The educational membership group ASCD gives members of certain tiers access to freshly printed books, and it recently sweetened the deal by giving them additional options.

What’s the benefit? Several times a year, ASCD (formerly known as the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development), which creates programs, products, and services for educators, sends members in its select and premium tiers a book in either electronic or printed form. “Member books are mailed directly to these members hot off the press, before they are offered for sale in an ASCD catalog,” the association states on its website. As part of a recent upgrade to its benefits package, ASCD is allowing members to choose between two books—a featured pick and an editor’s pick—three times per year.

Why it works: With the changing education environment, it’s often difficult to keep up with the shifting needs of both students and schools. The selections—which in upcoming months include resources on student creativity, assessment strategies, and learning in the digital age—could go a long way toward keeping teachers abreast of the latest trends. And for members, the offering can come with a significant cost savings. A yearly select membership, for example, costs $89 for printed books and $69 for e-books [PDF]. That plan comes with five books a year; they generally cost $10 to $20 each in the association’s bookstore.

Other benefits: ASCD also offers a wide variety of other publication-related perks, including subscriptions to magazines and newsletters, as well as access to the association’s archive. Recently, the group added more benefits, including discounts on professional liability insurance (included in the premium tier and offered at competitive rates in lower tiers) and free webinars.

And if teachers are sick of all the paper they already have to deal with and would prefer to keep all these books on an iPad, there’s an app for that. Of course.

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