An article in the February 2012 issue of  School Library Monthly caught my eye this month as a timely reading promotion idea.  The article, “Reading Madness Month”, written by Leslie Preddy, had some great teacher/student friendly activities for reading promotions. Take a look at her ideas for “READ Bingo” and “Caught Reading Photos” plus many more. I agree with the author when she says that February is a great month to host this kind of promotion. It also made me think about February as the time for parent-teacher conferences knowing that conferences means hosting Book Fairs. Book Fairs fit well with Reading Madness Month – on a variety of levels.  And think of this.  March 2 is Read Across America day.  What a great way to culminate February’s Reading Madness Month according to Ms. Preddy.

Recently LPS elementary school librarians shared their practices and ideas about how to host a book fair and continue excellent library service.  When hosting a book fair it’s tempting to shut down your library program for the week, but  I have to say that closing the library to student check out and exploration is in opposition to everything we know about best practice in library service.  Please consider how this practice sends negative messages to students, staff and administrators.  First and foremost, it sends the message that the book fair takes priority over the daily academic activities that occur in our school libraries. It also can send a negative message to students who can’t afford to buy books because not only are they unable to buy books, they also don’t have access to books from the library during the week of the fair.
It’s my strong conviction that librarians can in fact run a great book fair and maintain excellent library service to their buildings during the same week.  And that’s why I’ve written the following Book Fair Q & A that includes great ideas from LPS school librarians.  Please know that it is my opinion that the book fair can be a great reading promotion in your school, but it really needs to be more about reading than about the funds we raise.  I loved the ideas several LPS school librarians shared about how they promote books during the fair.  Kids do love the book fair and we want to keep this excitement going throughout the week in addition to library use.  What a great activity to add to your list for Reading Madness Month.

• Why host and promote book fairs? AASL Standards 4.1.1, 4.1.2, 4.1.3, and 4.1.4 focus on students reading widely in order to make connections to themselves and the world as well as reading for pleasure and personal growth.  Book fairs are a great way for school librarians to promote reading because students in their schools can access many new, high interest books. During a book fair, student excitement is high but many librarians find themselves searching for ways to best host this event. Most librarians promote the book fair during classes by showing promotional videos, leading guided tours of the fair, reading picture books and book talking intermediate books available in the fair.  This is an opportunity for students to create wish lists, a self assessment strategy listed in AASL Standard 4.4.1.

• So, how can I manage the space when the book fair is in the library and it’s really crowded?  First of all, feel free to minimize the fair only to those items that are simplest to manage and most important to sell – like books.  Vendors of book fairs provide lots of inventory in the bookcases that are easy to open and close and roll out of the way if necessary.  Feel free to hold the items that display on tables until you have an evening open for parents and community.  And definitely feel free to leave the many toys included in the book fair in the boxes unless you really want to sell them.  You might want to sell pencils and erasers from the fair at the circulation desk before and after school or at recess time if this practice is supported by your administrator.  You are the decision maker on what is offered on your fair – not the vendor.  You can also set up lots of last minute items while people are shopping, and believe it or not, this can be a great sales technique.

• How can I teach in the library space when the book fair is in my way?  Hosting a book fair in your library space can be a challenge for smaller libraries. Some have found that they can remove or stack tables to make room for instruction and the book fair.  Others with limited space found that if they set up and take down the book fair either daily or every other day, they can better continue with library instruction and check out.  Also, you might be able to find another location in the building in which to host the book fair.  But regardless of your situation, consider this opportunity to use the corners of the library where you rarely or never take students for group instruction.  Clipboards or individual whiteboards can become tables and a writing surface. A small, squeezed in space can become a cave in which to meet – or a campfire which requires sitting closely in order to stay warm.  Some librarians use their instructional time during fairs to introduce students to author websites and other technology lessons.  This change in venue can give us a different perspective on teaching content and strategies.

• Where can I get help?  I feel like I’m drowning!  Ask for help!  Really!  Sometimes the parent organization at your school runs the fund raiser, but if your PTO or PTA isn’t running the book fair, you can recruit parent or community volunteers to assist at the cashier table in order to be free to help students and their parents as they look for items to purchase.  Other ideas are to ask other personnel in your building that have minimal parent teacher conferences to help by giving you breaks and packing up items that need to be out of the way for the next day’s instruction.  You’ve spent all of this time building great relationships in your building, so ask for help.  Also, older students in your building love to help making this a great learning experience for them.  Students can be taught how to be a cashier with your help and supervision.  It is my experience, however, that you really need to limit the number of students at the elementary level for better assistance at the fair.  Choose a different student each day for some good relationship building.  Ask for help! Really!

• Should I offer access to the book fair at times other than parent teacher conference hours?  That’s up to you with approval from your administrator.  Librarians may offer after school hours in order for students, teachers, parents and community members to attend the book fair.  Some hold their fair in combination with parent teacher conferences. Others allow access during the school day.

Last of all, if the purpose of the book fair is truly about kids reading, all other small and large things will fall into place.  Your students will love you for giving them this great opportunity for access to shiny new books.

Sources:
“AASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner.” American Association of School
Librarians. American Library Association, 2012. Web. 29 Jan. 2012.
<http://www.ala.org/aasl/guidelinesandstandards/learningstandards/
standards>.
Preddy, Leslie. “Reading Madness Month.” School Library Monthly Feb. 2012:
36-37. Print.