We have done scholastics for years--no real complaints here except you need to do a reorder on day one cause it takes a few days to get the books in and we hated running out and making kids wait--so we watched what was being wrote down alot on their preview day and ordered extra of those. Yes they do send alot of "junk" and this past October fair we did not get any bargain $.95-$2.00 priced books like in the years before, our cheapest book in October was 3.95. And alot of the books we have seen on the shelves for the past couple years. Last year instead of doing scholastics in the fall and in the spring --we did fall with scholastics and used Usborne books for the spring--the kids and parents loved the differnt type of books offered by Usborne so this year we did scholastics in the fall and will do Usborne books in the spring.

I have to agree with alot that has been said about Scholastic. they are very pushy. We ran a book fair at the start of theyear and had it for 3 days with the last beinga day/night event coinciding with know your school night. They sent us so much junk( pencils,erasers,diaries etc). To be honest we didn't even put it out.It is suppose to be a bookfair not a thrift shop. The day after our book fair they were on the phone asking to schedule next years ugh we had just finished! Also the prices of the books are much more expensive then the ones in the flyers.The cheapest book was 3.95. Our school is a mix of incomes and we only have about 480 students.They offer books in the flyers for .95 and so some kids only brought a dolllar or two. I have dealt with Scholastic for a few years and was myself looking to find something different because our kids enjoy it as well. I did find Troll books and was disappointed to find that they had merged with Scholastic. I further looked and found a company here in Massachusetts called "BOOKFAIRS BY BOOKENDS" I was thinking about asking the PTO to give them a try next year.I am not sure how expansive their territory is but you may want to check out their web site.They seem to have agreat philosophy. Good Luck!

For years, we've partnered with a local children's bookstore that has given us very favorable rates -- 15% in cash or 25% of sales in books. They have handled selection, and it has been wonderful. This year, for our fall bookfair, instead of holding it at the school we partnered with the U of Washington bookstore in Seattle. They sell way more than kids books -- all books, art supplies, some giftsa nd games, athletic wear, etc. They gave us 25% of all sales (with exceptions for certain things, like electronics) in books. They would have given us a lesser amount in cash. We promoted the heck out of it, and held all sorts of fun activities over the weekend in their very small event space. Kid rock bands, poetry readings, adult musical groups, "edible book contest," etc. We had older kids ready to read to and do crafts with little kids so their parents could shop. It also helped that we did it the weekend before Thanksigivng, so people had their holiday shopping lists with them. Also, teachers had wish lists, and our library included a wish list of diversity titles, all of which were purchased and donated back. Overall, we made three times what we had ever made before.

I've heard some of the big box book retailers do this too. But we liked partnering with a local business, it fits the values of our alternative public school. The trick is coming up with ways to drive the parents there -- the U Bookstore reported that no other school had had the types of events we had, and not other school even much larger ones, had anywhere near the success that we had.

Have you every tried book clubs from scholastic? It great, not only do they offer discounted prices on everything but teachers can earn bonus points to by all kinds of stuff for the classroom. The customer sevice is wonderful!

After a lot of pressure from Scholastic - even calling our staff at home over the summer - we had our first Scholastic book fair in a few years.

They sent us a ton of adult books -- that was a first! Over all, we had very few hard covers and only a handful of books under $5.00. Still not what I'd consider ideal inventory for a rural school, but we did well. It's been such a long time since we've had a book fair, every one was excited. We also held the fair open on Family Fun Night.

Usborne's prices are very comparable to Scholastic - and Usborne does not offer all that "junk" like a phoney PDA for $14.95, which Scholastic sent us a ton of. Posters were $3.99 and fuzzy pencils -- $2.99 each. Usborne also offers some great sales and is still a great choice for families.

You will not usually meet the sales rep, as they usually work from their offices, which could be a long way from you. The field rep is the one you will most probably have contact with and will come to your fair, if you have one. It is being phased in in different parts of the country.