Why are we REALLY having book fairs?

11/9/2017

As I am about to embark on yet another book fair I am left to wonder why do I REALLY have one every year?

Is it because of the fact that we want to promote reading to our students? I love the idea of promoting independent reading to students but not all students and parents can afford the books and material at the fair. We are a Title I School and I have a lot of students who can not afford the materials at the fair. It always makes me sad to see these students want all these books but know they can’t get them cause they don’t have the money. The irony is also not lost on me that I am having the fair in my library and asking kids to pay for books when they could just check out books for free from the library. And let’s be honest, how many kids are buying books and how many use their money on the pens, pencils, erasers etc? I know at my school way more is spent on “junk” than books.

Do we have book fairs because it is one of the only ways we can get money and material for our school libraries? I know that is the case for me. My budget is small and seems to get smaller each year. I am left looking for ways to supplement it and the book fair, even though I don’t earn very much from it. It is though a sad commentary on public education today that we are not giving enough money to our libraries and we need to rely on book fairs.

Or is it because it is tradition and something we as School librarians must do? When I came into my new job I was told we always do the book fair during parent teacher conferences, so I am continuing that tradition. It does make me wonder, just because it has always been done does that mean that I must continue doing it. I am reminded of a quote from Grace Hooper that states, “the most dangerous phrase in the language is we have always done it.”

I really would love to honestly know why you have a book fair. Please let me know in the comments below.

48 Comments

Debbie Job

11/9/2017 09:43:44 pm

I do a bookfair every year because from the day UPS wheels the boxes into the building until the day they wheel them back out, my kids are talking about books. The excited voices in the hallway telling the world “the bookfair is here!.” And answering the question, “When does it start?” 7456 times over the course of the next several days. They love it!
We’re a Title 1 school too, but we use parent involvement funds to make sure that every kid goes home with at least 1 book. They each get a certificate for $5 when their parents fill out the paperwork they have to fill out anyway. And if they read at least 1000 minutes over the summer, our PTO rewards them with a $10 certificate. If they’re the top reader in their class, they get another $10 certificate for the book fair. Scholastic always sends me a good supply of bargain books along with the regular fair, so some kids go home with a nice-sized pile that goes really well with the huge smile on their faces.
It’s a win-win. Our library benefits greatly. It’s how we got our Makerspaces program up and running - and it allows us to add cool stuff to our library and Makerspaces every year. We just finished our bookfair yesterday and our Title 1 school of just under 400 kids has $1900 to spend on robots, bloxels, and things that open up opportunities we’d never have otherwise.
We love bookfair and will continue to do one every year - because we want to. And our kids want us to. But right now I really need to sleep because by the end of it I feel like I know how Santa feels on Dec. 26th - totally exhausted!

Elissa

11/9/2017 09:57:52 pm

Thanks for your comments Deb! I love what your PTA has been able to make happen so that all kids can get a book.

Susan

11/9/2017 10:01:25 pm

I feel like you wrote this post about me! I do a book fair for all the same reasons... extra money, the kids love it, we’ve “always” had one, etc. But the kids really do love it...they’re always asking “when is the next book fair?”. I’m exhausted from staying late to set it up and trying to run it while I still have my full load of classes but, it’s the kids. I do it mostly for the kids!

Charlotte Ballard

11/10/2017 12:39:00 pm

How awesome is it that you get that financial support to help your kids get a book! We don’t get any help at all, but our reasons are the same. Some kids come and read books while they are at the fair. Kids help me know from their comments and purchases what I ought to purchase for our library. And the love of books is always the top priority. I’m in Title I schools also. I also remember the joy and thrill of going to the book mobile when I was a kid. We didn’t have book fairs. Making my choices and buying them were totally exciting. And I was learning a bit about spending money, saying no to things I wanted and had no money to pay for as well as counting my money out and counting my change. How much time do we spend on more dreary things at school and how much time on truly exciting things? Sometimes I’m tempted to cancel that second fair but we don’t because the kids love it so and want it.

Kristy

11/9/2017 10:00:16 pm

I’m glad you asked! I’ve been thinking about this a lot this week as I help kids count out mountains of coins. In the past, I probably would have said “to make money to buy books for the library”. But, after an inspriring session I attended at our state conference last week my motivation for having a Book Fair has shifted. Yes, I want to make money, but it’s not solely for our library. I want to put books in my students’ hands. I don’t want them to have to put a new book on hold and wait. I want them to have the books they love and want to read. I love the excitement students have during the fair, but hate the sad faces of the ones that can’t afford a book. So, I’ve had “contests” everyday. I’ve given away a lot of books. So, I’ll get less “dollars” this time around, but it sure has been fun to give so many books to kids!

