Week 9: Book Fair!

Book Fair Time!

I have a love/hate relationship with the Book Fair. I love to see my kids get so excited about buying books. I love that most of them actually buy BOOKS and very few only buy what I affectionately call the "cutesy crap" (pencils, pens, finger pointers, etc.).  On the other hand, I hate that it shuts down the library for a week. I hate that I have to become a cashier. I hate that my hands reek of dirty pennies. Every Book Fair confirms that I am NOT cut out for retail!

But love it or hate it, the Book Fair is my bread and butter. It's the only fundraiser for the library, and it makes MONEY. This is my seventh Book Fair as the librarian at Shaw (last year I had three--proof that I have lost my mind), and each Book Fair I make more money. For this one, I was hoping to sell over $5500. We actually sold $6700! I took it all in Scholastic Dollars profit, so I have over $3000 in my Scholastic account to spend on books, furniture, and to use for give-aways and discounts at future Book Fairs. Here are some of my secrets to Book Fair success:

• For every book that my kids buy, they get a ticket to go in a drawing for a free book. I give away 5 free books a day. (I use my Scholastic Dollars to pay for the books). This encourages the kids to buy books instead of the junk. No ticket for a poster or large foam pen that costs the same as a book!
• I give my staff $5.00 off their purchase (taken from Scholastic Dollars). I also give them a ticket for every book that they buy and have a drawing for $50 worth of books for their classroom. I had two winners this time (taken from Scholastic Dollars). 
• I stay open after school and have a night event.
• I finally took pics of my set up so that I can remember where everything goes next time. 

I always have a "Mrs. Bailey's Picks" table.

I encourage parents to buy books for the classroom libraries.

                                         

I tape one of each "junk" item and group them by price. 

I keep all of the little stuff behind the cashier's table. 

Books that come with "trinkets" stay right beside the cashier's table.

Posters hang from the ceiling. Gig Em Aggies!

Spanish titles for my large bi-lingual population.

The T shape table arrangement makes for good traffic flow.

Some of my awesome library helpers 

Love these silly girls! 

And...poof! It's back normal. YEA!