Yes! Paperbackswap.com. The have hard cover books too. Basically, you register and post books that you'd like to trade and then for each book you send, you get a point for a book to order. Great for me to read books without adding to the clutter, because I post them when I am done. I've found a lot of kids books on there too, and posted books my kids are getting too old for.

Our local charity resale shop (kind of like Goodwill) has days where there books are 25 cents! I can usually find 2 or 3 good condition books for my son there. One of my scores was "10 minutes till bedtime" which was brand new for a quarter I saw it the next day at a local boutique for $21.99! I would say try them or even ask the preschool if you can swap some books with them.

I really like the Lazy Susan bookshelf in the pic. Does anyone know where to get one? Also, if you're in the Raleigh/Durham/Greensboro area, there's a 99 cent bookstore in downtown Mebane. All there books - adults, children, etc. - are 99 cents. There are homeschool books and encyclopedias as well. Fantastic resource!! They have 25 cent per book (all books) sales during the year as well.

Forgot to include that the Raleigh/Durham/Greensboro area is in North Carolina. Thanks.

I've seen some classic and popular children's titles at TJ Maxx and Marshalls - usually around $5-6. They usually have a decent selection of board books as well, you just have to be willing to do some digging.

My favorite local bookstore is now online, serving up new/used/out-of-print books from a variety of sources. http://www.hpbmarketplace.com/ Or if you have a Half Price Books in your town, it's worth a visit in person.

smchurchill - the lazy susan bookshelf was made by Katie. She shares the tutorial in this post:
http://www.ohdeedoh.com/ohdeedoh/how-to/diy-lazy-susan-book-caddy-121400

Thanks!
Carrie

Ditto on PaperbackSwap. I've swapped boxes of old books of mine for a pile of wonderful children's books, all in good condition. I had to laugh at myself when I traded in a book about feminist art criticism from college and got a Lois Ehlert book for Wren. Ah, life!

My mom saved everything since I was a child so I'm bringing home lots of books from there since I'm now pregnant. My best source for inexpensive books are thrift stores for kids and adults. Also if you have a list of books you are interested in make sure that your friends and family know about them so that they can give books as gifts instead of toys. My local Scholastic distributor just had a huge public sale and I got tons of brand new books 50%-80% off. Try to get on the email list for them or ask your teachers for info on local sources.

We have taken to asking for books as a default gift (we ask for people's childhood favourite). They love giving them and we have built up a huge collection with out buying more than a handful.
The best library sales are the annual ones, usually at the start of the summer. The Newberry Library sale in Chicago is a fantastic example.

Secondhand stores are a great option. Try your local Salvation Army thrift store, as the books are super inexpensive, and your purchase benefits children and families in your community who are struggling to provide basic necessities for themselves. Win-win situation!

Antique stores...a lot of the antique stores near me have book vendors. I've gotten a lot of great deals, including paying less than $20 for a pretty big stack of dog training books (which I should have read and used, because I have some crazy dogs).

I've had a lot of luck with area Goodwills. The secret is go to when you have plenty of time to stand there and look through all the children's books (hint: kids with you doesn't help LOL.) And go often - about 2 months between visits is enough for lots of new books to show up. I have built up my children's book library slowly over several years, getting at least 5-10 winners from each visit. It also helps that I have 6 Goodwills within my 30 mile daily commute so I stop off at different ones and always find something new. :)

I was blessed with my mom who saved boxes of our books when we were little. As my sister and I had our children she distributed them accordingly. Also My family loves to give books every holiday is a reason for reading! I get books secondhand at our bookstore. But the default gift idea is great. I love giving books to new parents as they might not have a huge collection.

i've had a lot of luck with the used section of amazon.com. pick a book and often the book is sold for a penny with 3.99 shipping.

There is a new chain of used bookstores that just opened in the South. There is one in Birmingham, AL, and one somewhere in Georgia. The chain is called 2nd & Charles. Think Borders/Barnes and Noble, but all the books are used.

The books are super cheap, and you can trade in your old books for "new" ones.

We're homeschoolers and love to read and as a family, we ALWAYS have room for more books! I've picked up most of books from the library book sale - most libraries have one at least once a year. I also check out used book stores and stores like Hastings (their used books are often nearly new and they often have buy 2/3 and get 1 free offers) and Amazon.com. I also check out yard sales and try to hit the big thrift stores when I have a chance.

