BAY MINETTE, Ala. — The smell of new books, pencils, erasers and posters filled the Bay Minette Middle School Library during a recent book fair, where one day was dedicated to parents — offering adults a chance to shop and to get involved with their children’s interests, school activities and learning.

Candace Vick browsed selections in the quiet library on the Friday afternoon. She looked for new books for herself and her daughters during the parents’ portion of the sale.

Vick heard about the book fair from eighth-grade daughter Torianna Allard, who’s in the school’s book club.

“She gave me lots of information at home,” Vick explained.

Vick has another daughter at BMMS, seventh-grader Kaylah Vick.

“They’re both in A.P. (advanced placement classes) and Accelerated Readers (a computer software program where students read books at their level, take tests on comprehension and vocabulary and gradually increase the number of books they read and their reading levels),” Vick said proudly. “We have bookshelves at home and I've gotten then Android tablets — reading is important.”

Librarian Kathy Wright chimed in, “Tori has the highest reading level in the whole school; she’s reading at college level.”

Vick was happy to hear Wright’s news but knew her daughter had worked hard, she said.

“I've always been proud of them,” she explained. “Tori was spotted by the Duke Talent Identification Program, they I.D. potential intellects; they gave her the opportunity to take the ACT at 13 at a deeply discounted rate of $25.

“She made a 20 — she was at college-level reading, language grammar and science.”

She said that she takes an active role in her daughters’ academic lives.

“I talk to them about what they’re reading and I started when they were young, teaching them to be open-minded,” she said with resolve. “We do all kind of science projects at home.”

Vick said that they killed a timber rattler in their back yard and she showed her daughters the fangs and how the venom comes out.

In another experiment they found a surprise in the vegetable garden, she marveled.

“We grew corn, and noticed something growing on it,” she spoke with expression and gestured as she told the story. “It turned out to be Mexican corn truffles, also called smut — it’s a type of infection.”

She said upon researching the phenomenon they found that the Aztecs considered it a delicacy and purposely infected their corn.

“It goes for $30 a pound!” Tori chimed in.

Wright said she appreciates parents like Vick who take an interest in their children’s education and who support the library and academic programs.

“The parents like to be involved in it (the book fair),” she said with a smile. “They come in and see what they (students) are buying and get involved in the student’s reading, and their own.”

She explained that the library’s book fair raised funds for the Accelerated Reader program since budget cuts no longer enable the state to fund the effort.

Wright promotes A.R. to the students because it motivates them to move through all “seven reading levels by reading 24 books by the end of the year.”

For each level, Wright rewards students with items like pens and pencils, key rings, T-shirts, books and bookmarks. She also gives out of uniform passes, skating passes and ice cream sundaes as the children advance.

For those who reach level seven, she takes them on a special lunch outing where they ride to and from school in a limousine.

Both Wright and Vick seemed to sense that promotion of individual thoughts help the students enjoy reading and to begin making their own choices. The women agreed that critical-thinking skills are an imperative part of the education process.

“At the end of each A.R. quiz, before it gives the score, it asks, ‘Did you love the book, like the book…,” Wright explained, as Tori demonstrated on the computer.

They get to give their opinions on what they’ve read, according to Wright.

Vick explained that she doesn't choose books for her daughters, and she never has.

“I let them read whatever they want and whatever they’re interested in,” she spoke with satisfaction. “I just make sure to talk to them about what they're reading.”