DIVISIONS

The company has a number of sales and service divisions, which between them publish and distribute books and software to schools, homes and retail.

PUBLISHING DIVISION

The Publishing Division is responsible for all books and multimedia published by Scholastic Australia. This includes trade books published by Scholastic Press, Omnibus Books and Margaret Hamilton Books. Scholastic Australia publishes around 100 titles each year for children aged three to fourteen. The majority of the list is made up of picture books, young fiction and nonfiction, innovative and contemporary books that have great appeal for young people. Each year exciting new authors and illustrators are discovered and nurtured. In recent years, Scholastic Press has had particular success with series published for the eight-to-twelve age group, including Deltora Quest with sales over 1.2 million.

Scholastic Australia has a distinguished publishing record with strong and award-winning lists. Many books have been short-listed and honoured in the Children's Book Council of Australia's (CBCA) Book of the Year Awards. Each year, a significant number of titles receive awards and shortlist nominations in other prestigious Australian and international awards. In 2000, The Great Bear, published by Scholastic Press, was awarded the international Bologna Ragazzi Award in the Fiction for Infants category-the first Australian book to receive this honour.

Best-known for publishing the Australian picture book all-time bestseller Possum Magic, Omnibus Books in 1999 published Fairy Dreams-the first picture book in Australia, and perhaps the world, to be illustrated entirely by digital media. Omnibus's Solos, a series of chapter books designed for the beginning reader, have also achieved sustained success.

The Scholastic Publishing Division also publishes licensed properties. In 2000, SOCOG awarded Scholastic Australia the President's Award for 'the best use of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Mascots in a licensed product'.

Scholastic Education publishing is at the forefront of developing new resources for Australian schools. In 1995, WiggleWorks, the first Australian CD-ROM-based literacy program, was released. Scholastic Education has been recognised in the prestigious The Australian Awards for Excellence in Educational Publishing. In 1996, individual titles of Reading Discovery were short-listed in the awards and in 2000, Scholastic Spelling, a CD-ROM spelling program, won the Primary Technology Showcase category of these awards.

Scholastic has published magazines for teachers since 1981. The flagship magazine Classroom has an excellent reputation as a useful, innovative and informative publication for teachers and librarians. Classroom magazine has been short-listed for the Australian Awards for Excellence in the Educational Publishing Primary Teacher Reference Category. Focus is a quality publication that provides a complete theme unit for teachers.

Scholastic Australia books are sold around the world and foreign rights sales, represent a strong and growing area of the company's business. The company licences rights in countries throughout the world including the USA, UK, Italy, France, Germany, Japan and Korea.

Scholastic Export sells and markets Scholastic Australia books and products to a predominantly Asian export market.

SALES DIVISIONS

Book Clubs

Book Clubs have been the foundation of the company's success since 1968, and have formed a solid basis for the remarkable expansion of the Australian children's book industry. Eight times a year, Book Club brochures and order forms for Wombat, Lucky, Arrow, Star/Teenage and TBS Book Clubs are distributed to a large percentage of Australian preschools and primary schools. Through Book Clubs, children and teachers throughout the country are exposed to the best in Australian and international children's literature.

Education

Scholastic Education serves as the centre of pedagogical knowledge within the company. Through its close affiliation with departments of education and classroom teachers for over 35 years, Scholastic Education has contributed to the positioning of Scholastic Australia as one of the most respected names in the Australian education sector.

Scholastic Education runs a successful seminar program, Scholastic Seminars, providing inservices conducted by leading educational experts and an ongoing teacher support program.

MGP Magazines, published by Scholastic Inc, are foreign language teaching magazines in French, German and Spanish.

As well as Scholastic Education's own quality and highly regarded product list, Scholastic distributes the ABC Education product to schools.

Book Fairs

Operating since 1985, Book Fairs provides children, parents and teachers with the opportunity to discover a wide variety of new and popular books in their own school environment. A Scholastic Book Fair is a special event that focuses on the enjoyment of reading. Schools receive a commission, based on sales, which can be taken as books for the library or cash to buy other resources.

