When Stephanie Monson started coordinating her elementary school’s book fairs, the PTA mom didn’t know she was going to end up with a celebrity guest each year – a charming extraterrestrial named Fred, a result of the first fair Literati put on, with the theme: Galactic Adventures.
“He’s a giant inflatable green alien and all the kids loved him,” Monson says. “And then when we had the second book fair — an arcade theme — “Fred” the alien came back because he’s the mascot and he wore arcade-game clothes.”
Monson says she plans to use the accidental mascot to provide some continuity and fun to all the fairs ahead. ““He’s the kids’ height, so they high five him and take pictures with him,” she says. “They even know when Fred’s birthday is. He’s got a backstory.”
Monson, whose son attends Anna May Daulton Elementary School in Grand Prairie, Texas, just finished her first year creating the book fairs with Literati. “I’m a pharmacist. That’s my day job,” she says. “But I volunteer at the PTA and at school as much as possible. Book fairs were my favorite thing growing up. So, as soon as this fair position opened, I grabbed it.”
The fair itself isn’t so much work to put together, Monson says, but it’s all the optional extras that require a team – decorations, games, contests, and parent and grandparent nights and lunches. In addition to the books, she says, “Literati gives you the table covers, book fixtures and the posters, but they let you go with your imagination with the themes. You can do as little or as much as you want. And I’m one of those people that’s not ‘less is more.’ I’m ‘more is more.’
“We usually have a team of about six or seven people that help us set up,” Monson says. “We’ll create a giant balloon arch and backdrops — we like to decorate. I’ve already started a wish list for the Everglow Forest theme, which is the first book fair next year. I’ll be planning that throughout the summer.”
Monson says the school previously used another company for fairs, but one of the district’s librarians happened upon Literati at a conference and was impressed by the representative’s energy. “They were super friendly and had a lot of great information and were really passionate about book fairs, which to a librarian or a library enthusiast is exciting,” she says.
Literati also had more of a “community” feel to its approach, Monson says. “Our elementary school is right in our neighborhood. All of our neighbors go there, and all of our friends are there. We do everything together. And so the book fair really inspires that collaboration because you all work together on a theme, decorating the library, and it shows in the fundraising as well.”
Monson says all the funds raised go to the PTA, which then distributes it to various programs. “We’ll have supplemental education programs, guest speakers, authors, dances, and field days so the kids are active,” she says. “Because of significantly more sales with Literati fairs, we were also able to fund five $1,000 scholarships for our former elementary students that are now going off to college.”
Monson says parents also appreciated the hard work she and her team put into the fairs because they recognize they are energetic events to get the kids and families involved and not just fundraisers. “They are interactive,” she says. “For the arcade theme, we did a Pac-Man floor that we taped off, and we had little yellow circles and a maze around the books that the kids could walk around. We had music with arcade theme songs playing. It was more of an experience to go to with your kids, and something parents wanted to do.”
For Monson, the foundational goal is getting children to read physical books. “I feel like a lot of kids are on their iPads and looking at digital versions of a lot of stuff, which is great,” she says. “I have a Kindle, and I read on my phone, but I love for kids to have something physical and tangible to grow up with.”
Monson says she loves coordinating the fairs and hopes that enthusiasm spreads to other parents after her son ages out of elementary school. “If the book fair was a job and I could quit my day job, I would love to be the ‘book fair person’ and even travel around with the fairs.”
