The second annual library fundraiser for North Callaway High School will be returning to the Barnes & Noble in Columbia Saturday. The fundraiser will last all day, with the main book fair events scheduled from noon to 4 p.m.
North Callaway Librarian Justin Hamm, the book fair's organizer, said attendees will need to present a voucher number - 11731916 - for a portion of their purchases to benefit the high school's library. Vouchers will be available at the entrance of the book fair. Supporters can also purchase books that are on the library's wish list and directly donate them. North Callaway R-1 School District administrators, including Superintendent Brian Thomsen, Assistant Superintendent Nicky Kemp and Principal Matt Boyer, will be taking turns greeting attendees by the book wish list and voucher table near the front entrance.
Hamm provided an an overview of Saturday's events at Barnes & Noble:
A performance by the high school choir from 12:30 to 1 p.m.
Story time for children with varsity athletes from 1 to 1:30 p.m. in the children's corner.
An appearance by the T-bird mascot from 12:15 to 1:15 p.m. for photo opportunities in the children's corner.
Monologue skits by the high school drama club in the media section of the bookstore from 1:30 to 2 p.m.
A second story time with varsity athletes from 2:30 to 3 p.m.
A table to create found poetry for children and adults from noon to 4 p.m.
Gift wrapping for tips will be available from noon to 3 p.m. to raise additional money for the library.
"There's a sheet that they use and they can go out and look through all the books at Barnes & Noble and try to attach lines together from the titles of books," Hamm said, describing the found poetry activity."We end up with some really interesting stuff that we display there in the store."
North Callaway student artwork will also be on display throughout the book fair.
"We have some pretty talented kiddos who have some good stuff, so it'll be exciting," Hamm said.
Hamm spoke about the success of last year's fundraiser.
"We must've cleared over 3,000 sales because our take home between books that were just donated and money we made off the percentage deal," Ham said. "Altogether, we made around $700 in sales and free books, so that was a pretty good deal."
The North Callaway librarian is optimistic about this year's turnout because he thinks supporters have done more to spread the word about the book fair.
"I think we'll even do better this year," Hamm said. "I'm anticipating that we should be able to clear $1,000 pretty easily."
This year, Hamm said the school is hoping to use the proceeds from the fundraiser to stock the library with the newest young adult titles and nonfiction titles for instructors to use as teaching supplements for class projects. Hamm also said with the school's recent emphasis on increasing rigor in classes with teaching aids such as Great Books, the teachers are assigning more advanced classics to challenge students' reading comprehension.
"We're looking to replace some of the old classics that have been on the shelf for a long time that are ragged and in bad shape with new copies of some classics, and Barnes & Noble has a really good collection of those," Hamm said.
Those who cannot attend can still support the library, Hamm said. Thunderbird supporters can shop on Barnes & Noble's website at BN.COM/book fairs between Nov. 21 - 25 and the library will still receive a percentage of the proceeds if shoppers enter the voucher number - or book fair ID - before completing the transaction.