Hutchison Farm Elementary Holds Book Fair Carnival

Last week, students at Hutchison Farm Elementary in South Riding were treated to a blow-out Book Fair Carnival in the school library.

Book fair fundraising has become increasingly important to Loudoun County school library programs as county funding declines from year to year. The county provides funds for books and $300 for supplies used to support instruction in the library. Individual schools must raise additional funds for programs such as Accelerated Reader, incentive activities, author visits and any supplies and equipment costing more than $300 per school year.

By the end of the week-long book fair, sales totaled over $20,000 - yielding over $5,000 for the Hutchison Farm library. In addition to book sales, the library gave away over $1,000 in free books to students through various raffles and guessing games. 

The successful book fair was a collaborate effort. Library Assistant Sarah Lichter said, “Thank you to all of the wonderful parent and faculty volunteers that helped make our Spring Book Fair a huge success!! We could not take on such an event without the support of our amazing school community.

"In addition to the more than fifty parent and teacher volunteers who gave us their valuable time, we would like to give a special thanks to Maryann Branch, Jeanette Rowland, Edna Naim, Missy Wiedow and Kelly Good for their hard work in coordinating volunteers and the decorations that transformed our library in to a Book Fair Carnival!” 

The Hutchison Farm library is well staffed by beloved Librarian Heather Pfundstein and Library Assistant Sarah Lichter. Both Pfundstein and Lichter have worked in the school library since it opened in 2002 and have used their combined expertise in teaching, library science, technology and parenting to make the school library a fun and indispensable part of the excellent public education offered at Hutchison Farm Elementary.