DENVER — A new opportunity at Denver's The Bookies Bookstore is all about teachers. Manager Krista Carlton said the store, which has been around for about 50 years, has always been passionate about supporting teachers any way it can.
"So the previous owner, her name was Sue Lubeck. She passed away a few years ago... She was passionate about getting books into people's hands," said Carlton. "It started as a desire to have good books for her sons, and that grew into good books for her neighborhood and then good books for the area," Carlton told Denver7.
Lubeck believed one of the easiest ways to provide books to people is by supporting teachers. That idea is something fifth grade teacher, Kyle Kimmal, agrees with for his classroom at Denver Language School.
"The majority of the books in my classroom are books that I've purchased over the years," Kimmal told Denver7. "For me, it is the most important thing to have in the classroom... Books for kids to be able to read, to be able to take home to read, to have time to read in the classroom."
Carlton told Denver7 the idea for a teacher's registry came a few years ago. However, it wasn't until this past school year where Bookies Bookstore decided to turn the idea into a reality.
"We invite teachers to make a registry, just like you would for weddings or baby showers on our website," Carlton explained.
Once the registry is complete, it gets sent to the store, which prints it out and puts up for customers to see. The registry is also available on the store's website, so anyone can purchase a book.
Kimmal said he was one of the first teachers to sign up for the registry.
"It was right before back-to-school, so I mentioned it to the families, sent home the link, and the books just started being purchased off the list," he said.
The fifth grade teacher has received more than 100 books for his classroom thanks to the registry.
"So many teachers are so grateful. A few of them have started to say, 'Please let me know who did this. I'd love to send them a thank-you note,'" Carlton said.
The Teacher Registry is open to all teachers in Colorado.
"I think the furthest reach we've had is Gypsum, to teachers out there who took us at our word and said, 'Yeah, fine. We'll make a teacher registration.' And this morning, we had someone spend $400 on them, which is super cool," said Carlton.
The Bookies Bookstore hopes this opportunity reaches more corners of Colorado.
If you are interested in purchasing books for a teacher, or if you are a teacher and interested in creating a registry, you can find more information on the store's website.
