Ecole Steffie Woima continued a tradition of expanding the literary minds of their children through a Scholastic Book Fair.
The program, which raises money for the library, allows students and parents to purchase books, activities and novelty items over the course of four days.
“It is the biggest fundraiser we have for the library,” Steffie Librarian Edie Sandberg said, adding that the book fair always brings excitement to the students.
“I think it is everything,” she said. “The kids are always really excited about the books. There is always a new selection out. There are series they like to follow, there are activities and there are the novelty items as well.”
Sandberg credited the excitement to the growth of literacy-related programs at Steffie.
“We are really fortunate to have a big focus on literacy at our school and we have seen the reading levels go up every single year,” she said. “They are doing great. We have really strong readers and I can’t seem to get the books in their hands fast enough.”
The book fair also allows young students to physically own books, something which some studies have suggested can be helpful.
“There is a difference between holding a book and (going) online,” Sandberg said. “Some studies suggest that eye tracking and comprehension are sometimes better with hard copy print items.”
The library at Steffie always puts the funds raised to good use.
“We have a number of areas where the money goes to,” Sandberg said. “The primary area is for the library and I get the students to help me decide what books are coming in because they are the ones reading. We always tell them it is their fundraiser. We bring in primarily books but we also use it for library furniture and we have had authors come in for week-long sessions.”
reporter@sylvanlakenews.com