Jefferson Somerset holds fall book fair

Ashley Hunter
ECB Publishing, Inc.

The students of Jefferson Somerset were able to dive into new worlds of reading during the recent book fair that was held in the library on the school's campus.
Beginning at 8 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 30 and ending in the afternoon of Thursday, Oct. 3, the book fair allowed students and eager young readers the chance to purchase books that the students could bring home and read at the end of the day without ever having to return to the library.
From sports encyclopedias to reimagined fairytales and young adult thrillers, the book fair was filled with fictional and nonfiction reads for students of all ages.
While a school's book fair offers kids an exciting opportunity to possess a book of their own as well as the chance to buy trinkets, stationary, pens and pencils, the fair also serves as an educational experience in finances.
Children spend their own money at the book fair, and have to add up the costs of the items they are interested in buying in order to make sure that their allowance spreads over the costs. This money-handling opportunity translates into real-life experience that will be needed as the students go into the world as prepared adults.
Despite all the charms and benefits of a book fair, however, not every student at Jefferson Somerset was able to participate in the week-long fair.
Though reasons varied for certain students not being able to buy their own reading material, School Guidance Counselor Doug Brown didn't want to see any child who wanted a book left out at the end of the fair.
So, according to Jefferson Somerset's Nancy Whitty, Brown chose to ensure that no student who wanted to read would have to go home without a book to call their own – and he did so by purchasing books himself.
Teachers who had students who wanted to participate in the book fair, but where unable to do so, could allow their students to choose from some of the pre-bought books that Brown had purchased from the Scholastic Book Fair and left for students.
Brown's commendable action made sure that no young readers were left without an opportunity to expand their minds and learn new stories – which is exactly what school book fairs are all about.