Cari Young

Book Fair Roundup


Hi friends!

It's book fair time again in our library!

No sooner did our pumpkin patch leave than those silver cases rolled into the building.


Once I set up the book fair, I snap a photo of each case with my smart phone. That way, when I suddenly see an empty space on a shelf, I can look back at the photo to see what book I need to re-order.

Here are a few things I've learned about book fairs.

1) I sometimes use the Scholastic theme, sometimes choose my own. Last spring, I decorated in a Seuss theme because our book fair fell on Read Across America Day. This week, I'm decorating in a pirate theme, because it fits with my library's ocean decor better than Scholastic's Egyptian focus.

I bought cute (not scary-skull) pirate tablecloths and pennants from Oriental Trading Company, and I'm playing the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack CD in the background.

2) I always give goodies to my volunteers. This year, I'm wrapping up a thank you note with a five dollar book fair gift certificate, M & M candy bars, and extra gum.



My thank you note says: Thank you for lending an EXTRA hand at our book fair. You helped us make More & More for our school library and our students. And you can download it from my Google Drive, if you'd like.

3) I create shelf talkers to show the reading levels of the books. Parents want to choose an appropriate book for their students. I look the books up on Scholastic Book Wizard or Titlewave and put the reading level on a shelf talker by the book.


4) Buy the coin counter from the Scholastic Resource catalog. It will save your sanity if you encounter as many coin-filled baggies, pockets, and purses as I do!

5) I use the Signup Genius website to schedule volunteers. This is my first time to try it, and it seems to be going well...better than the paper sign-up sheet.

I hope the book fair odds are ever in your favor. If you have great ideas that work for you, please share them in a comment!


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