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Store offering free supplies to Maine teachers opens for school year

The warehouse served 190 teachers on its opening day.

PORTLAND, Maine — Inside a nondescript Portland warehouse, Ruth Libby settled in for another day’s work. Her body was exhausted, she smirked, and her brain was having trouble keeping her body going.

"But, I love what I do," she said.

Who could blame both her exhaustion and her passion? 

If teachers are some of the most underappreciated workers, Libby is the one who keeps thousands of them supplied each school year.

For nearly 29 years, the nonprofit Ruth’s Reusable Resources has collected school supplies from around the country and offered them free of charge to teachers.

However, membership is required. Individual schools or entire districts can sign up, but not individual teachers. The schools pay $3.75 per student, with a $650 annual minimum for schools with fewer than 173 students. For that fee, teachers can visit Ruth's multiple times during the school year and potentially leave with thousands of dollars worth of items, everything from pencils and notebooks to Halloween decorations and glitter.

"I’m afraid that if I stepped away, who else is going to take over?" Libby asked.

It's also called Ruth's Reusable Resources intentionally. Most of the items in the warehouse, Libby said, were destined for the trash and offered free to the nonprofit. She only has to ship them to Maine. Many products were discontinued, making her shop the only place teachers can find them. And, when items are broken, they find a new purpose. 

Libby walked us through the storage section of the warehouse to meet an older man named Chandler. Among his tasks, Chandler takes broken three-ring binders and cuts the plastic into letters. He then attaches the plastic to magnets that teachers can take and stick to surfaces in their classrooms.

The shop opened for business on Aug. 20, just ahead of the fall semester, and fielded a winding line of teachers that stretched through the parking lot into the street. All told, Libby counted 190 people who were served that one day alone.

On Tuesday, NEWS CENTER Maine spoke with Craig Forrest, a fifth-grade teacher at Roe Elementary School in Portland. If it weren’t for Ruth’s, Forrest said, he’d spend three times his school budget, using his own money to cover the cost. That's money he now plans to put toward special projects for his students.

"All those consumable items that students need, I can come here and get," he smiled while shopping in an aisle. "And, I’d probably spend maybe $1,000 a year at least on school supplies if I didn’t come here."

Libby and her small staff — some former teachers themselves — support between 190 and 220 schools regularly. Libby, though tired and looking for help with managing tasks, will keep her shelves stocked as long as her customers are in need.

"Teachers are just ordinary people with a really tough job," she said. "And, sadly, the job they have does not come with the supplies they need to do it."

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