Two years ago, we hosted our very first Literati Book Fair at Van Meter Community School. Ever since, our Literati Book Fairs have been a huge success with our families, teachers, and most of all, our students.
This fall, we hosted our Literati Galactic Adventures Book Fair and I am still thinking about this wonderful literacy event we hosted for our school community.
In this blog post, I would love to share my review and reflections of our fall 2024 Literati Book Fair experience. A lot of people have asked about our experiences at Van Meter so I hope is helpful as you explore Literati Book Fairs for your communities too.
First, I can't say enough about how great the communication is from the start. Once you
sign up for your Literati Book Fair, you will hear from a representative who will work with you to make your book fair a success.
They will share Literati's OpenBook which is filled with Book Fair Resources. This site includes tips, guidance, materials, and so much more.
You will also get a book fair box mailed to your school. One of the most helpful resources is the Literati Book Fair Guidebook and this is also filled with helpful tips from start to finish. You can find this online in OpenBook too.
I carried the Guidebook around during the entire process of our book fair and followed the Book Fair Timeline, making notes and adding sticky notes throughout the booklet. It's easy to follow and makes such a difference in running your book fair.
One more marketing piece I love and that really grabbed our readers attention are the Sneak Peek Videos for the two different grade levels.
These can be shared in the library and even shared with teachers and families to help rally excitement within our students. After they watch the videos, they cannot wait for us to open the cases and start the book fair.
One of the biggest things that sets Literati apart from other companies is how easy it is to set up.
I am always impressed with this process from the moment they pull in to drop it off at our school. The delivery people are helpful and make sure it is right where it is suppose to be.
I will never forget the first time we opened up our Literati Book Fair. I couldn't believe how quickly it came together. Once the cases came open, we popped the signs into the top, along with the book displays. The cases are easy to maneuver and fit into our smaller library space. It takes us about 45 minutes to set up our book fair.
Oh, and the color coded signs pointing out different types of books are genius as they make it easy for our students and families to find what they love to read.
This spring, I would love to have a poster that clearly displays these categories. I know everyone would appreciate those clues as they shop the book fair.
Speaking of shopping the book fair, check out a few of the most popular titles our readers loved this fall.
There is an amazing selection of books from over 150 different publishers. With the variety of books, there is definitely something for every reader. There are lots of amazing value priced books that our readers love too.
It's the best to hear how happy they are with the books.
One of our youngest readers came up to me with Waiting For Mr. Sloth in their hand saying,
Mrs. Miller, I want this book because of the sloth on the front. I can't read it yet but my mom and dad can read it to me and my brother. And someday, I can read this book myself.
And when one of my colleagues and friends, Shelby, sent this to me one night, it just warmed my heart. Her little boy is one of our kindergarteners and he picked out
A Bold Pumpkin Plan by Katy Hudson and Capstone. She said, he was over the moon to get this book and couldn't wait to read it and make a pumpkin plan of his own at home.
That is why we do what we do as librarians and teachers, and Literati Book Fairs can help us connect our readers to special books and experiences to grow and support their love of reading too.
I also have to mention that I really like how there is not loads of extra things at Literati Book Fairs. The things they have to complement the book fair pair perfectly with the books and reading.
Literati is always testing new, affordable options for students. This season, the glow-in-the-dark Book are Stellar bags were a giant hit with our kids and such a nice way for them to carry their books home.
With the variety and amount of books for our readers, along with the exciting and clever themes, our Literati Book Fairs have easily generated record breaking revenues for our school library.
And I can't forget to mention how fantastic the book fair rewards are with Literati. We can choose from book profit, Titlewave® credit, or cash reward. We can even do a mix of all three. How cool is that!
It's fun building and curating lists of books for our library. And it's even more fun having these Titlewave® credits to use throughout the year. They bring dozens and dozens of books to our readers.
As we look forward to our next Literati Book Fairs in the Spring 2025 and Fall 2025, I wonder what the...
...Literati Story Arcade Book Fair and...
....Literati Everglow Forest Book Fair will include for our readers. I know the marketing materials, communication, book selection, and promotional ideas will be so much fun and bring amazing experiences to everyone.
I couldn't be happier to have Literati Book Fairs at our school. We are very satisfied with everything Literati has to offer, and to recap, this includes:
*Quality and selection of books
*Ease of delivery and set up
*Revenue generated and reward options
*Marketing materials
*Communication with our Literati coordinator throughout the book fair
And the most important thing, our readers couldn't be more excited and happy to see Literati Book Fairs come to our school library twice a year.
Sign up to host a Literati Book Fair today
at this link, friends.
