The Don Jose de Ortega Chapter held its 5th annual bookfair at the Calabasas Barnes & Noble store the first weekend in March. Twelve members took shifts greeting customers and explaining that this bookfair benefits local schools that are in need of reading books for students.

The chapter receives a B&N gift card for a percent of sales during the bookfair dates and uses that donation to fulfill reading wish lists provided by teachers and school librarians. Each year the chapter is able to donate several hundred books. A bonus this year came from a customer who offered four boxes of gently used books. Those have been added to the chapter’s “books to give” stash.

Chapter Bookfair coordinators are already working on next year’s plans. One member has a connection to service dogs that work with children’s reading classes. We were unable to coordinate it for 2020, but, you guessed it…the dogs are likely to participate in next year’s bookfair. As the store manager left on the final day of the bookfair he said “See you next year, and bring the dogs.”