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library will mail your child a free book every month until they turn 5. They send really great books (that have become some of our favorite), and even board books to the baby aged. Most of the books we received for my older child were hard-back up until recently. Check here to see if the program is sponsored in your area:

www.imaginationlibrary.com

If it doesn't come up, you can google "imagination library" and the name of your town. That's how I found it in our town.

We are always on the look out for good books at thrift stores. DAV (Disabled American Vets) & Goodwill are favorites for books, especially.
Smchurchill, what's the name of the store that has $.99 books? We're in VA but the hubby is getting a Masters from NC State so he has to visit the area periodically. We're homeschoolers & love good resources.

As someone else said Halfprice books. I check the clearance section whenever I go, and often get books for under a dollar. Ebay is great I keep an eye out for 'lots' of books with either low or free shipping. If I don't want all the books in a lot I can always resell/ give them away. Also, kids used clothing stores have great deals. I've found so many classics for under $3 at my local Other Mothers.

check your local public schools. often near the end of the year they offer used book sales. We've found some fantastic classic treasures there for pennies. Also, check with pre-school teachers and local parent-educator groups (check for a Parents as Teachers non-profit in your area) to see if they participate in the scholastic book program, and sometimes you can get real gems for just a couple of bucks. Often paperback, but sometimes hardback, too. Sometimes we even find great used books via Amazon.com.

Craig's List is great for buying large quantities at once (people selling off all of their kids books, etc.) The Amazon marketplace usually has pretty good deals too, although shipping for books is I think $3.00.

If you're near a Borders, sign up for their (free) membership program and you'll get one or two coupons emailed to you a week, usually 33% off one item but sometimes 40% or 50%. It's perfect for those books you can't find in thrift stores or want a brand new copy for.

I like the Scholastic book club editions of classics. I can always score a slim new paperback edition of kids classics like Chicka Chicka Boom Boom for a couple bucks. They also fit on the bookshelf better than hardbacks.

I agree - Scholastic book club. Also, if your kids are too young for school or you home school, you can sign up as a homeschooler and still get the catalogs and do your own orders. I can't remember the minimum $ amount per order, but it's pretty reasonable (and you can ask friends if they want to participate, too).

We get TONS of books from our local library sale - I know you said you do that already, but try different libraries. Some have better givers than others - there must be a few retired/retiring teachers that donate to our library, because we get lots of books that say "Mrs. Hanson" (etc.) on them!

Also, I'm so jealous that our community doesn't get the imagination library. Go Dolly, though!! Another program similar to that is pjlibrary.org. Again, individual communities sponsor it, so it may or not be available in your area, but they send a new age-appropriate Jewish book every month, to increase knowledge of Jewish heritage, which is actually applicable to many faiths.

I'm going to second (or third) Half Price Books. If you have one near you, you can get new or gently used books for a decent price. This is where I shopped for kids Christmas gifts as well. You can also sell books back to them that you no longer want/need/etc.

We have found many of our beloved childhood classics on Amazon's used vendor list for $0.01, plus $3.99 shipping. We also get a lot of books from thrift shops and used homeschool stores.

This may sound obvious, but Ebay! My hubby bought a nice collection of James Stevenson books well before our daughter was a twinkle in his eye. He works for a library branch system, and he is always looking for books and deals. I also love the bargain book section of most chain stores, and books are always a gift request in our family. Our daughter has more books than most adults we know. :)

I don't know about other book publishers, but Chronicle Books has mega sales (50% off or more) at their office in San Francisco and online--follow them on Twitter or Facebook to get updates. If there are any book publishers in your town check in with them...they're not all in NYC like you might think...

TJMaxx, bargain/sale section of chain (borders0 and local bookstores, amazon (vendors selling gently used books) and target! Good luck. I know it's hard to build up that library! I also registered for books when I was pregnant and if people ask what they can get on a birthday/holiday, I always say "books please!!!"

WOW, I am so impressed with all the suggestions. Thanks!

This sounds strange, but Kohl's around the holidays has lots of childrens' books for very, very cheap. Look at the rear of the kids' clothing section.

I use abebooks.com They tend to have a bit better price and selection that amazon used section.

Suprised no one mentioned this---Why don't you organize a book-swap party? Put the word out through friends, school, a poster at the Y. Have folks bring books, extras can be donated or brought back into future swaps. You could do this at home or even in partnership with the parent/school group at the school. Could even be a monthly event!

Powells Books online!

http://www.powells.com/