Mary Liz Flavin | news editor
Dec. 2, 2021
With rows of books for kids of all ages and tables lined with erasers, pens and other fun desk supplies, the Scholastic Book Fair provides an unforgettable experience. Many college kids were brought back to their elementary school days when walking through the second floor of the Union. There, the Scholastic Book Fair is set up for everyone on campus to enjoy.
Cameron Busch, a senior business major, stopped by the fair to take a look at some of the Lego books displayed.
“I’m a kid at heart, so of course it’s the Lego section. It looks like they have a really wide selection here, and it seems to be at a relatively nice price,” Busch said.
According to the Scholastic Book Fair website, the book fair is “a magical and unforgettable experience where all kids can become readers.” Scholastic is the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books with 115,000 schools, 3.8 million educators, 54 million students and 78 million parents and caregivers domestically.
Students of all ages can participate in the fair. Danielle Henzler, director of the Curriculum Center located on the fifth floor of the Gumberg Library, has been running the book fair at Duquesne for 20 years.
“I love that excitement, it’s everyone who comes through. Book fairs were a positive experience for everyone whether you were or weren’t a reader. My purpose in doing this is to get books into people’s hands, whether that be your siblings or yourself or adults on campus shopping for their children,” Henzler said.
Henzler’s experience in the Curriculum Center as well as her background in literature based instruction allows her to help recommend the right book to people looking for a good read.
In order to set up a book fair, the school has to set it up through Scholastic, according to Henzler. Scholastic supplies and delivers books and other fun supplies, including a register that records how much of a certain product is sold, to the university for them to sell. All of the remaining books get sent back after the fair has concluded.
Easy reads such as “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus” and “Clifford the Big Red Dog” are present. Other classics like “Captain Underpants” and “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” can be seen featured here as well. For college students looking for a more advanced read, “Turtles All the Way Down” by John Green and “On the Come Up” by Angie Thomas have been the best sellers so far.
Kylie Rosenberger, a Duquesne student, said she came to the bookfair to get something for her niece and nephew.
“My niece is six and my nephew is five. She is really good at reading and likes all the knick-knacks they have here, too. I’m looking mainly for things to get her started reading longer books,”
The fair has a wide selection for younger readers. Samantha Wilhelm, a senior middle school education major, also came to the fair in search of books for younger kids.
“I’m just looking for books to add to my library for when I have a classroom. One I saw was “OCD Daniel”, this one is about a kid who is on the football team and he’s different from everyone else so he hides his quirks,” Wilhelm said. “I haven’t read it yet, but I think it will be one that will bring students together and realize that everyone’s different, and we can accept those differences.”
For those who feel like reading isn’t for them, Henzler said otherwise.
“There’s a book out there for everybody,” Henzler said.
