Hosting a book fair is one of the easiest ways to support your school’s reading efforts. Not only is there an excellent range of books on offer for the children, but a book fair also generates parental involvement and is a great way to raise funds for new books without dipping into the library budget!
Book fairs can run for one day or as long as a week depending on your individual requirements. Usually they are run by the school, but if the services of a local indie bookseller have been obtained a representative may run it for you.
There are organisations that specialise in book fairs. In these instances you usually have the fair for a week. Once it has been booked, a planning kit will be sent to you several weeks before the fair is to be held. This kit will include everything you need to run a successful book event – posters, leaflets, instructions etc. Once the books have been delivered, setting up and putting away takes just a few minutes every day. There are no extra boxes or displays to deal with, just mobile bookcases which open out to form an attractive display, and can be closed up and wheeled out of the way at the end so that the normal running of the school can continue.
Usually no cash changes hands at book fairs. Schools use different payment options. Sometimes, for example, the books are charged to the children’s end of term accounts. But since COVID many organisers have been offering parents online payment options and some such as Scholastic even provide card machines.
Book Fairs allow schools to earn a percentage commission on the value of their total book sales in ‘Rewards’,and sometimes these can be very generous – up to 60% of the total takings. The Rewards can then be used to buy books for your school library and/or teaching resources from the bookcases whilst the Book Fair is still in school or through the organisation’s catalogue or online shop.
The following companies offering book fairs are used regularly by our members:
A popular company with our LIPSSEE members, independent bookseller Bookwagon offers expertly curated book fairs and pop-ups for every occasion that are run by their staff. Schools earn a 20% commission on event sales to spend on books of their choice from the Bookwagon online shop.
Based on the Kent/Sussex border this service is only available for schools that Rosie can travel to within an hour. She can tailor make the selection to your own requirements and doesn’t bring any novelty books! She offers a generous commission on sales and is there on the day to help students choose and can work with the school regarding differing methods of payment. This company can also provide books for author events, festivals, book weeks etc.
A totally unique experience, The Roving Bookshop is an independent bookseller but without a sales premises! Instead the hands-on specialist bookshop of 3000+ titles comes to you! They can set up inside just about any venue you can provide. They also pride themselves in only selling “quality books and educational posters – never toys, gimmicks or other merchandise”.
Scholastic offers a Book Fair scheme that allows schools to earn between 25% and 60% in ‘Rewards’ commission, depending on the total value of the sales. The Rewards can then be used to buy books and/or teaching resources from a range of titles available through the Scholastic Schools Catalogue or the online Scholastic Shop.
The Travelling Book Company has been a very popular provider of book fairs to many LIPSSEE member schools over the years, mainly because they offer such good rates of commission – usually 60% on all sales. However, in September 2015, Scholastic, the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books, bought out Troubadour Ltd (The Travelling Book Company) but most librarians have reported that they still continue to receive a good service.
Usborne
Your local Usborne rep will be very happy to run a book fair and other book promotional activities for you. Whether you hold an Usborne school book fair or have an Usborne stand at your school fete, you can get up to 60% of your total order value in extra free books. Find your local Independent Usborne Organiser here, who will be happy to discuss your individual requirements, tailor the event to support your particular school’s needs and organise and run the Book Fair for you.
LIPSSEE 