We had our first book fair back in 1997 and the one later this month will be our 13th fair, the last one having taken place in 2011. Over the years there has been mixed success in terms of reaching the commission threshold, however, as nice as it is to get fee brand new books for the school library, the benefits of exposing pupils to a selection of new books from which they can purchase outweigh this. Not everyone can make it to a bookshop, and as much as I advocate visiting our excellent local bookshops and, of course, taking advantage of the Orkney Library & Archive, bringing new books to the frontline, ie. the school, hopefully means that more young folk can have the joys of browsing a selection of books – aimed at secondary pupils.

Our book fair is just under three weeks away, running 23rd to 27th September in the library. It has been a fair few years since we last had one and it is hoped that we can make this one a success, so much so, that we can earn commission for us to be able to purchase more books, which pupils can choose, for the school library.  The target for this commission is £300 and although it seems a lot, it should be doable looking at some of the results of past fairs.

Gift vouchers can also be purchased in advance from: https://bookfairs.scholastic.co.uk/gift-vouchers – good value saving 20% (eg. £10 voucher will give a £12 spend at the fair).