Of course, if your fair is hosted by
Scholastic, they share so many good resources through the chairperson’s toolkit.
Still... and maybe I’m just picky... (okay, I'm TOTALLY picky!!!) but I usually find myself remaking a lot of the
forms and things. I like to consolidate info that I’ll need (or the kids will need) and I like to make the forms
more organized. (Plus, I'll admit it -- I want my forms to look cute-sy! Don’t judge -- it makes
me so happy…and cute clipart has a lot less calories than chocolate!!)
This year, I started getting ready REALLY
early… like in DECEMBER for a mid-March fair! And... here’s why… last year, during the
week of my spring fair, we had a tragic, unexpected death in my family. It was
terribly sad, and my husband and I needed to leave immediately and travel six
hours north to support our family members. Problem was… I just wasn’t QUITE
ready for my fair. Not good.
I mean, my students usually shop during library classes (5 classes per day) and I had a great sub lined up who has volunteered at my book fairs in the past. So, that was going to be okay. My specials squad and some PTO moms had promised to pop in and check on her as they could.
Another LMC volunteer -- who's a retired media specialist and a GOOD friend -- stepped up to cover my parent-teacher conference nights, so that was a HUGE, ENORMOUS blessing! I had before school and after school shopping sessions planned, too,
though. Yikes! I just cancelled those. After all, that's a lot to put on a friend! And, to make things worse for her...I had a lot of brand new volunteers who
had not helped at a book fair anywhere before! I felt terrible about it.
As always, my book fair was all
planned out perfectly…in my brain. I can kind of run a fair on autopilot after 40+ of them...but on paper? To leave for a sub and my precious volunteer? Not so much. As we drove
north, I sure wished that I had been able to leave behind a little folder of helpful forms and tools. I felt like I had dropped the book fair ball in a big way. So, I decided during that funeral
trip that I would NEVER be caught so unprepared again. This resource is the result.
Although it's not comprehensive,
I'm kinda excited about my little collection of forms, volunteer nametags, thank you notes, dino décor, and so on! Mine's all printed, prepped, and organized for
our upcoming, "dino-mite" book fair. It felt SO AMAZING that I decided someone else might benefit from my pre-planning, too, Sooo, if you're interested... take a peek at it in my TpT store. Many of the forms are editable, so you can personalize and re-word to your heart's content! (Be sure and WATCH FOR RANDOM TEXT BOXES BEFORE YOU PRINT! ;)
Here’s to 1) being prepared, 2) good friends, and 3) encouraging kiddos
to love reading!
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