It’s Book Fair time in our school library again. What a lot of work it is, but it reminds me of many of the other kinds of reading programs we do. The things I like about it are that the theme is chosen, books about the theme are included in the selections provided by the publisher, there are plenty of support materials, and the children get REALLY EXCITED about the whole event. We even have some kind of costumed character attend and play with the youngsters occasionally.

What I don’t like is the fact that I feel like I’m viewed as a salesperson who is primarily after the money. I also don’t like the responsibility of dealing with dishonest customers–child or adult. I just enjoy getting books into the hands of the children.

At our book fairs I take no cash profit (seldom do I manage to sell enough to earn cash profit anyway.) All of the profit that is made is returned to us in credit to purchase books. This is where the fun comes in. I use this profit from book fair to book fair to give away loads of books (and other paraphernalia). A poster coloring contest gives the best excuse to provide every child with winnings that they have “earned.” Students who turn in a poster that they have worked on automatically get a participation award worth $2.00 for what my rep calls the “foo foo stuff”. However, if they choose to spend it on a book, the certificate is worth up to $5.00 for one book. Students are responsible to get their posters turned in to receive the gift certificate and to try for the first place award in each grade for best poster. The first place award gets an additional gift certificate that is worth $5.00 for the “foo foo stuff” or up to $8.00 if spent on a book. Certificates may be combined with cash or another certificate. Fortunately, most of the children see that they are getting far more purchasing power through buying a book, and every child has the opportunity to own his or her own favorite title.

This fair’s top seller, so far, is Diary of a Wimpy Kid:Do It Yourself. Sales are down compared to this time last year. I don’t know if that is because of the economy, because we also have the 7th and 8th grade classes selling apples to finance their graduation trip, because of the distractions of several funerals involving many of our students, or because of my lack of keeping the ball rolling and the energy high due to additional responsibilities of my own this year. Then, again, we haven’t had parent night yet. Tomorrow promises to be the craziest day of the week with school pictures, a home volleyball game, math night, dinner, and the book fair. It should be exciting!

But whatever the outcome, every student already has at least one new self-chosen book, from the vast array that rivals any bookstore, and some have more than one. It has to be counted as a success!