I am obsessed with containers. I have too many little plastic boxes that I know I will need one day to organize something. And I am obsessed with books. When you put these two together, you can say I am obsessed with my classroom library. Just the other day at Dollar Tree, my daughter told me I didn't need anymore of those purple or teal blue crates, but I told her I was sure to need them for more books.
I use many of the suggestions by Routman in Chapter 5 to organize my library. He suggests having sections for genres so that books are easy to find. My chapter books are divided by author or topic and are in the teal blue or purple crates. My picture books are in clear bins marked by the genre (realistic fiction, historical fiction, fantasy, poetry, informational, and biography). I also have informational books in red bins by topic, such as animals, health, and social studies. He also suggest having a section for "light reading," and I have several National Geographic Kids books, encyclopedias on weather and presidents, and a basket for magazines.
I love my library, but the problem is I don't think my students love it as much as I do. They want to go to the school library rather than look in mine, and often they come back with a book unsuitable for them or a book that I have. I definitely think that they want a chance to get out of the classroom for a minute or two, but it is frustrating. They are only allowed to go to the school library after they have conferenced with me on the book they have finished, but it means that a lot of my books are not being used. I will continue to build my library and make it the center of our classroom with the belief that it truly benefits my students. And I will probably buy more books and purple and teal blue crates. :)
I love that you love your library! One way to encourage students to use it more is to incorporate it into your conferencing. You have a great system to keep up with conferences so you would just add the element of book recommendations from your library. Sharing your life as a reader often increases student engagement, so tying that to the books in your library may also help. We almost have to either find a way to "sell" the books to them or be the ultimate "matchmaker". Either way sharing your love for books and for them can lead to amazing things, you just have to find the right approach.
ReplyDeleteHa! I "collected" book bins too--you never know when the dollar store will stop carrying them, or when you will need more! :-) It sounds like your classroom library is beautifully organized, and perhaps your students prefer the school library for that momentary "escape," just as you said. :-)
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