Scholastic rebuked for using book clubs to market toys
By Marjorie Kehe | 02.09.09
“Put the book back in book club!” the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood told children’s book publisher Scholastic.
The CCFC said in a press release today that in Scholastic’s elementary and middle school book clubs flyers one-third of the items for sale are either “not books or are books packaged with other items such as jewelry, toys or makeup.”
Scholastic, which is the US publisher of the Harry Potter books, is a giant in the field of children’s book clubs. The company launched its book clubs in 1948 and today more than 2.2 million US school children participate each year in the clubs (which last year earned Scholastic nearly $337 million.)
“The opportunity to sell directly to children in schools is a privilege, not a right,” said CCFC’s director, Dr. Susan Linn. “Schools grant Scholastic unique commercial access to children because of its reputation as an educational publisher. But Scholastic is abusing that privilege by flooding classrooms across the country with ads for toys, trinkets, and electronic media with little or no educational value.”
But Judy Newman, the Scholastic vice president who oversees the book clubs, told the Associated Press that her company must fight to maintain student interest in the book clubs.
“We’re losing kids’ interest (in reading). We have to keep them engaged,” Newman said in a telephone interview. “This (book club) model is 60 years old, and it has to stay relevant to do the work it does. To the extent we put in a few carefully selected non-book items, it’s to keep up the interest.”
Comments
2. hall monitor | 02.10.09
This story made http://detentionslip.org ! Check it out for all the crazy headlines from our schools.
3. Becky Hill | 02.11.09
It is about time that Scholastic is called to the carpet for inudating these book fairs with junk toys. I have worked many book fairs-chaired one last year-and it is amazing the amount of “stuff” that they include. We didn’t even display the majority of it opting instead to promote the books.
4. M Shaw | 02.11.09
I help out at our school Scholastic book fair twice a year. I must say it is disturbing to see the types of toys Scholastic is promoting via books for the elementary and middle schoolers. Made-in-China stuff! Unfortunately, many kids spend more time browsing at these toy trinkets than the books on display. it would be wise for schools to boycott the sales of these toys.
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1. Margaret Kirby | 02.10.09
My daughter wanted a Scholastic book club book with a “toy” at a cost of $7.00. The cost without the toy (same series, different volume) was $4.00. I paid $3.00 for a lanyard with a doll (or something like that) attached.
I was not a happy camper.