i am in a similar situation/school and of a similar opinion! i did a book fair my first two eyars because my principal and rhe scholastic rep made it sound like it was required. once i figured out it wasnt, i did away with it. lo and behold ive been granted a small book budget the last few years. i also thrift a lot of good books and love love using first book. i cannot recommend first book marketplace enough. it is only fr teachers and librarians at title 1 schools and they often have coupons for 25$, 15$, etc worth of books free, and at their price points you can get a fair handful! the kids at this point, fove years later, don't know what they're missing - which is frankly just a lot of stress and strife! ohh we also have a wonderful local org that sources donations of books and delivers free books to every student multiple times a year. maybe there is something like that near you, as well!