Consider www.deebooks.com
for a Book Drive. They have a program that puts books into the library, classroom and for the student.
Or email me and I will fax the info to you.
Robin
[ 02-22-2004, 08:07 PM: Message edited by: Robin Rene ]
We do ours at the end of October. After reading some complaints here about Scholastic, I spoke with the head of our Media Center. He said quite simply it's a matter of being VERY direct with your rep and letting them know what you do and do not want. Something he did point out, which I find important... regardless of whether the book available is a "classic" or is the Rug Rats, if the kids are actually reading, that's all that matters. (fyi, our media guy does all of the interaction with the rep, while pto simply provides the manpower. all money earned then goes directly back to the media center)
Unfortunately, Scholastic bought Troll a few years ago, so that's out of the equation. I do have a tip about Scholastic that worked for us this year. Typically in our area, schools run their bookfairs to coincide with American Education Week (3rd week in Nov). Our rep is always extremely busy during this time, and although she is very good to us, things get forgotten, and selection is not that great, and inventory is low-with ALOT of ordering involved.
This year, we decided to do our bookfair the first week of November. I can attest to the fact that the selection was much better and everyone commented that they were pleased that Scholastic had seemed to "upgrade" their selection. We still had to re-order about the same amount of books, but the quality was far better and we actually had NO complaints this year! I'm serious, not even that one parent who always complains-you know you have one!
I don't know that this is a solution for everyone, but try to book your fair at an "off-time", when not too many other schools in your area are doing theirs, and it may work out a little better. It did for us.
Suzi
PS: This was the 30% off sale, and we pass the savings on to the parents, it is not a fundraiser.
We used Scholastic this year and I was not impressed with the selection, quantity or customer service. I have heard from our librarian Troll has a pretty good book fair but you have to be careful of some things they send. Not really appropriate for the elementary age. Not sure what they sent but she said she hid a few mags and books but otherwise was good.
