Kristin Roddy-Routman Chapter 5-Blog #4

Even though I know the importance of a classroom library I still found that reading Routman's Chapter 5 Organizing an Outstanding Classroom Library was beneficial. One of the things I found to be stressful while setting my room up this year was deciding how my classroom library should be organized. Routman's book tells us ways that we could include the students in the organization of our classroom libraries. Had this chapter come several months earlier I may have saved myself some stress. It was very overwhelming staring at stacks of books, and trying to figure out how many categories of books you should have, and what those categories should be. Routman gave an example of a questionnaire that could be given to students allowing them to choose what book bin labels your library needs. I can see how giving students ownership in establishing the classroom library could benefit the teacher in many ways. This can also benefit the students in several ways. Have ownership in the library will make students more interested in the books that are available in your classroom. I will teach students where to look when they want to access particular types of books. I found after I was able to sit down and figure out an easy to navigate system for my classroom library that I had more students visiting the library. Go figure! I had to make sure my books were neat, organized, and easily accessible for students. I also learned that dedicating an entire bookcase to series has made my students excited to read through multiple books in a series. I think that anything we can do as teachers to get our students excited about reading is a great thing.