When planning our book fair project, our original thought was to display the books at the public library and host an “open house” some evening for students, their families, and any community members to attend and view the books. However, because we wanted to ensure that all students had a chance to visit the library to see their books on display, we planned a field trip to the library to bring the students there.

Collaborate with Librarians

We worked closely with our local public library, whose Children’s Librarian was eager to display the books and have students visit the library. The school’s PTAs graciously funded buses for our field trips, and we used donations from a local foundation to purchase inexpensive snacks.

Schedule

We had a large group of around 120 students on our field trip, so we needed to create stations that the classes could rotate through during our time as all students could not view the book display at once. Below is our schedule, which may help you get started.

Click here to make a copy and adapt this schedule for your students.

Inspiration from local author

The Children’s Librarian helped us coordinate with a local author to read to the students and talk to them about becoming an author. We also secured library card forms and sent these home with students in advance of our trip, so that all students could receive their very own library card while visiting the library! This was very special and students are so excited to revisit the library and check out their first books!

If you’re interested in hosting your own Book Fair, click here for an ideas and planning page full of helpful suggestions and resources to make your book fair a success!