Tell Scholastic: Put the Book Back in Book Clubs

By Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood

For many of us, Scholastic's in-school book clubs—the monthly flyers distributed in classrooms—played an important role in our childhood by providing the opportunity to purchase low-cost, high-quality literature.

But something has changed. Scholastic's book clubs have become a Trojan horse for marketing toys, trinkets, and electronic media—much of which promotes popular brands. A review by the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC) of Scholastic's elementary and middle school book clubs found that one-third of the items for sale are either not books or are books packaged with other items, such as jewelry and toys. Items sold by Scholastic in 2008 included the M&M's Kart Racing Wii videogame, the Princess Room Alarm, Monopoly SpongeBob SquarePants Edition computer game, lip gloss, and a Hannah Montana bracelet.

Please take a moment to tell Scholastic it's time to return to selling books—and only books—through their in-school book clubs. Your message will be sent to Richard Robinson, CEO of Scholastic, and Judy Newman, president of Scholastic Book Clubs.

Find out more by visiting the CCFC's website at, www.ccfc.org [1] and the Scholastic action page at http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/621/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26599 [2].