Are You Ready for the Future
What changes has Scholastic made to prepare?
Holton: We are in the process of decentralizing our creative team, and have realigned the sales and marketing department to more closely serve our customers’ needs in bringing books to market in each channel.
What kinds of trends do you see beyond 2006?
Holton: The convergence of print media and electronic media will continue to be a trend beyond 2006. What form that will take is yet to be seen. To date, kids have not embraced e-books, but with the right gadget, it is conceivable that kids will ultimately move to more technology-based reading. Despite the technology, however, families and kids are looking for ways to spend time together, and books are still one of the great human connectors. So, I think kids and adults will continue to be drawn to beautiful, quality children’s books.