Other meanings of Scholastic Corporation
Publishing & Education
Scholastic Corporation is an American multinational publishing and education company headquartered in New York City. It is the world's largest publisher and distributor of children's books, operating school book fairs, book clubs, and classroom magazines, and is known for franchises such as Harry Potter and Clifford the Big Red Dog.
Scholastic was founded in 1920 by Maurice R. Robinson in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, as a publisher of youth magazines, beginning with the Western Pennsylvania Scholastic. The company expanded into book clubs in the 1940s and book fairs in the 1980s, becoming a dominant force in school-based book distribution. In 1998, Scholastic acquired the U.S. rights to the Harry Potter series, which propelled it to global prominence. The company went public in 1992 and is listed on NASDAQ under the ticker SCHL.
Scholastic operates through three main segments: Children's Book Publishing and Distribution, Education Solutions, and International. The book fair and book club channels are iconic, reaching millions of students annually. The Education Solutions segment provides curriculum materials, literacy programs, and professional development. International operations span Canada, the UK, Australia, and Asia, with localized publishing. The company also owns the Scholastic News classroom magazines, used in many U.S. schools.1
Scholastic's portfolio includes best-selling series such as Clifford the Big Red Dog, Goosebumps, Captain Underpants, and The Hunger Games. The company has been a key partner in promoting literacy, running programs like the Read Every Day campaign. Its educational impact is significant: a 2019 study found that Scholastic book fairs help increase student access to books, particularly in underserved communities.2
Scholastic's history includes lesser-known ventures: it published the first U.S. edition of Where the Wild Things Are in 1963, and it once operated a television production arm that produced the Goosebumps TV series. The company also runs the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, the longest-running and most prestigious recognition program for young artists and writers in the U.S., founded in 1923. Additionally, Scholastic has faced controversies, including a 2021 decision to separate books about racism in its book fairs, which drew public criticism.3
This article focuses on Scholastic Corporation as a publishing and education company, not the educational services brand Scholastic Learning Zone.
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