Barnes and Noble + DHS Library = A Great Bookfair

This is our 3rd year to host a bookfair at Barnes and Noble, and I think we finally got it right.  Three years ago we were approached by the PTSA (Parent Teacher Student Association) to help with their Barnes and Noble bookfair.  We were to provide the in-store activities and part of the money they earned from the bookfair would be donated to the library.  It seemed like a win-win situation, and it was a lot of fun.  Last year, our PTSA was practically non-existent; therefore, we ran the bookfair on our own.  So when it came around for us to organize the bookfair again this year, it seemed second nature.

The way it works is to talk to your local Barnes and Noble rep and come up with a week you want to host a bookfair.  We inherited our dates from the PTSA who setup the bookfair before we did, and we happen to like that week and kept it.  Our bookfair starts the Saturday after Thanksgiving and runs for a week. Not a bad time for a bookfair...even if we do have to give up a Saturday to work.

I guess we could have activities running all week, but we usually organize all our events on the first day of the  bookfair, which is that Saturday.  This year we were present from 12-6pm.  In the past, we went from 10am-5pm, but it took us two years to figure out that there was not much foot traffic from 10-11:30am. Therefore we adjusted our times this year with much better participation.

Our activities included face painting, arts and crafts, a Pokemon tournament, an Anime Art Show, complimentary gift wrapping, cupcake decorating in the Cafe, story time, and a we had performance area  in the music/movies area.  Since there are only the 4 of us, we had to rely on volunteers to help run the different areas.  Since we have students in abundance who need community service hours, we have no trouble getting students to come and help that day.

Our National Art Honor Society was in charge of face painting this year.  The book club hosted 2 different story times.  Our Pokemon and Anime Clubs produced the art work for our Art Show and played in the Pokemon tournament.  The gift wrapping and Arts & Crafts were manned by student volunteers not associated with any club; they came on their own for the community service hours.  Here is an example of one of our Arts and Crafts products...found on Pinterest, of course.

Pinterest Link

The Barnes and Noble Cafe people were in charge of the cupcake decorating.  The only club who took advantage of our performance area this year was the DHS Guitar and Bass Club.  They hosted a lovely rock concert for us.  Last year we also had the Latin Club and Spanish Club sing Christmas Carols for us.

As I  said, this was our 3rd year to host, and we all said after it was over that this was the most laid back bookfair of the three.  Next week we will get our totals from the bookfair.  We usually receive 15% of what was identified as our bookfair.  It's a great way to earn money and have fun at the same time.  It is definitely a win-win partnership between the DHS Library and Barnes and Noble.

For more information about our bookfair, go to http://duncanvillehs.libguides.com/bookfair

                                             See you next time!  Thanks for stopping by.