Elementary Book Fair Makes Reading Affordable

The Fair Grove Elementary School hosted the fall Scholastic book fair from September 11th to the 15th. The community is brought together by the book fair to raise an interest in reading for the younger generation. The Elementary school also took advantage of the fair’s book sale to raise some money for to be used within the school. This book fair is a good opportunity for the school to increase their budget and also for the community to purchase books for their children to enjoy.

The Scholastic book fair is part of a larger program run by the Scholastic corporation with the goal of selling books with affordable prices and getting them in the hands of young readers. Julie Hampton, the elementary librarian, stated, “The benefits of hosting the book fair include getting kids excited about books and reading and getting the families and community involved in a school function.”

Money is also a key part of the book fair. A portion of the profits is able to be put back into the school. “Last year, we sold about $12,000 in products which gave us around $6,000 in Scholastic Dollars. The scholastic dollars buy books and resources for the students and teachers,” said Hampton. The Scholastic corporation gives the choice of cash payment of a small portion of the profits or scholastic dollars which are a form of credit that represents half of the profits earned. Scholastic dollars can be used to purchase books and supplies from the corporation.

Two book fairs are held at the elementary every school year: the Fall book fair and the Buy One Get One book fair. “The goal of the book fair is to get books into kids’ hands,” says Hampton. The Fall book fair is a full price fair which earns more profits for the school to use. The BOGO book fair earns less for the school but gives the students mores books to read over the summer. Hampton stated, “Our main goal for that book fair is to have more books in kids’ homes so they will continue to read.”