I couldn't contain myself. I had to get the all ages children's box for my two kiddos and the shelf filler box for myself even though my husband will tell you that I have too many books as it is. Don't ever let anyone tell you that you have too many books. There's no such thing. 

Both boxes arrived via FedEx and when I went out onto my porch to bring them in, I hadn't anticipated how heavy they were. It was then that I realized what a deal these boxes are even with the semi pricey shipping. I couldn't even pick the boxes up. I had to drag and push them through the door. Maybe I'm just weak, but they were pretty heavy.

As you can see in the above photo, they are literally packed to the top of the box. This is why the amount of books in each box varies because they just pack it until it's full. The kids box though, since kids books are generally smaller and thinner, can be packed with 100 or more books. 

I mean seriously, look at those boxes. 

And when you do the math, for the adult box at least, it's something like 20 cents a book! 

Before I even unboxed either of these I was sold on buying a couple more boxes. I'm considering purchasing some to donate to the hospital for both the children's ward as well as the Cancer Center, and these would make great donations to day cares, schools libraries, crisis centers, and families who may not be able to afford to purchase books. 

Unboxed, this is what the children's books lot looks like. I had to go to the top of my stairs in my foyer to get this picture and the books filled the entire room. There's even some you can't see because my foyer table is in the way. 

I did get two or there where there were doubles, but there were Disney, Sesame Street, Sponge Bob, Scooby Doo, and various other popular characters in there. There were some newer (still used) books and some that were from the 70's. Keeping in mind that these are used books, a lot of the had a bit of wear and some had writing on the inside covers (such as names or dedications if they were given as gifts at some point) or library stamps. The books are still in usable condition and when it comes to books, especially with young readers, I don't think it matters how old the book is. 

As I was unboxing all of these, my three year old just kept saying "Too many books, mommy!" 

Of course, this didn't stop him from running off with his favorite ones, which he carried with him all day and even went to bed with them. 

The YA/Adult box obviously didn't have as many books in it since those books are going to be quite thicker, but there were some really good, popular titles in there. I was like a 12 year old girl at an Nsync concert as I pulled each book out of the box and read the backs of each book. I really wish I had gotten the Breast Book a lot sooner because it really would have come in handy when my mom was diagnosed with Breast Cancer last October. 

There are a few Young Adult books in this mix, but it's mostly just Adult fiction with a few non fictions. 

Truth be told? I'm excited to get another box already!

Unfortunately, I barely had room on my bookshelves for these and my books are already double shelved as it is. So the first thing on my agenda is to buy more shelves, THEN I'm diving right back into the addiction that is Books by the Box. 

www.booksbythefoot.com