Austin Ed Fund<\/a>, which supports innovative programs at Austin ISD schools.\u00a0<\/p>\n\u201cIt\u2019s so important with changes in federal funding and federal (grants), we are super grateful for all of the private funds,\u201d said Cecilia Gutierrez, Austin ED Fund grant coordinator. \u201cAll of these different companies \u2026 from H-E-B to the local bookstores, but that\u2019s what allows us to turn it into programs at the school level. It\u2019s really amazing and awesome to have such community support.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many attendees expressed excitement about the opportunity to relive childhood memories while giving back. Visitors who grew up loving the original Scholastic Book Fairs found themselves searching for favorite titles or picking up playful merchandise reminiscent of their school days.<\/p>\n
\u201cI went to the Scholastic Book Fair as a kid and was obsessed; that was my favorite activity growing up in school,\u201d said alumna Emily Jones. \u201cSeeing that they have it for adults was really cool, but also seeing that it\u2019s supporting Austin Public Schools is super exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tim Bohlin, Austin Books and Comics showcase manager, said they included small details at the fair to bring participants back to their early reading experiences. From flash tattoos, classic storybooks to traditional yearbook photo props, guests could recapture the sense of wonder that first drew them to literature.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s great to bring nostalgia back,\u201d Jones said. \u201cI noticed one thing they had (was) flash tattoos, and it was all of my childhood favorites (books like \u201cIf you Give a Mouse a Cookie\u201d). It inspires me to keep doing more reading because I loved it so much as a kid.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Local bookstores played a central role in the fair, showcasing their independent selections that might be overlooked at larger chains.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s bringing the community together and we\u2019re showcasing (books to) people that are not Amazon books,\u201d Bowen said. \u201cI immediately thought that would be just a great idea and wanted to be a part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Graupmann said the fair was meant to foster a lasting community around reading and support for Austin schools.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope that it feels like it\u2019s that childhood delight,\u201d Graupmann said.\u00a0 \u201cI want that same feeling of when you walked into the library and you saw the metal carts full of books \u2026 you had that feeling of possibility that was there. I want people to have that same feeling.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Since 1981, the Scholastic Book Fair has shown up in metal cabinets at schools across the country, waiting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":88002,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[412,146,85,46],"class_list":["post-88001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-books","tag-books","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88001"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88001\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}