Ye Olde Scope Notes: Is This a Book Order or a Toy Catalog?!
(Waving a rickety old cane in the air) After eating my usual morning muesli, I opened up The New York Times and did a double take (my vision ain’t what it was in my heyday). Turns out some folks are up in arms about all the curios, knickknacks, and novelties being sold in the Scholastic Book Club fliers. I’ve been spoutin’ off about that for ages! Why, if I don’t put on my bifocals, those fliers look like a confounded toy catalog! Click the image below to read the full story:
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I’ve been a-readin some other reactions to this article. Here they are:
James Preller’s Blog (The man speaks from experience)
Filed under: Articles
About Travis Jonker
Travis Jonker is an elementary school librarian in Michigan. He writes reviews (and the occasional article or two) for School Library Journal and is a member of the 2014 Caldecott committee. You can email Travis at scopenotes@gmail.com, or follow him on Twitter: @100scopenotes.
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Add my blog to that list of reactions, as an author and a former Scholastic book club copywriter:
http://www.jamespreller.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=746
Thanks.
It’s just a fundraiser, folks. It’s nice that they mostly sell books, but the point is raising money for your media center. If you don’t like all the toys, then by all means don’t put them out or choose a different vendor. Or have a bake sale and car wash instead. As long as you’re raising money to buy books for the media center (or author visits or whatever) then it doesn’t really matter.
I missed something. I thought the article, “Scholastic Accused of Misusing Book Clubs,” and this discussion, was about Book Clubs. So I don’t get how we got to the dismissive comment of, “It’s just a fundraiser, folks.”
My understanding of the Fairs — and I consulted with them for a few years, but worked on clubs for a lot longer — was that they offered a variety of packages, some more literary, some more expensive, etc., and that schools could work with them to tailor the Fair more to their needs.
On book clubs, the teacher functions as sales representative, and by the act of sending it home she lends her tacit seal of approval. In the context of everything else in that folder, the homework, the spelling tests, the Book Club flyer is, by association, “educational.” All the watchdog group is saying, in truth, is: “Hey folks, take a closer look at what they are selling.”
Again, my point: Teachers have more power than they realize, because they ALONE decide whether that kit gets handed out . . . or thrown into the trash.
Sorry, I thought you were talking about both. I agree that the book club fliers can be annoying, but again, it’s up to the parent and teacher to decide what happens with them. The best thing a teacher can do is have an extensive classroom library and the “points” they get from the children buying from these fliers is one of the easiest ways for them to do so. It’s always a trade off.