Every year in 75,000 schools across the country, Scholastic Book Fairs staffers work with parents, teachers, librarians, media specialists and principals to connect kids to high-quality books with school-based sales (about 115,000 a year!). There are plenty of reasons why schools participate in this exciting reading event.  While fundraising is a definite benefit to holding a Book Fair (your child’s school receives a percentage of all Fair sales, which it can take in cash or spend on books or other supplies, depending on the profit margin), so is uniting kids with literature and bringing the community together in honor of that mission. Fairs also provide you with the opportunity to engage in reading with your kids and tune in to their passions.
The Woonsocket Library recently completed their latest Book Fair, sponsored by the Friends of the Woonsocket Library. Cindy Schulte, Book Fair Consultant had this to share. “Thank you for your continued support and effort to make your Scholastic Book Fair a success! Your Book Fair chair, Pat Carsrud, does an outstanding job keeping your kids excited and engaged in the Fair. Here at Scholastic, we like to measure success not by dollars and cents, but by books and reading minutes. Your Book Fair is truly a one-of-a-kind literacy event.  Based on your most recent Book Fair, your school community walked away with 370 books, which equates to 66,600 independent reading minutes.  These are numbers that should be celebrated and shared with your families and school staff!  As you already know, reading has been proven to increase test scores and improve individual reading confidence. I have no doubt that your Fair success will continue to help your students throughout the year.”
The 2016 Book Fair earned a $765 profit, and the school was able to get about 125 free books to add to the library.
The next Scholastic Book Fair at Woonsocket School is scheduled for this fall to coincide with Parent Teacher Conferences.
Pat Carsrud credits her success in organizing the event to the Friends of the Library volunteers.  Friends of the Library are a support group that helps with events at the library like the Book Fair, used book sales, and summer reading parties.  If you are interested in joining this group or volunteering at the library, you are invited to contact Pat or Cindy Larson, Friends of the Library President.