After weeks of preparation, collecting teachers’ wish lists, and transforming the Oakdale Junior High School library, the school’s Fall Book Fair will run Monday, Oct. 3 through Friday, Oct. 7. The theme for this year’s event is “To the Book Fair and Beyond: Reading Is Out of This World.”
To accommodate students and parents who want to shop, the book fair opens daily at 7:30 a.m. and closes at 3 p.m., except for Thursday, Oct. 6, which is a minimum day, so the book fair will close at noon that day. There will also be a special evening shopping time available on Wednesday, Oct. 5.
“This year we have a new chance for students to get books – our fair is also available online…which makes it accessible to everyone,” said book fair chairperson Erin Stillman. “…What’s nice about it is that a lot of parents work and they never get a chance to come in and see the book fair…. This gives kids the opportunity to show their parents the book they want… I think that’s great.”
Having it online also allows for elementary and high school readers to access titles they’re interested in purchasing to read.
“The junior high book fair is a unique event in that it appeals not only to the students at the junior high but also can cater to advanced fifth and sixth graders whose needs are not totally met at their elementary school (book) fairs, as well as high school students who no longer have a book fair at their school,” Stillman said.
Online shopping for the OJHS book fair starts before and runs longer than the campus book fair – it runs from Sept. 30 through Oct. 10. Online ordering can be done at http://bookfairs.scholastic.com/homepage/OakdaleJrHi. Stillman added that Scholastic book company is including more young adult and teen titles for the older students. Some of the titles available through the online fair are even recommended reading by the high school English teachers. There will also be cookbooks and adult best sellers for sale to the adult readers, as well as trinkets, novelties, and other fun stuff for the kids. Ordered books will be delivered to OJHS. For non-junior high students who order online, Stillman said she’d see to it that the purchasers get their books. She reported that there will be a lot of books on special, costing less than $6.50. She also said they hope to raise about $4,000 through the book fair. The money raised from the book fair goes back to the school to get books for the library and also for teachers’ classroom libraries. To go along with the book fair’s out-of-this-world theme and darkness permitting, there will also be a telescope night just for OJHS students and their families on Wednesday, Oct. 5 from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., which will be led by seventh grade science teacher Fred Yerzy. During this time, the book fair will be open to the OJHS families for browsing and shopping.
“The kids are always just so excited about when it comes around every year – even the junior high kids,” Stillman said about the book fair.