Courtesy Photo
Pam Dudding
Contributing writer
Nothing can replace a great book in the hands of a child, to learn, grown and to enjoy.
McCleary Elementary School had their annual Scholastic Book Fair from Oct. 31 until Nov. 4, and many kids left with books in hand and smiles across their faces.
Karen Jones, McCleary Elementary librarian and gifted resource teacher, understands the importance of books and annually hosts a gigantic book fair for the students as well as inviting the entire community to come and purchase books.
The fair was open on Wednesday, Nov. 2, from 3:30-6 p.m. Parents seemed to enjoy walking around the thousands of books with their kids, choosing their favorites.
“This book fair was a success, despite so many being out due to illness,” Jones said. “Many parents expressed to me that the worst thing about being sick was their child missed the book fair.”
Students were able to go to the book fair during school hours and shop.
Also, for several years, an anonymous donor has been giving every student $5 to spend at the book fair. This brought many smiles to kids who would otherwise not be able to purchase.
“The students really enjoyed the fair,” Jones added. “One young kindergartener said, ‘This is the best day ever’ because she got to experience the book fair for the first time. Another older student said, ‘I love the book fair. I love the library. It’s the best place to be.’”
Many teachers filled out a “wish list” for their classroom and each teacher that filled out such a list had at least one book purchased for their class.
They were elated that over $3,000 was raised for the library, where “Most of it had to be taken in scholastic merchandise, rather than cash.”
“In addition, the book fair featured the All for Books program, where students can share the thrill of reading with others by donating loose change to purchase books from the book fair for the school library,” Jones said. “Scholastic Book Fairs then matches those monetary donations with a donation of up to one million dollars in books from The Scholastic Possible Fund.”
They collected $45 in change which will be donated and then matched.
Jones shared that the fair is one of the most important events in the school calendar.
“I’d like to thank all of the volunteers that made this event possible,” Jones shared. “In a small school system, it is impossible to pull off such a large-scale event without lots of assistance from our parent volunteers and former McCleary employees. They were willing to help set up the fair, read to the classes, help students shop, and do anything else needed.”