ABOUT
Calling All Book Lovers!
Rekindle the magic of your childhood book fair.
Connect, read, have fun!
ABOUT
ABOUT
School-tastic
Calling all book lovers! The Grown up Book Fair is a chance
to rekindle the wonder and magic of book fairs.
about
Take me back
If there's two things we love most at StoryAssembly, it's storytelling and nostalgia. Sparked by a meme about chasing the "Scholastic Book Fair high," co-founders Mike Graupmann and Amy Cavender began to imagine a real-life event that captured the spirit of an elementary school book fair but spotlighted local independent booksellers and literary nonprofits and encouraged adults to feel as giddy and nostalgic as possible.
The first School-tastic Book Fair for Grown Ups sprung to life on October 19, 2025, with 15 booksellers, 6 nonprofits, 3 tattoo artists, 6 lunch ladies, 6 hall monitors, 1 head coach, and 750 attendees. Once the rest of the world found out what Austin was up to, the requests started pouring in to bring the book fair to other cities. So the goal is now to figure out a way to package up the magic and make it possible to share elsewhere so that every grown up can experience the School-tastic high, too.
School-tastic Grown-up Book Fair
FAQ
Tickets for the May 16, 2026 School-tastic Book Fair for Grown Ups are available here. Tickets for the next book fair will be available two months prior to that date.
Absolutely there will be! We know how good it feels to walk away with prizes for being a good shopper, so we're expanding our Prize Table and making it easier to keep track of all of your Good Reader stickers.
Our nonprofit partner for the May School-tastic Book Fair for Grown Ups will be South Austin-based BookSpring, whose mission is to connect all Austin families with early literacy resources to capitalize on the crucial ages when reading really matters. A portion of our ticket sales and all of the raffle prize money raised will benefit BookSpring's work
Are you a bookstore owner, crafting vendor or artist, or literary nonprofit director in or near Austin, TX? Please contact us at grownupbookfair@proton.me with your information, including: your name, name of your organization, location, what you would like to offer at the book fair. We're always looking to make new friends!
Anyone who is 16 or older is welcome to join us at the fair. Any younger than that, we'd ask you to leave them at home with a babysitter! We want to keep the fair for adults only so that everyone in attendance can marinate in and appreciate all the glorious nostalgia around them.
Nope! But there will be nostalgic refreshments available like Capri Suns, YooHoo, and SunnyD. There is also a full-scale food court available at the venue if you're looking for other beverage options.
We are figuring out a way to package the magic of School-tastic so we can ship it and re-create elsewhere, but we've still got a bit of work to do there. First steps you can take: find a nostalgia-inspiring venue to partner with, start gauging interest with your favorite local booksellers and literary nonprofits, and make a list of all the things you loved most about the elementary school book fairs from your youth. When you have an idea of the who, what, when and how, email us at grownupbookfair@proton.me, and let's chat!
