GEN: Book fairs...

["Earl J. Moniz" <emoniz@CHRISTCOM.NET>]

Well, kids, it's like this ... I am a new librarian filling in for
a veteran who is out on extended sick leave - she has been
out since the beginning of the year and _might_ be back in
January. . . soooo, when I received the letter from Scholastic
announcing our first book fair on Sep 11, I began to prepare.
The principal dropped by and asked me how I was doing and
so I asked him what should we do about the book fair... he
indicated that we should postpone it until a later time when
we could have the parents here.  I agreed.  I called the Scholastic
rep and indicated what we wanted.  She waas very pushy and
was intent on setting another date in October in spite of the
fact that I did not know when the principal wanted the fair.
I finally agreed in exasperation that she could set up a
tentative date in Oct, but not to do anything else until we
talked again to finalize the date.  Well, you guessed it -
she sent the fair to us without any further discussion on the
matter.  I sent it back and have had nothing more to do with
her.  I have arranged for a Pages book fair in Dec - they
have a warehouse just up the road from us and can get us
what we want on the same day. . .if it is stocked.
And I am planning a Troll book fair in the spring...

Scholastic will have to do something very extraordinary
to get my business again...and I'm not sure if I'll demand
another rep. . .  I simply avoid pushy sales people who
have an agenda of their own and do not hear a word
the customer says. . .

My discussions with the Pages people (formerly Trumpet,
I think) have been very friendly and supportive. . . we only have
a few weeks left before it arrives, so I might have to get
serious about publicizing it. . .  I do a monthly newsletter and have
mentioned it in this month's version, but will probably need to do
a separate flyer in a couple of weeks. . .

Thanks for letting me vent. . .

Aloha...

Earl J. Moniz (emoniz@christcom.net)
WebMinion, Plebeian, and Pedestrian
"Just doing what I can from where I am with what I have. . ."
Reproducing and Distribution Permission Granted
Lillington Elementary School, Lillington, North Carolina