Trade

Scholastic Trade services all independent booksellers and major booksellers as well as variety, discount and gift stores within Australia.

Scholastic Trade's range of product includes the wide range of Scholastic Australia children's books as well as those from the Scholastic worldwide group including Klutz. Other agencies represented include Australian publishers Weldon Kids, Childerset, Working Title Press and Koala Books, and UK publishers Kingfisher, Top That, Chicken House and Benchmark Windy Hollow.

Media & Technology

Scholastic Media & Technology is a full service distributor specialising in graphics & design software representing industry standards, dedicated to exceeding the marketing needs of the publishers it represents. The company provides a range of customised support services for its publishers focused on professional, retail and academic markets. Sales and services are supported by its sales force, experienced software licencing team, Product Managers and market/customer teams.

Australian Vendors: Adobe Education, Autodesk, Autodesk media & entertainment, Eword Technologies, Nuance, Punch Software, Quark, Sage CRM, Scholastic Software, Thomson Learning, WACOM.

Australian Standing Orders

Australian Standing Orders, based on the Queensland Sunshine Coast and is a subscription service to school libraries which offers the best new releases complete with teacher notes from all publishers. ASO markets to three broad groups: high school, primary school and pre-school. Between four to six titles for primary and six to eight titles for secondary are chosen for the eight Standing Orders per year, with pre-schools receiving four selections per year containing about four books. In 1999, ASO was judged 'Australian Schools Bookseller of the Year' by the Australian Publishers Association.

www.scholastic.com.au

In 1997, the company launched its website at www.scholastic.com.au. Since its establishment, the Scholastic site has become a channel for communicating with children, teachers, parents and retailers. The Scholastic website was a semi-finalist in the 2000 Corporate Site Category of the Australian Financial Review Internet Awards. The site was also short-listed in the Australian Publishers Association's Design Awards for 1997. The website continues to generate strong traffic, receiving around 250 000 hits and 7000 unique users each week.

The Scholastic Commitment

The company has a strong commitment to fostering children's growth and development.

Dromkeen

Dromkeen, the Australian Children's Literature Collection, housed in a beautiful colonial homestead at Riddells Creek in Victoria, is part of the Scholastic Australia group. The Dromkeen Collection is a priceless exhibition of original artwork and manuscripts from our continuing heritage of Australian children's literature. Each year, Dromkeen hosts thousands of children, teachers, parents and overseas visitors, and conducts a dynamic educational, research and residential program.

The Variety Club

Scholastic Australia has been a major supporter of the Variety Club of Australia for many years, raising money for Australian children with special needs. In 1995, Scholastic received the inaugural Corporate Heart Award from the Variety Club.

Over the past fourteen years the company has entered the Variety Club Bash. Scholastic takes the Magic School Bus, from the popular Magic School Bus book series and the 'Lucky Cat Car', on journeys through the Australian outback, visiting remote communities and schools. Over the years the Scholastic vehicles have travelled over 75 657 kilometres. In 1989, 1990, 1996 and 1997, Scholastic received the Packard Cup for the most money raised for Variety. In 2004 the company met its long-term goal to raise $1 million for Variety. Scholastic staff members are extremely active in the company's fundraising, voluntarily organising community-based events.

The Book Bunker

In 1996, Scholastic initiated a project which continues to benefit countless sick children. The company created, designed and built a children's library at The Children's Hospital at Westmead in Sydney. This innovative library, called the Book Bunker, was officially opened on 14 August 1997 and is operated by volunteer, job-share teacher-librarians. Unique in Australia and in the world, the Book Bunker offers children a vibrant, contemporary space to relax with a book, CD-ROM or audio tape from a selection of over 20 000 titles. Reflecting the award-winning design of this premier children's hospital, the library provides a dynamic space for children of all ages.

The Future

Scholastic Australia has shown enormous growth over recent years and is committed to maintaining its position as the leading publisher and distributor of children's books, magazines, multimedia and educational products in Australia.

Together with the Scholastic worldwide group, the company embraces the challenges of the next generation of publishing and new markets, both national and international.