A Bookless Bookfair:
From Disaster to Delight “Experience is what you get when you don’t get what you really wanted.” Gamble Rogers
fter 25 years in the classroom, I became a high school media specialist (MLS 2000 FSU) at Bartram Trail High School in northwestern St. Johns County. We opened in the fall of 2000 with about 1500 students; three years later we have more than 2100 students enrolled and we have added 15 portables to the ten we received last year. We are in one of the fastest growing parts of the state and more students are arriving every day. Last spring we went through our first SAC’s accreditation process and we were frantically trying to reach our minimum of 15,000 books before the SAC’s Peer Review Team arrived. During one of the brainstorming sessions I had with the PTO president, we decided to host a book fair to generate community involvement and to increase our book numbers. This book fair would give students and parents a chance to
A Anne Berkey Media Specialist Bartram Trail High School 2050 Roberts Road Jacksonville, FL 32259
purchase books for themselves, purchase books and donate them to the media center, or donate funds to us for future purchases. Since it would happen the week of Valentine’s Day, we decided on the theme “Be A Library Sweetheart,” and one of the PTO parents prepared red and white heart-shaped construction paper cutouts to advertise our “Sweethearts.” It had been my understanding from the other high school media specialists in the county that the traditional book fairs arranged by the book vendors were geared more toward elementary and middle school students. While attending FAME last year, I made contact with a large book store chain who was willing to arrange a book fair for my high school, provide the books on credit, give me a list of the books we chose, and have a representative help me select, arrange, and sell the books during a
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four day “book fair week.” The representative was to be responsible for all the financial aspects of the event. All I had to do was advertise it and collect a check for a percentage of the sales when it was over. So, armed with more enthusiasm than experience, I set the opening date to coincide with the winter Open House. I made arrangements with the PTO for punch and cookies and I contacted the local book store book fair representative for a time to go to the store and select books. I recruited some of my student ‘book hounds’ to come with me to help choose books. My book hounds were originally three 11th grade students who were in the library media center on a daily basis, and who were all voracious readers. (I ended up with the PTO president and only one of the kids who was able to get permission to leave campus. The other two had trouble with transportation