Saturday, February 7, 2009

How To Run a Book Fair


For the Blog Post Bingo game as suggested by Kim for our Blog Improvement Project, I need to do a "How To Post". So, what do I know how to do? The only thing that's coming to mind for this week is:

How to Run a Book Fair!

1. Make sure you partner with a great company like Scholastic.

2. Gather LOTS of wonderful people around you to help.

3. Have a planning meeting and make assignments.

4. Put someone in charge of Book Talks.

5. Put someone in charge of decorations.

6. Put someone in charge of Teacher Preview and the Teacher Wish Lists.

7. Put someone in charge of finances.

8. Put someone in charge of reordering and stocking the books.

9. Put someone in charge contests and Look and Lunch.

10. Have them ALL sign up to cashier when the book fair is actually running.

11. Buy three or four reams of paper.

12. Get on the computer and compose a student flier, a teacher letter, a small flier for the Highlight brochure, bookmarks, teacher door fliers, student wish list forms, etc.

13. Go to the school and copy all that stuff on your three or four reams of paper.

13. Hang posters.

14. Make sure the teachers get all the stuff they need to pass out to the kids so everyone knows there's going to be a book fair.

15. Staple 600 little fliers to the Highlight brochure.

16. Get those out to the kids.

17. Check up on everyone who has assignments!

18. Set up the book fair!

19. Help with Teacher Preview and Book Talks.

20. Start selling books!

21. Sell books all week!

22. Survive Look and Lunch event. Two of them.

23. Pack up and take down the book fair.

24. Have other people count the money and tell you how much you made for the school.

25. Go home and relax until it's time for the next book fair!

After that nice explanation, now you too can be in charge of your school's book fair! Have at it!


(My "how to" post sort of turned into a "list" post. Strange how that happens.)

6 comments:

  1. Hey, another book fair chair!! I've done 5 Scholastic book fairs for my daughters' school. I'm done, I think. I don't know what "Look and Lunch" is - is that for students/parents or for teachers? We do an evening Bingo for Books event which has been very popular and fun.

    Great list!

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  2. You are so good at juggling all those items on your tutorial that nobody can replace you, Suey. After almost a decade of chairing, I doubt anyone can replicate your success!

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  3. Lisamm: Look and Lunch is where the parents come to school, eat lunch with their student, then shop at the book fair. It can be really crazy, but very fun!

    Michelle: I debated even posting this because I so don't want it to look like tooting my own horn or something. (I just needed a "how to" post!) And I know when I'm done with book fairs, all you guys that will be taking over will do amazing things with it!

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  4. I think I will leave this in the hands of experts like you!

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  5. Wow. I don't want to criticize our book fair chair but I'm pretty sure they don't it like that. I'm sure your book fairs are a huge success with so much effort behind the scenes.

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  6. I just signed up to help with the book fair this am. I'm glad I'm not in charge!

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