How I Organize My Classroom Library

Long time, no blog! I've been (kind of) active over on the old 'Gram (my preteen kids give me the hardest time when I abbreviate words like that, which is why I try to do it as much as possible), but I haven't given much attention to the blog. I thought I'd drop by to talk about how I like to organize classroom libraries.

Obviously, now that I am a literacy coach, I don't get to set up my own classroom library anymore. But, as a coach, I've had the opportunity to help several teachers organize and maintain their classroom libraries. It typically takes a day or so to get everything sorted, labeled, and stored, but once it's finished, students are able to search for and borrow books that are of interest to them. And really, isn't that the whole goal?

Disclaimer: There are tons of different ways to organize your classroom library. There's no wrong or right way. It's really up the individual teacher. Some teachers arrange theirs by Accelerated Reading reading level, some by Fountas and Pinnell reading level, and others by genre or theme.

I am, however, a huge believer in allowing students to choose books that are of interest to them. According to Mindi Wench, when we allow students to select their own books:

1. They will take risks.
2. They will read more.
3. They become better writers.
4. They enjoy reading.
5. They become empowered.

For the reasons listed above, I have always organized my classroom library by theme/series/popular authors.

Step 1:

The first thing I do when I organize a classroom library is to take alllllll of the teacher's books out of whatever storage they are currently in. Yes, this gives me hives. There are books absolutely everywhere, spread out all over the floor. Slowly but surely, I start putting them into piles by theme. This can be a little tricky, obviously, because some books can fit into several piles. I just try to make an executive decision and put the books where I think that they best belong. 

Step 2:

Once I have all of the books sorted and organized by theme, I make a (really hasty and usually sloppy) list of all of the different categories that the books are divided into. Then, I use this list to create typed dividers and labels for my library.

Step 3:

I really keep it simple when it comes to dividers, labels, and storage bins for classroom library books.

Dividers: I create dividers with laminated Astrobrights card stock, and I use my trusty paper cutter to cut them into thirds.

Labels: I use Avery 8167 labels to label all the books. I just put the label in the top left corner of each book.

Baskets: I am admittedly really cheap when it comes to purchasing baskets for my own classroom library. Usually, I bought the $1.00 white Sterilite dishpans from Walmart. Several teachers I worked with this year, however, bought colored baskets from Dollar Tree. Use whatever works best for you and your budget.

Step 4:

Now comes the fun part: putting all of the labels books into the baskets. I put the divider first, followed by the books that fit in that section.

Step 5:

The last thing that I do is create shelf markers for the students to use to select books from the classroom library. Again, I use laminated Astrobrights card stock, labeled with the students' names or numbers. 

This picture is from my own classroom library. The dividers were lime green, and the shelf markers were bright yellow.

Click on the picture below to download the dividers that I use (it is PowerPoint, so it is fully editable).

I just use the Tools > Labels feature in Microsoft Word to create book labels. As I mentioned above, I like to use Avery 8167 labels.

That's it! Hope this helps as you get ready to organize your own classroom library for the 2019-2020 school year!