Many things are needed in order to have the book fair up and running smoothly, as well as, all the work that goes along with the reading competition.

Scholastic plays an important part in picking out the books that are going to be in the book fair.Mrs. Rogers does ask for specific genres to be sent in, if she sees that there is an interest in them.

“About a month before a scheduled Book Fair, Scholastic sends me a link to create a webpage, workshop information, and posters.  The Library Club prints labels and puts the flyers in the mailboxes. When the books arrive, the Club members set up the tables and hang up the posters,” said Mrs. Rogers. “We try to have an after school event with a game or the play or Open House, if it’s possible. This year it wasn’t possible, but that usually helps us with sales.”

Profit determines the number of free books given to the library. “Scholastic reduced our profit this year to 30%.  I decide which books to keep based on the big sellers. I try to select a variety, so we have something for everyone,” commented Mrs. Rogers.

The Reading Competition is an annual event in May hosted at Waynesburg University. Each team has up to 8 students, and 12 books to read for high school, and 10 books for the middle school. The Waynesburg University provides a list of books to each school, and each team has 3 rounds to answer questions based off the books.

“The Reading Competition gets students to try books they may otherwise overlook.  For instance, this year, one of the books was The Pearl, which I read in high school and still remember because it’s such a moving story. Other books may be new, like Mare’s War,” commented Mrs. Rogers. “Also, the students work together to come up with their answer, so teamwork is involved.  They get to socialize with students from other schools in the county, and I get to talk to some of the other librarians and teachers from neighboring schools and the university. It’s just a really fun day.”

The Reading Competition started when, Mrs. Rogers went to see one, and decided to bring it to Jefferson-Morgan.

“I was a summer counselor with a high school student from Connellsville High School.  She told me about the Fayette County competition and how it got her reading. I called Diane, the woman who runs Fayette County’s competition, and she said I could come and watch. I got a grant from Walmart to pay for it, and Waynesburg University was nice enough to let us use their buildings.  They even have staff come and help and provide morning snacks and water,” stated Mrs. Rogers. “I had worked with Therese Barry, the head of the Greene County Library System, when the Library Club went and did a clean-up day at Thomas Hughes House.  Therese agreed to take it over, so we went back and watched a second competition at Fayette County, ran the first Greene County competition the next week, and Therese has run the competition since then. She has made changes for the better, too.”

Mrs. Rogers enjoys the competition and the opportunities it gives to students. The students also, have a pretty fun time, so it is a good experience for everyone.

“The competition is about a love of reading, of course. But, the Reading Competition is also about teamwork.  The kids come up with fun names and some schools even dress in costumes.  We always make matching t-shirts, but we’re considering dressing this year,” said Mrs. Rogers.

“Last year, we had Harry Potter names. This year, our theme is Star Wars. We are The Clone Army, The Sith Lords, and The Battle Droids. I think the competition gets kids to read books that may be outside of their normal genre. I’ve seen quiet kids come out of their shell when they are working together on this. It’s a fun and easy way to compete.”

With the help of the library club, Mrs. Rogers is able to have a book fair for the the students of JM. Mrs. Rogers also loves participating in the Reading Competition with the students. It is a new and fun experience for everyone.