Book fair volunteer sign-up for the whole fair week

What a book fair volunteer sheet looks like

How to set up a book fair volunteer sign-up sheet

1. Choose New signup. If “What are you organizing?” appears, choose Skip, fill in by hand.
2. Name it “Spring book fair volunteers” in Title. In Description (optional), write when each shift ends, where to sign in and the cashier handover. Choose Create signup.
3. Open Fields and choose Add field. Call it Starts with the type Time, then choose Add field to keep it. Set Group slots by to Date.
4. Open the empty slot. Put “Set up the fair” in What, Monday, March 8, 2027 in Date and 8:00 AM in Starts. Set Spots to 4 and choose Done.
5. Choose Add a slot for each later shift, in order, with 2 spots each. That means Tuesday's Morning cashier and Shopping helper at 8:00 AM and Afternoon cashier at 12:00 PM. Then add Thursday's Evening cashier and Evening helper at 5:30 PM, and “Pack up” on Friday at 2:00 PM with 4 spots.
6. For Wednesday, choose Duplicate on each of Tuesday's three shifts. Each copy opens right below its shift: change its Date to Wednesday, March 10, 2027 and choose Done.
7. Choose Publish and share (on a phone, it's at the bottom of the screen). Then choose Copy link, or Share… on most phones.

The guide to creating and publishing a signup shows each screen.

Which book fair shifts do you need, and how many people?

Scholastic's volunteer handbook lists a set-up assistant, who unpacks and arranges the cases and tables, and a breakdown assistant, who repacks after the fair. (Scholastic volunteer handbook, checked November 2, 2026) Between those two, a fair week needs the same few jobs each day:

• A cashier on every shift. Someone has to be on the register whenever the fair is open. Two cashiers let one take a break or open a second line.
• Shopping helpers when classes visit. Scholastic's list has a student shopping helper, who helps children find books and fill in their wish lists. Put helpers on the shifts with the most class visits.
• Family night. Give the evening its own cashiers and helpers rather than stretching a day shift, so the day's volunteers aren't asked to stay on.
• Set-up and pack-up. These are the heavy jobs, with boxes to lift and cases to move. They need more hands than any shift that sells.

The numbers depend on your fair, your library and how many classes you have. The example starts with two spots a shift and four for set-up and pack-up. If one shift fills last every year, add a spot or split it in two.

When should the shifts be?

Ask the librarian for the class visit schedule before you add any slots. The busy times follow the classes, not the clock. A morning with five visits needs more help than an afternoon with one, so give that slot an extra spot. If no classes come at a time, leave it out, as the example does between 10:30 and noon.

Set up the day before the first class visit, or early on the first morning. Pack up after the last sale on the final day. For splitting any day into shifts, see the shift sign-up sheet guide.

What to put in the description

• When each shift ends. The slots show only a start time, so write the end times once in the description.
• Where to go. Where to sign in, and where the fair is set up.
• The handover. A new cashier needs to be shown the register. Ask them to come ten minutes early so the last shift can walk them through it.
• The school's rules for volunteers. The school decides who can help: visitor sign-in, ID, and sometimes a background check. Ask the office before you send the link, and write their rule in the description.
• Lifting. Say plainly that set-up and pack-up mean heavy boxes, so people choose the right shift.

When to send the link, and how to fill the gaps

• Two to three weeks ahead. Put the link in the school newsletter and the class chats. That gives people time to plan, and the school time to clear new volunteers.
• A flyer at pickup. After you publish, the “Now send people the link” panel has a QR code to download. Print it on a flyer for the pickup line or the office window.
• The day before each shift. Open Responses and look for shifts that are still short. Ask a few people directly to fill them.
• Shopping helpers from the classroom. Parents who already help in class are a good first ask. The classroom volunteer sign-up shows how to run those sessions the rest of the year.

What happens after a volunteer signs up?

• They get an email naming the signup and listing the shift, date and start time, with a link to change or cancel.
• A reminder email comes the day before their shift. Someone who signs up less than a day ahead gets one about an hour after signing up, though a sign-up on the day itself may get none. Each reminder has a link to stop them.
• Add to calendar puts the shift in their calendar at the start time the page shows, as a one-hour event, whatever the shift's real length.
• To swap shifts, they sign up for the new one first, then cancel the old one. You can't move them yourself.

What it doesn't do:

• No waitlist and no text reminders. A full shift stops taking sign-ups, and volunteers can't see who else is on a shift.
• It doesn't tell you when someone signs up, and it can't email volunteers for you.

Frequently asked questions

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