Educators

Welcome educators! We're so glad you visited our page that celebrates you! We love educators and have created a few things to help you in your profession. Watermark offers several school-related opportunities FOR SCHOOLSFOR TEACHERS, and FOR STUDENTS.

FOR SCHOOLS:

Bulk Sales & Educator Discounts

Watermark offers discounts and bulk sales for the classroom. If you work for a school and pay for books with your institutional funds (i.e. school check or procurement card), you receive a 20% discount and the books are tax-free. To provide this, we need your school’s tax ID number on file at the store. Additionally, we have competitive prices on all your educational purchases, and we offer competitive pricing on bulk orders for your classroom or school.

For personal purchases, see the FOR TEACHERS section.

Presentation & Book Talks

Watermark staff gives presentations on popular, current, and highly-anticipated upcoming books as a way to keep teachers and librarians informed of upcoming in children’s titles, YA, and adult publishing. Watermark has prepared presentations for:

  • USD 259 district librarians 
  • USD 259 English teacher in-service 
  • South Central Kansas Librarian Association 
  • Various area magnet schools

Author Visits

Watermark brings authors and children together in partnership with area schools. We have hosted Patricia Polacco, Nick Bruel, Laura Tarshis, Jon Klassen, and Jeff Kinney, among others.

For every author visit, Watermark will provide:

  • All arrangements for the author’s visit to the school by communicating with the author’s publicist and school personnel
  • Pre-order forms for the books to pass out to students and teachers 
  • Advance Reader Copies (ARCs) to get teachers, librarians, and students familiar with the author. 
  • Arrangements for the author to pre-sign books or time to sign after

We also work with authors to provide presentations or workshops for students, if desired. 

In-Store Book Fairs

Book fairs are great fundraisers for your school or organization, and they can be held in the store for one or two days. By sending people to Watermark Books & Cafe on those days, your school or organization will receive a percentage of the net sales associated with your book fair! Book fairs are an excellent way to promote your organization and get people involved. We also offer an online code for people to use on the day(s) of the event if they can not make it into the store.

By planning your book fair with Watermark Books & Café, you are supporting a locally owned, independent business, and strengthening the community in which your organization operates. All you have to do is promote the book fair! We handle all the sales, accounting, and bookselling.

For commonly asked questions about book fairs, click on the FAQ document HERE

For book fair application, click here

FOR TEACHERS: 

Educator Discounts

If you pay for books -- for your own use or for your classroom -- with your own funds (i.e. personal check or personal credit card), we have to collect sales tax. For this purpose, we offer educators the Seasoned Readers - Extra Credit frequent buyer program. The program tracks purchases made in both the bookstore and café and for every $100 you spend, you'll automatically receive a $15 voucher to use in either the bookstore or café. You can sign up for SEASONED READERS - EXTRA CREDIT by clicking HERE

Newsletters

We have a monthly newsletter for teachers to get the low-down on all the wonderful new books for classrooms. The Book Buzz is delivered on the second Wednesday, and includes educational materials on featured books every month, links to interesting information, as well as information on upcoming events, book groups, etc. You can sign up HERE.

Classroom Reading

We can help procure classroom sets for in-class use. If summer reading lists are submitted no later than a month in advance, we will have the books on-hand for the students to pick up. Watermark will stock books used in the classroom for students to purchase. Depending on the quantity ordered, we offer up to a 25% discount for students.

Field Trips & Reward Programs

We love encouraging readers! We welcome schools who choose Watermark as a place to reward students. Several in the area -- including Dodge, Stanley, and Colvin Elementary schools -- have rewarded their top readers with an afternoon at Watermark. Students get a complimentary lunch (provided by Watermark) and a gift card (amount determined and paid for by the school) to buy books. We have staff on hand to help with selection and to make sure it’s a fun experience. We have also provided book talks to school groups, as well as talks about the book publishing business.

Events for Class Credit

Watermark’s author events provide an excellent opportunity for students to be exposed to the writing process outside of the classroom. They will learn more about the business of writing, as well as experiencing a variety of authors they wouldn’t normally encounter. We keep our event calendar on our website current, and we include information about our events in our newsletters.

Teacher Appreciation Events

Watermark has an annual event (generally in the fall) just for teachers. At this event, we offer swag and door prizes, and a special day-only sale for teachers and librarians. Recently, we hosted a wine and cheese reception for four authors that included a discussion on reaching reluctant readers and how to maintain attention in the classroom.

FOR STUDENTS: 

Textbook Rentals

Watermark does not offer general textbook sales. However, we do have a partnership with Book Renter, which provides textbook rentals at a low price. This partnership enables students to return the books to Watermark, where we ship them back to Book Renter. You can find out more information here: https://watermarkbooks.bookrenterstore.com/

Summer Programs

For elementary-aged readers, we offer a reader's bingo card.  Earn a bingo by reading books of your choice and return your card to Watermark for a completer bag and a chance to enter a grand prize drawing!