For years I've contemplated going about things differently, but after realizing that all of my best series, my favorite titles and most of my new books were missing and I was left with my old and unpopular titles, I decided something had to be done. That's right, folks, it was a classroom library conundrum!
This summer I've spent a great deal of time researching and working on my classroom library. Here is what I found:
First, students need your classroom library to be organized. Books should be easy to find -- and by this I don't mean just thrown on a bookshelf or two. If a kid LOVES Diary of a Wimpy Kid (which I no longer own, sniff, sniff) then they should know where to go to find the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. Years ago I tried alphabetizing my library by author and it. was. EXHAUSTING!! Only a small handful of students put them back correctly and I spent too much time reorganizing the library that should have been devoted to grading, planning, or spending time with my family. Sigh. Glad that is over.
After reading articles and blogs this summer, I've decided to give book baskets a try. I really think this will help my 4th graders and me. They will be able to find a book easily and I will be able to see which baskets are looking rather empty. (I think this will also ease the transition into Daily 5 that my students will be making, since it will be easier to find books that capture their interest.) My book baskets will be labeled with a genre, series, or author -- and my books will have a tiny label on them that tells which basket they go into.
Here are the categories I'm using this year in my 4th grade classroom:
Biography/Autobiography
Informational Texts
Magic School Bus
Nonfiction Picture Books
Fiction Picture Books (Misc.)
Historical Fiction
Historical Fiction -- Pioneers (Because I have a lot of Little House and similar books)
Historical Fiction -- American Girls & Magic Tree House
Realistic Fiction
Fiction for Animal Lovers
Fiction with Creepy Critters & Characters (Goosebumps, Ghostville Elementary, etc.)
Graphic Novels
Fantasy
Fantasy with Roman/Greek Mythology
Mystery
Mystery: Hardy Boys & Nancy Drew
Newberry Medal WInners
Newberry Medal Honor Books
Adventure
Sports Adventure
Comedy & Humor
Poetry
Folk Tale & Fairy Tale
Roald Dahl Books
Geronimo Stilton Books
Beverly Cleary Books
Judy Blume Books
Barbara Park Books
Warriors series
Baby-Sitters Club series
My Weird School series
Bailey School Kids series
Time Warp Trio series
Spirit Animals series
Pee-Wee Scouts series
Ready, Freddy! series
Candy Apple Books
I also have a box of books in which I had duplicate copies that I've set aside for Read to Someone time. Most of these books are Newberry Medal/Honor books or popular titles. I'm anxious to see how students take to these.
The second thing with my classroom library that needed to be fixed was very difficult for me -- weeding through my old books and deciding what to repair and what to...(I'm struggling to say this!)...get rid of! This goes against my nature. Just ask my hubby! I am a book lover to the core and pride myself on how many books I have, but I had to face the facts. Some of my books would never be touched by a kid coming to my library -- and hadn't been checked out in years and years. I'd inherited many books from colleagues who retired, so I had a lot from 20-40 years ago. Seriously. I decided it was time to part with many so I made two "discard" piles: one to give to students as freebies, because although they won't read it from my library they are proud to own them, and another pile to donate to Miss History teacher, who also had a lot of her library taken and not returned by students last year.
Third: Then I needed more new titles. Some friends and I took a day trip to the Green Valley Book Fair and I restocked a lot there. They had some great titles -- Harlem by Walter Dean Myers, Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein, My Weird School series by Dan Gutman, and much more -- for excellent prices! Most of the books I purchased were $1.50 or $2.50. I also spent a lot of time checking out thrift shops and yard/garage sales. I scored a lot of great books in excellent condition -- for very little money! Woo hoo! (I found the entire Warriors series for $3.00 at Goodwill.)
The fourth and final piece of restructuring my classroom library has been difficult and, to many out in cyber-education-world, controversial. As I mentioned before, last year's group of fourth graders, which were the sweetest, most fun kids ever, loved the fourth grade classroom libraries -- a little too much. Sad to say, they were book thieves.
I have complete mixed feelings about the theft of so many books. On one hand, as the 4th grade reading teacher, I am thrilled they loved the books so very much that they wouldn't return them! Isn't that a reading teacher's dream of book passion?
On the other hand, stealing is stealing, so I'm disappointed. Also, when they kept so many books out of our libraries, it has hurt our future 4th grade classes. Now they won't have the opportunity to check out my Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, Harry Potter series, Nancy Drew graphic novels, A to Z Mysteries, Doll Bones, Fablehaven series, etc. The list goes on and on and on.
This summer I read in three separate places that classroom libraries should function on trust, with teachers NOT requiring students to sign out a book...but after the last few years' experience I feel I just can't take that risk. I truly trusted the students in the past and lost too many good books. So this year I'm using Book Source, an online check-in-check-out system. I'm so excited about it too! I've spent hours upon hours logging my books into the system. Now students will be able to check out my books and return them just like in a library. I cannot wait to get this implemented this school year.
With these four changes I feel my classroom library is ready for a new and even better school year.
I'd love to hear about your classroom library. Does the trust method work for you or do you use a check-out process? How do you arrange your library? I can't wait to hear from you!
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