William Konkin Elementary School is hosting its annual book fair this February, both in person and virtually.

“The Scholastic Book Fair isn’t necessarily an ‘academic’ book fair; it does contain many high-interest nonfiction titles. It is indeed an annual event,” said Shawnese Trottier, the school librarian.

The annual book fair takes place twice a year with one held before Christmas and the other again in Spring however, this academic year due to COVID, this is the first and the only book fair being held.

“The fair was originally planned to take place in early December, but we decided to postpone as there had been some school Covid exposures in the recent past and attendance was very low – we thought that perhaps the fair wouldn’t be well attended,” she said.

While the school doesn’t do a book count of the books sold, they keep track of sales and the net sales for Dec. 2019 were $2,821.11. This year, apart from the in-person sale, the community will have the option to buy books online.

“We do have a smaller group right now of regular attendees, but the virtual fair is new, so I’m hopeful that with that addition it will be a success. My understanding is that the virtual fair option is not brand new, but this the first time we have offered it,” she said.

There is also a family night event today, Feb. 10, meant to encourage parents and guardians to see what’s offered at the fair and for them to help their children choose materials.

Apart from offering a virtual fair, the school will also be taking several COVID-19 precautions.

“In terms of COVID precautions, one step is to restrict student shopping. In past, it was open for all students at lunch time; this year, students can shop during their regular library class with me and can visit during one lunch period along with the other class in their cohort. Gadgets and school supplies will be stored behind plexiglass so that they are not handled by students. Further, parent visitors on Wednesday after school will be asked to wear a mask and there will be a capacity limit in the room,” said Trottier.

The fair which start on Feb. 8 will last until Feb. 11.

“We consider it to be both a fundraiser and a great literary event! Students absolutely love it,” she concluded.

Priyanka Ketkar
Multimedia journalist
@PriyankaKetkar

priyanka.ketkar@ldnews.net

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