Lynne

11/9/2017 10:15:44 pm

We're in a Title 1 District. Last year was my first book fair, and at an all-kindergarten school. I couldn't lock the middle school library where I was before so would not hold a book fair where things could disappear.

I limited the small junk that I set out and asked for more paperbacks. This year, my sales rep sent us a PreK-K book fair and I did twice the amount of business. I used last year's proceeds to buy new paperbacks to hand out to students during our schoolwide reading promotions this year, and will be able to fund next year's rewards with the fall book fair.

I'm not a fan of many book fair aspects; selling all the gadgets is a major one. Not having Spanish-language or dual language books is another. But a fair better suited to my students was something the parents responded to very positively.

Melissa

11/9/2017 10:24:21 pm

This year was my first book fair ever and it was also a first for a majority of the students at our school; we haven't had a book fair in over 4 years (due to admin thinking everything Scholastic sells is junk) but somehow with working at the school all summer I managed to convince them. My first biggest reason was I have ran my library for over 2 years and was never able to order a single book which was extremely frusterating. Especially since the library was ran by no one for almost 6 months and lots of materials and books were just taken out of the library. Second, our school very much lacks in anything "fun". No Halloween celebrations, no Christmas parties, (No parties at all), no prizes, no treats, no toys....ever!! So this was the most fun these kids ever had at school. Seeing all the fun theming and the shiny new books brought a lot of joy to the kids at our school which goes to my third reason of making reading fun and promoting books they love. Sure, I'm not a fan of some of the "garbage" books but at least the kids are reading and not glued to an iPad or tv screen. I ended up making $14,354 in profits from a $8,000 book fair. My reps were floored and I took it all in Scholastic dollars so I can hopefully replace a lot of our old materials.

Tonya Fleming

11/10/2017 09:44:10 am

I worked at the primary level from 1999 until 2010, and I'm 💯 certain that I had these book fairs to bring in an extra $5,000 (profit) a year. That money allowed me to increase book volumes that would benefit the entire school. Every year I would set aside a small portion to hold a puppet show or some form of entertainment that expanded a famous book. I had my fair set up so everyone got to look, and I didn't advertise look day so no one had money. The following day was their purchase day, which meant the student would return make their purchase and return to class. The books were put in a bag and then sent home in their backpacks. Once the fair was over I sent the book order in as fast as I could spend the money. When the books arrived I made a huge deal out of the fact that these books were for the library, and checkout didn't cost a thing! Now I work in the high school level, although I make some money from the fair to buy about 25 books from the Scholastic Online Catalog, my motivation is to provide literacy to high school students. I find delight in seeing high school students still get excited about the good ol' book fair 👍🏻

Kate

11/10/2017 07:17:00 pm

I have them because it is the only way most kids can browse books for sale, in person. We do not have a bookstore within 70 miles of us. It isn't an opportunity a lot of my students do not get otherwise.

Kelly Smith link

11/11/2017 09:02:53 am

I love all inspirational comments! Right now I am in the middle of my bookfair at the middle school where I have served for 9 years. When I opened this library in 2009, we had 1,500 books. The collection has grown to nearly 8,000. Bookfair profits have played a large part in this growth. But it’s not why I hold them.

The first year my school opened, I was so excited to share reading and brand new books with students. And I was crushed with the less than positive response I got from the majority of my students. I was shocked when a teacher said to me, “I don’t even know why you have a job. Middle schoolers don’t read!” In this high poverty, rural town middle school, too many students were losing out on all the magical benefits of reading and participating in a strong library program. So I researched ideas, put my hard hat on and got to work building a reading culture in my building!

Fast forward to 2017. Wow! This the best year ever! The teachers use the library, the kids are reading, and boy are they excited about bookfair! This has been a long journey to effectiveness with room for continued improvement, but I can honestly say bookfairs have helped me grow readers. So even if I don’t make profit, which I did not for several years, I will keep hosting this exhausting week of book selling. The experience is just good for my kids, my teachers, my parents, my school, and my community! Bookfair is one piece of the puzzle in creating and maintaining a reading culture at my middle school!

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Book fairs are more than buying books; they’re about getting people together to talk about them.

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Why are we REALLY having book fairs?

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