Many people responded that they are dissatidfied with Scholastic, too.
They asked for a hit of responses. 3 Responses were positive.
Here are the suggestions that I received:
They seem to have taken over the market. We've gone
local a couple of times - both by bringing books to
school and by "coupons" at store.
Follett and Chinaberry have on-line book fairs that we
are looking into.
------------------------------------------------
Waldenbooks does book fairs. You can have them in-store or at your
school. They always let me pick out my own books, but it may be possible
to have them select them also. It's a straight 20% profit based on the
value of the number of books you take out of the store versus what you
bring back. They are affiliated with Brentano's, so I suspect you can
also do book fairs with them.
-------------------------------------------------
Phyllis:
Two years ago I screamed loud and clear to the Scholastic corporate
office
about the quality of the book fairs I was receiving and the treatment I
was
receiving from my local rep. They heard me, and they listened. My book
fair this time is beautiful and I am being treated like princess. I
decided
that I am not going to suffer in silence; I will always let my opinion
be
known to those who control the purse strings of the company. So don't
just
complain to us. Keep very careful notes about what you are dissatisfied
with and write a very detailed letter to the Scholastic corporate
office.
Make sure you send a copy to your local rep -- they are usually the ones
that are doing the sloppy work. And if you don't hear apologies
quickly,
call them to the carpet.
Good luck with finding an alternative fair. Scholastic has bought up
most
of the competition that I know of. You might check with some of your
local
indepedent book stores if they do fairs, especially a children's book
store.
----------------------------------------------------
Troll us to do book fairs and Walden Books does book fairs.
-----Original Message-----
Phyllis,
I had been disatisfied with Scholastic for the last 2 years.
Unfortunately, they keep buying up all their competition. I went on a
mission this fall to find an alternative (or I was going to discontinue
Book Fairs at my school).
I found Borders books (a store locally) will offer three options. A
window
of time in which students may purchase materials at the store and use a
"special" coupon and proceeds will benefit the school library.
Or....they
suggested a fieldtrip to Borders and have the fair there. (Not a viable
alternative for us). Finally, they suggested I purchase one copy of
titles
and display the books and have students order based upon the books on
display. None of these options seemed worth the effort to me.
I also contacted WaldenBooks which is another local store. They are
willing to provide multiple copies of whatever titles I specify. They
also
want to send their employees to deliver, set-up, make sales, and tear
down
a book fair in the school. I've never heard of a company willing to
send
their employees to do the sales. I am considering this option. I need
to
clear the idea with my principal first though.
I learned Usborne books does bookfairs too. I contacted them for middle
school brochures or other book fair inf and that was over 2 weeks ago
and I
have not received any literature.
Good luck with your venture. I often think I should retire and begin a
book fair business so that there will be an option other than
Scholastic.
----------------------------------------------------
Our school just finished a sale using our local Borders Book Store.
Last year, the PTA used Barnes and Noble. With B/N they sent store
employees and
registers, enabling teachers and others to use discount cards and
credit cards. This year, there was no store cash register (or
employees) , so it was cash and checks only.
--
Phyllis Roche
R.T. Cream K-8 Family School
Camden, NJ 08104
pmroche@comcast.net
http://www.camden.k12.nj.us/S/Cream/Phyllis/lib.html
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