Is This Still Being Done?

[Lilsia]

When we were young, my mom worked at a hardware store that sold wallpaper, so she would buy the paper that went on clearance and we would use that to wrap our books. It lasted all year and if you did not want the pattern side, the flip side was just white and we could decorate it however we wanted.

 

[Disneylover99]

My high school kid has textbooks.
Im in my early 50s and we never covered books.

Same here.
I’ve never heard of people having to cover their books.

 

[firefly_ris]

Yes, my 3rd grader in Catholic school brought home her books to cover, we used paper bags.

 

[mjkacmom]

Same here.
I’ve never heard of people having to cover their books.

50’s here, our district would hand out brown paper book covers with the instructions on them, had to cover books.

 

[amylevan]

Graduated 97, public school, and yes I had to cover my text books. I actually enjoyed spending the first night of school folding brown paper bags onto my books.

My kids now don’t have text books, just chrome books.

 

[holden]

DD14 is a freshman. They don't use textbooks. The books they do use (paperback novels, etc.) are theirs to keep. They don't have to cover them.

 

[CdnCarrie]

DD14 is a freshman. They don't use textbooks. The books they do use (paperback novels, etc.) are theirs to keep. They don't have to cover them.

What do they use in place of textbooks?
And they hand out several free books to each student yearly? Wow that must be expensive!

my kid wouldn’t even get their report card if they have outstanding books at the end of the year!

graduated late 80s and never heard of covering books except in olden days. No idea people did that in my lifetime.

 

[RangerPooh]

My middle and high school kids have ebooks. The exception is often novels. The supply lists say to buy the stretchy fabric covers. I don’t think any textbooks came home.

 

[holden]

What do they use in place of textbooks?
And they hand out several free books to each student yearly? Wow that must be expensive!

my kid wouldn’t even get their report card if they have outstanding books at the end of the year!

graduated late 80s and never heard of covering books except in olden days. No idea people did that in my lifetime.

Some books are online. Some teachers hand out packets. The other books are provided by the school (private school). None are textbooks.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

I remember these... or the free ones that the school was given with ads on them.

When I was a pta member I remember raising money for more books. They only had classroom sets so they were not allowed to take them home. As I recall they did not use them much anyways.

 

[ronandannette]

My high school kid has textbooks.
Im in my early 50s and we never covered books.

Same here.
I’ve never heard of people having to cover their books.

Nope - no brown paper book covers in my history either. I think maybe it’s an American thing?

I grew up and was educated in a small place where everybody knew everybody else. In elementary and junior high we’d be excited at the beginning of the term to see whose textbook we would get (who had previously used it). Most books were quite old and would have a list of names of the previous users written inside the cover along with tons of interesting notes and doodles that had accumulated. Of course you always added things yourself for posterity. Unless a book was destroyed beyond use, nobody saw any harm in it.

 

[Disneylover99]

I grew up and was educated in a small place where everybody knew everybody else. In elementary and junior high we’d be excited at the beginning of the term to see whose textbook we would get (who had previously used it). Most books were quite old and would have a list of names of the previous users written inside the cover along with tons of interesting notes and doodles that had accumulated. Of course you always added things yourself for posterity. Unless a book was destroyed beyond use, nobody saw any harm in it.

That’s so true. It was one of the highlights of starting school each year. Lol.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

My youngest had an iPad since 7th grade. I don't remember my oldest requiring book covers on her books when they were in high school, but maybe they did in elementary school or something. My kids graduated in 2014 and 2018.

 

[aprilchem]

What do they use in place of textbooks?
And they hand out several free books to each student yearly? Wow that must be expensive!

When my kids were in public school (we took them out at the beginning of the pandemic) they were in grades 5, 7, and 8 and none had ever had textbooks. The schools couldn't afford them. The teachers just lectured and used powerpoint and notes packets.

 

[MamaMermaid]

High school teacher checking in - nope.

 

[RedAngie]

Thanks for all the replies.

Yes, I went to a Catholic elementary school, then switched to public for junior and senior high. I THINK we still covered our books in JH, but not in HS.

(Before I forget, there were only two religions in the minds of many Catholic kids back in those days, Catholic or Public.)

Some nuns forbid us to write or doodle on the brown paper book covers, other than our names, and perhaps the subject of the book. Other nuns were more lax. But even in the stricter classrooms, you could usually get away with writing “I Bobby Sherman” on the inside flaps.

Backpacks for school were unheard of. Someone mentioned “school bags”. Yep, ours looked like this.



Yes, it was fun to see who had the books before you. Your friend’s older sister, or maybe the star quarterback, or most likely, the nerdy guy with cooties.

My closest brush with sports fame occurred when I received future LA Dodger star pitcher Orel Herschiser’s biology text three years after he used it. (By the way, he was a nerdy guy in HS. 1976, when most guys had longer hair covering their ears, he had a short cut parted on one side and combed over to the other. And black frame glasses. I don’t remember if he had a shirt pocket protector.)

Some of the books in elementary school were very old and out of date. In the later 60s were were still using a history book that mentions the “48 US states.”

For some reason we had to BUY our science books in grammar school from a kid who already took that class. I don’t remember whether it was in June or September. We could either buy from someone we knew or the nun would facilitate the sale. I think the book series was “Science and Life” 1 thru 8.