Kicking Off The Year With Our Follett Book eFair

This week is our first week back at school, and it sure has been an exciting one!

As I visited classrooms and students, lots of questions kept popping up as we talked what the library would look like this year.  A few that I heard were....

Are we going to have the book fair this year?  If we don't come to the library, where will the book fair be?  What if we miss it again? 

These are tough questions and ones that we are all facing as we go into this school year. But with a smile on my face, I was happy to share that we would be having the book fair in a couple weeks and this year it would be online as we are hosting our first ever...

 ...Follett Book eFair at Van Meter School!

We have hosted several Follett Book Fairs over the last two years at Van Meter and our students, teachers and families love them every time.  This summer when Follett announced the eFairs, I was excited to sign up so we can still bring a wonderful book fair to our students in a special virtual way.

As the website states,

Follett Book eFairs for the school provide a new way for students and families to shop for books. They’ll find a variety of titles that reflect all interests and backgrounds.

Follett Book eFairs give students a convenient, affordable way to grow their at-home libraries. Students can browse recent releases by popular authors or add an old favorite to their shelves. You can expect to see 80% of the choices available in paperback and low-priced books so that every student can find something.

As the various grade levels flyers show,

 

the eFairs are packed full of amazing books for various grade levels around different genres such as...

 ...picture books,

 beginning readers,

 chapter books,

 nonfiction titles,

 must-have titles,

graphic novels and so much more.

I love how Follett provides us with Suggested Book Lists, which they update regularly with a fantastic mix of books including great recommendations for all ages.

They also have Customizable Selection which allows us to make book recommendations for our students and add titles.  

This is another aspect of the Follett Book eFairs I am very excited about as I can tie in books that relate to our curriculum and certain topics of interests specific to our school, classroom curriculum and students.  As a teacher librarian, this is a meaningful way to collaborate with my teachers and students as I bring these book recommendations together. 

As I get ready to kick off our Follett Book eFair right after the holiday, I am having lots of fun looking through the promotional materials as I plan this special event.  

For example, check out this computer monitor sign that I turned into the invitation to hand out to students to take home,

to include on the slides in our library orientation, our Smore library and school newsletters, and to share on our library and school social media channels.

The activity kit will come in handy and give students a place to color,

 find and...

 ...participate in activities around the camp theme.

I absolutely LOVE these bookmarks which also serve as a way to get the word out.  

And guess what?  Online Wish Lists are here!

Students and teacher can now create online wish lists to share with family and friends, near or far.  Everyone can participate and help to build both classroom and home libraries.

In the marketing materials, we are provided with the My Book eFair Wish List and...

...Teacher Wish Lists in a few...

 

...styles to choose from.

The Reading Challenges, 

Contest Ideas and...

 ...Goal Posters are more great ways to get students involved and excited.

As you can see, Follett Book eFairs offer a variety of literacy and fundraising opportunities that are perfect for every school, large or small.  

And the most important thing, they will bring happiness and inspire our readers through books, experiences and a great adventure to kick off the year. 

You can create your eFair here too.