Book fairs are one way that we can bring books to students, share with families...and raise money for our libraries. But they are a bit complicated. What are some of the best strategies you have for running a book fair? What tips and tricks do you have for running a successful book fair? Who do you like to involve or work with? What do you do with volunteers? What questions do you have?
SOUNDS GREAT
ReplyDeleteI just had a book fair and it turned out pretty good even though I had a sick kid I had to be home with on two of the major days. The reason why it still went well is because I am following in the footsteps of one of the best school librarians of all time, Lori Komlos! She saved everything from years past like how she did her volunteer list, a map of where the books go, and examples of what the paper work looks like. Having a very active PTA helped as well. I had four volunteers for set up and four volunteers for clean up which made things go smoothly and took a lot of stress off of me.
ReplyDeleteI use story cupboard for my fall book fair. They come and set up all the books and also come to help take it down. They have a great selection of books and don't have all the 'toys" and "junk" that comes with a scholastic book fair. Having a good book fair chair person also helps. I have had the same person for almost all the years I have been at the school. She no longer has kids at the school but still loves doing the book fair. I try to do a "buy one get one free" book fair in the spring. While I don't make any money, it is nice to get books in the hands of kids for their summer reading.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE the storycupboard. They carefully choose the selection, assist during the entire event, do booktalks, and (this is important) do the restocking!!!! I have tried scholastic and didn't like the lack of support and the restocking (what a pain!). I ask the PTA for volunteers and it is always a wonderful show of support from the parents. I however, in turn, always volunteer at every PTA event. I have found the proceeds to be very successful and useful. The event also really helps me to get to know the parents and caregivers. I am always really conscious of promoting to the students: so I make sure to booktalk only the items I am going to purchase (from the proceeds) for the library, I encourage them to use wishlists as must-read lists to take to the library. We talk about book ownership vs sharing.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Stephanie you can't find a better book fair vendor than Story Cupboard. I have been working with Sarah Carlson and her staff for years. We always have very successful book fairs. The biggest plus is that she will restock several times a day if needed and can always order a book that is sold out and have it to you usually within the next week. We always do a Grandparents Day at the book fair every year. We invite the grandparents to have lunch with their grandchildren then shop the book fair. It has become a tradition and the Grandparents really think it is about having lunch with the kids when in reality it is a way to boost our sales at the fair. We divide it into two days, last name A-l then M-Z for crowd control reasons. But I always have kids that come both days with a different set of grandparents. It is wild and crazy for about an hour and a half, but well worth the benefits.
ReplyDeleteWhat experience have others had with Scholastic Book Fairs?
ReplyDeleteMary,
DeleteIn regards to Scholastic. The setup is great! The shelves can be pushed around, then just opened to reveal perfectly organized books ready to sell. They provide some award winners and tons of eye catching titles (like snake books, lego, ect). (But Sarah at the storycupboard has a way of predicting upcoming award winners and provides the beehive nominees as well). I have found the actual reads to be less than high quality, I even took out 3 or 4 titles and put them in boxes away from the sale. For re-stock, you have to make your own list and fax it in, which sounds ok, but in practice is a horrible pain when you are totally exhausted and busy. It takes them up to two days or you can pick them up yourself (ARG!!!). Their credit card machine and cash register is awesome. You clean up without their assistance, do the reconciling alone, and in my case, the GIANT book cases sat in my library for around 10 days before they picked them up. I HATED spending the scholastic dollars and found the choices to be dismal. I ended up buying furniture, and that was also a pain, because I was missing parts, and had to put every scrap of it together by hand. Once you are on Scholastic's list they will hound you with calls, emails, and drop bys. Last spring they were promoting some sort of class or conference in Salt Lake in June (foggy on the details), and I told the rep I couldn't go because I was focusing on the ESL endorsement. He went around me to our principal and tried to get her to sign me up. I was SO mad! I sent a scalding email and haven't heard from them since (hooray!). I know Storycupboard isn't as flashy but everything else makes up for it! I am already excited for next March!
I help with but do not do the book fairs at my school. The PTA does the book fair during the time that the teachers do SEP conferences. The parents run the fair, collect the money, and decide which company they will go with. Basically I provide the space in the library, and do book talks, show author videos, or help where needed. Because PTA runs it, they also decide how to spend the money or how to take the proceeds. They usually take books that they give out at Literacy Night. They are also very generous in letting the library get the books the students would really want.
ReplyDeleteI just finished the Scholastic Book Fair. I agree with Stephanie, the choices are not as nice as the Story Cupboard, but they are easy to use, and there are plenty of books to buy that the students enjoy. We purchased two smartboards with our Scholastic dollars two years ago. We held the book fair in conjunction with our Parent Teacher Conferences, and the PTA runs it with me. I really love their help and we hold it in the auditorium, so I can hold regular classes for the week.
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