How to plan your school book order for the new academic year

Ordering books for an international school is rarely a quick job. Different departments have different lists, publishers have different lead times, and a late order in summer can mean books arriving weeks after the start of term. Getting the process right from the start saves a lot of stress later.

This guide is based on what we see working well across the schools and libraries we supply worldwide. It is practical and straightforward, and you can adapt it to whatever curriculum and structure your school uses.

Start earlier than you think you need to

One of the most common challenges is starting the process later than planned. For international schools ordering IB, IGCSE or Edexcel titles, starting the process a few months before the end of the school year gives the most flexibility for sourcing and delivery.

A practical timeline

How to collect book lists from departments efficiently

The hardest part is usually getting responses from all departments on time. A few things that help:

• Use a shared spreadsheet with columns for title, ISBN, edition, publisher and quantity. Make it easy to fill in
• Set a deadline and send one reminder a week before it
• Ask departments to confirm whether they are re-ordering the same titles as last year or if anything has changed
• For IB subjects, ask teachers to confirm which edition of the subject guide they are teaching and whether the current books match

Deciding what to reorder and what to replace

Not every book needs to be replaced every year. A useful approach is to separate the list into three categories:

1. Replace: titles where a new edition has been published that teachers have requested, or where existing copies are worn out
2. Top up: titles where the school has copies but needs more due to increased student numbers
3. New: titles being ordered for the first time, usually because a new subject, level or curriculum is being introduced

This makes the budget conversation easier and ensures you are not ordering titles that are already available in your collection.

Managing delivery for multiple year groups

If your school has multiple year groups ordering at the same time, consider how you want the delivery structured. We can pack and label books by class group, department or any reference you provide.

For schools that want everything to arrive in one delivery rather than in batches as titles come in, consolidated shipping is the right option. We hold the order at our warehouse and dispatch everything together once all titles are available.

What to do if you miss the early window

If your order comes in later than planned, let us know as soon as possible. We can often still meet a start-of-term deadline for most titles. Being upfront about your deadline helps us find the best solution.