Bookfair Blues

[cara delia]

Well, I am in the midst of my very first scholastic bookfair, I was wondering who of you have used other bookfairs.  I have heard bedfordfalls mentioned a couple of times, but scholastic makes things sooooo easy.  Do any of the other fairs offer the easy scan machine?  I'll tell you it's worth its weight in gold.  Also, how many of you have chosen to keep the scholastic dollars?  I totaly see the benefits of both, but what I really need isn't in the catalog (or online).  However if I cash out I won't have that much to play with that would matter.  Thanks for your input.  Also one more question to throw at yall, How many of you keep open checkout during BF?  I stopped it after 8:30, but I'm thinking the next fair I won't have it at all.  It has been a very very hectic 3 days!

[Diane Mentzer]

Cara, I just finished close to my 50th scholastic bookfair. One year the PTA used a different company and it was awful. They sent everything in boxes and they had to keep a record of each sale, what was sold and to who. The company actually sent receipt books to do this. Scholastic has made it so easy with the easy scan machine and the cases. I have heard from some other schools that they received less cases this year and more boxes, but I did not notice that problem. I usually do a combination of money and scholastic dollars. I do not take books from the shelf, instead I get them from the catalog because I can get the MARC records and processing. I have gotten some book shelves and benches for my reading corner that were well built. I hope this helps.
Now for your next question. I do not do any book exchange during the book fair. It is just too much to try to keep both things running. Since I place the fair in the middle of the library you can not get to some of the shelves. I find it easier to just stop it totally and then there are no questions. I hope this helps.
Since I have done so many fairs if you have any other questions feel free to ask.

[cara delia]

Thanks so much for your reply! This was my very first bookfair, and I have learned so much, mostly what I will NOT do for the next one. I am def. closing down circulation. I have noticed some nice things in the online catalog, but not much of a variety for furniture etc. which is what I would like to focus on for the library. All of our furniture is second hand from a high school (I teach k-2) not very colorful, and it's way too big for them. There are no rugs, walls are all blank, and no cute literary stuffies to brighten things up. I thought since my state funds would have to be allocated to books, this could be my play money, but I'm a bit dissapointed in the selection. One more question, have you ever bought scholastics bruised books? I notice this would be a great value, but if they are too bad I don't wan to bother. Thanks!

[Diane Mentzer]

I do think they have some nice rugs. Sometimes things change so wait awhile and look again. I have not bought the bruised books so I can't help you there. I am glad your bookfair was successful. If you want to purchase things that are not in the catalog maybe you will want to go with the money. I have an account through the school office and am able to save up monies from several fairs to make a big purchase. Maybe that would help. Good luck.

[Herberta Hartness]

I have had many, many bookfairs! I have never heard of bedfordfalls before but Barnes and Noble does a bookfair in their store - students and parents just buy books and let them know it is for the school and it is credited to you. Larger schools seem to do great with it but I am a small country school away from a Barnes and Noble so I have not tried it. Also about checking out books - I let the students check in books but I do not check books out. It gets too confusing trying to keep up with the bookfair and have students go to the shelves to browse and then check out books. I let the students know ahead of time that I will not check books out during bookfair week.

[cara delia]

I also live in a "small country school" Don't you love it? But, we also are far from a barnes and nobles. And yes, that was a rookie mistake to keep up circulation! LOL! Well, we all have to learn somehow! Thanks!

[Jenni George]

One thing our rep let's us do with our bookfair money is to order anything from their warehouses, not just what's in the catalogs. I'm a high school library and what's in the catalog doesn't really apply to our library. So I order from the warehouse and get all of our current Readers Choice Award program books that way (I order six copies of each). Maybe talk to your rep about spending your dollars that way.

[Deborah Fagnan]

I am currently running my fall Scholastic Bookfair. The select of books is great this year. I keep mostly scholastic dollars. Great resource catalog! My fair runs six days and we gross about 11,000 to 13,000. Sunday 10 to 2 and Monday - Friday 8am to 3:30. Hope this info helps! The event truly promotes my library as well as the importance of reading!

[cara delia]

wow! i couldn't imagine grossing 13,000!! I thought I was doin great with my 4200! LOL! You must have a gigantic school! Thanks for the tips!

[Deborah Fagnan]

We are a KP - 8 grade with 400 students.

[Elisabeth LeBris]

Hi,
We have been using Scholastic for a number of years. We mostly take our profits in cash because it affords more flexibility. We also have improved the quality of what we get by being very specific about what we need and do not want. We often leave some boxes unopened and do not display any little toys etc. They have been very responsive over the years. Some of the Scholastic dollar profits have made it possible to purchase books for classrooms and special education staff whose budgets are smaller than ours. Basically, speak up and the reps will do their best for you. They are so much better than they use to be.

[Deborah Fagnan]

I am really happy with the decrease of toys in the bookfair this year. Usually the "toys" could cover an 8 ft table with no problem. This year, it covered 2 foot and mostly were audio-type books. I also appreciated that they added many more soft cover books in lieu of these toys. They also provided us the abiltiy to pre-order the new Wimpy Book at $6.99. In will be sold in stores for 13.00. They also had a display of award winning books (Newbery, Seuss etc.)

[Diane Mentzer]

To help with the school supplies and stuff like that I invested in a table top display case that locks. I put one of each item in there, label it, and post the price. I then keep the extras behind my desk. This means I do not have to worry about the little stuff "walking away". It also helps me to decide what I am going to sell and what i am not.
In my area they have also been giving me a good selection of sale books at $.99 to $3.00. Since I am at a school with a 93% FARM rate this allows everyone to buy something. All I had to do was ask my rep. I have done this for the last 3 fairs.
My school is 500 students and the last fair we sold $4750 which was an increase from last year. I also have a Spring Fair which usually has higher sales. I can never really predict my sales or profit. Usually it surprises me in the end.