Ignatius Book Fairs Reaches its Goal, Hosting 250 Catholic Book Fairs This Spring

Ignatius Book Fairs, a new Book Fair company from Ignatius Press and Ave Maria University, has reached its goal in hosting 250 Catholic Book Fairs at schools across the country this spring. These spring Book Fairs have provided wholesome and uplifting literature for thousands of students, featuring books which align with the Catholic faith.

This goal of 250 spring Book Fairs has been the target of Ignatius’ sales team throughout the summer and fall months. Scheduling four months in advance, many of these fairs were scheduled through cold calls and meetings with school leaders in the early months of the fall semester. After hundreds of phone calls and meetings by members of the sales team, Ignatius Book Fairs scheduled its 250th spring Book Fair with St. John the Baptist School in Yonkers, New York.

“A big thanks to each of [those on the sales team]” said Annie Esposito, Director of Operations for Ignatius Book Fairs. “Praise God.”

The team now shifts its focus to scheduling Fairs for the 2025/2026 school year. They have already experienced many schools resigning contracts from previous fairs.

Ignatius Book Fairs was founded in response to the growing number of Catholic schools leaving their current Fair provider over content concerns. Numerous principals and librarians shared their experience sorting through “content problems” they experienced in using a corporate, secular fair. Many of these issues stemmed from literature featuring themes which were contrary to the Catholic faith.

Themes such as “demonic possession, symbolism of the occult…and murder” were present in literature provided by a previous Book Fair vendor, says New York Principal Ted L. He referred to witnessing the effect these stories were having on his students. This literature began to “cause social and emotional stress on our students,” he said. After making the switch to Ignatius Book Fairs, however, these stressors began to subside. “To see the outcome has been quite beautiful.”

Ignatius Book Fairs has seen immense growth over its first full year in providing schools with a Fair that supports and advances the Catholic faith. Competing with well-known companies such as Scholastic, Ignatius’ success this spring has cemented itself as an established and trustworthy Book Fair option for Catholic schools. Beginning with a handful of pilot Book Fairs in December of 2023, Ignatius has expanded to impact thousands of K-8th grade students from California to Florida.

Ignatius Book Fairs Sweep the Nation (Photo: Ignatius Book Fairs, taken March 2025)

The fairs have also received noteworthy support from Catholic Dioceses across the country. Currently, over half of all US dioceses have voiced support for Ignatius Book Fairs to Catholic schools in their region, as they seek to promote the faith through an engaging Book Fair experience. Many of these dioceses have designated Ignatius as one of their “preferred” Book Fair providers, due primarily to Ignatius’ commitment to virtuous and family-friendly content.

In response to the growing mission of Ignatius Book Fairs, prominent Catholic platforms have also joined in promoting the new Book Fair provider. Sites such as the National Catholic Register and Aleteia have published feature stories about the impact Ignatius Book Fairs are having on students and schools. Similarly, Ignatius has been featured on The Drew Mariani Show and Sonrise Morning Show which shared Ignatius’ mission to parents and schoolteachers nationwide.

A common theme in these articles and episodes is Ignatius’ curated Book List. Ignatius Book Fairs makes it their goal that each book be vetted for content before landing on its catalog. In this way, the Ignatius team believes they can best form students’ minds while also nourishing their souls.

To achieve this mission, the Ignatius Book Fairs team employs individuals fully dedicated to reading each book cover to cover, to ensure that subject matter does not promote values contrary to the Catholic faith. “I love telling people that I get paid to read children’s books,” said Bernadette Woltering. Bernadette is a member of the Ignatius Book Fairs curation team who sifts through each book in the Ignatius collection. “It’s the best job ever.”

Ignatius Book Fairs’ extensive Book List features both Catholic and wholesome, non-religious titles. Many of Ignatius Book Fair’s Catholic books include the lives of the saints, descriptions of Eucharistic miracles, or detailed stories from the Scriptures.

“There is a huge need and interest in vibrant, imaginative children’s picture books that teach virtue, our faith, and stories from the lives of the saints,” said Anna Cameron, a Librarian in Tempe, Arizona. Her school first hosted an Ignatius Book Fair in spring of 2024 and resigned for fall 2025. In addition to hosting another Book Fair, Anna also shared that she would be sharing her Ignatius experience with “a few other Catholic schools in our diocese.” 

Photo: Ignatius Book Fairs

In addition to Ignatius’ collection of saintly stories, its commitment to wholesome “classics” has been appreciated by school administrators and librarians alike. These timeless works of literature include Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia, Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, and Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

Christopher Goffos, headmaster of Embers Academy in Illinois praised Ignatius’ “balance” between Catholic and non-religious literature. “The thing that really jumped out to us… was the ratio between the outwardly religious material, especially the beautifully illustrated stories of the saints, but also just traditional classic literature that any American regardless of religious background would find edifying,” he said.

The love for these “wholesome classics” has influenced Ignatius to begin expanding to public and classical schools in the future. While Ignatius has focused on Catholic schools thus far, it plans to host the first non-Catholic Book Fair at Naples Classical Academy in April 2025. The expansion marks a new era of Book Fairs for Ignatius, as the company seeks to extend its mission of providing quality literature to public school students.

Fr. Joseph Fessio, founder of Ignatius Press and its new Book Fair, offers an optimistic outlook on his company’s impact thus far, and its bright future. “Through our efforts, young people have in their hands wonderful books you can trust,” he said. “Onward to next year’s fairs!”