NEWS RELEASES > OCTOBER 2, 2017
MCHENRY, IL – Follett, the leader in PreK-12 education, today announced it is entering the school book fair market, a highly anticipated launch that will see the company maximize its existing partnerships with thousands of publishers to offer a vast selection of books for early education, elementary, and middle school students.
The Follett Book Fairs launch begins for the 2017-18 school year on a regional basis, and then will expand throughout the country the following year. Librarians familiar with Follett have been eager to get their schools signed up.
“I have used Follett exclusively for my 20-year library career, so when I learned that they were getting into the book fair business, I was totally excited,” said Stacey Lang, a Library Information Teacher in Illinois. “Follett has always had the best customer service, the best quality of materials, and the best personnel to work with. I have used other book fair vendors, and I wanted to make sure that our book fair was truly a book fair. I want the best for my kids in selection, as book fairs are all about promoting reading and literacy, not gadgets.”
Follett has assembled a veteran team with more than 60 years of combined experience in the book-fair industry, according to Tony Hopkins, Senior Vice President of New Business Development for Follett. In addition to providing a deep selection of books from an array of publishers, Hopkins said Follett Book Fairs will provide schools the opportunity to be involved with the selection of product, allowing them to customize to their unique needs and demographics.
“Plus, our Book Fairs will be easy for schools and their volunteers to set up with pre-merchandised displays, quick and easy to carry out with simple point-of-sale technology, and break down when completed,” Hopkins said. “We also offer an online training program that allows the customer to prepare and plan for their book fair at their convenience.”
He added the schools (and/or school parent teacher organizations) will receive a generous portion of the proceeds from the Book Fairs to be redeemed for books and other materials on Titlewave®, Follett’s e-commerce platform designed with K-12 educators in mind.
Follett’s decision to enter the book fair market has been in the works for some time, Hopkins noted. “Our goals with the Book Fairs are in line with the company’s mission,” he said. “We want to be a partner with our schools, get kids excited about reading, provide wide access to quality literature, help them become independent readers, and set the stage for lifelong learning."
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