Article printed in Section One of New Jersey Star Ledger January 7, 2007

by Carmen Juri

STAR LEDGER STAFF

Once confined to libraries, auditoriums and gymnasiums, the school book fair now has another forum: cyberspace.

Parents in about 70 schools in the tristate area who are unable to attend a fair or who prefer to scroll a screen instead of walking past rows of books, can support their school by shopping online.

Meryl Raiffe started Allbook, a Millington company that provides books for fairs, nearly nine years ago, and launched the online fair this school year.

During a book fair, every purchase goes to benefit the school, Raiffe said. In addition, she said, any book bought online -- www.allbookinc.com -- throughout the year is credited to the school. If the purchases are made during the book fair, the school will receive 30 percent of the proceeds. The rest of the time the school will receive 20 percent.

Jane Steinberg, co-chair of the Far Brook book fair in Short Hills, said online shopping is a great option for parents unable to make it to the fair.

"People are having babies, people are at work, somebody is out of town that weekend," she said.

At the Salt Brook Elementary School in New Providence, the online feature increased sales by 24 percent this year, said book fair co-chair Leslie Vyzas.

Parents purchased nearly $1,000 worth of Allbook gift certificates for teachers, who, in turn, buy books online to use in the classroom.

"It's terriffic, the easier that the book fair provider can make the shopping experience for the perents," said Vyzas.

Mary Jain, co-chair of the book fair at Kent Place in Summit, said the book club committee distributed bookmarks reminding parents to order online throughout the year.

"A lot of parents can't get in. They have little ones at home running around, pulling books off the display. They don't want to bring them," she said.

Though the school did not sign up for the online option this fall, parents seemed positive about he idea for the future, said Mindy Papetti, co-chair of the book fair at the Peck School in Morristown.

"We also have a fifth-grade book club, so hopefully we can but the books online for that too, throughout the year," she said.

Scholastic Inc., the largest publisher and distributor of children's books in the world, is the biggest operator of school-based book clubs and school-based book fairs in the United States, but does not offer online book fairs. It does, however, ofer online ordering for school book clubs, said Kyle Good, vice president for corporate communications. Parents or teachers who order online earn bonus points for their school.

But book fairs, Good said, are intended to evoke a sense of community.

"The nature of the fair is not to be online, it's to bring people together to enjoy and share books," Good said. "The whole principle behind a fair is to get kids excited about books and reading."

Getting kids excited about reading can come in many forms. During this fall's book fair at the Far Brook School in Short Hills, one parent wanted to buy 30 copies of a book to give as party favors, Raiffe said.

Since not enough copies were available, she went home and ordered it online. She received the books two days later and the school got credit for the sale. "That's an extra $300 the school grossed," Raiffe said. "They never would have gotten it (without the online option) and it resulted in an extra $60 for the school.

Carmen Juri may be reached at cjuri@starledger.com or (973) 392-1853