MARIETTA - Volunteers for the Teacher Supply Storehouse will host an open house Tuesday at the storehouse's 440 Glover St. location from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

The open house gives teachers the opportunity to acquire free school materials. The warehouse has dozens of items that can be used for instruction, from pens and paper to carpet samples and books.

"I would be surprised if teachers aren't still receiving materials from the schools for instruction, but it's never enough for a teacher who wants to have a lot of variety in their classroom," said Ann Glendinning, co-chair of the Teacher Supply Storehouse.

The Teachers Supply Storehouse was established in 1998 with the purpose of recycling and recovering useable materials to benefit teachers. The materials would otherwise be dumped in landfills, Glendinning said.

"We take donations like overruns, mislabeled and irregularly sized materials, or those that have been damaged in shipping and turn them around to teachers," she said. "Everything is free, but we do ask for a donation at the back door to help cover the cost of transporting the materials. Most teachers carry away hundreds of dollars in materials, so it's really a bargain."

Glendinning said more teachers began shopping at the storehouse when cutbacks were announced last winter.

"We did notice in February, which is generally a smaller open house, that more people were there than usual. It was right around the time that teachers had gotten notice about cutbacks in copy paper and such," she said.

There have been approximately 40 open houses and 5,000 teachers served since the Teacher Supply Storehouse began in 1998.

"It's really a feel good operation. During the open houses, the teachers' mouths just drop open because of all the items we have. They're overwhelmed with the ideas that the items generate," she said.

The storehouse is open to any public or private teacher, or home-schooler, in or outside Cobb. Shoppers are asked to bring teacher verification to the storehouse.

There are typically four to five open houses per year, which makes donations all the more important to keep the operation going. Office supplies, envelopes, three-ring binders and paper are some constant needs for the storehouse.

"Our main goal this year is to really work on letting businesses in the community know who we are and what we do so we can save supplies from the landfills," said Anyce Craig, co-chair of the Teachers Supply Storehouse. "I'm very proud to be a part of this team. We've saved tons of materials from a landfill and saved on cost to the teachers."

The Teachers Supply Storehouse is located next to the Cobb County Board of Education building on Glover Street in Marietta. For more information on donating to the storehouse, go to www.cobbk12.org/teacherssupplystore/.