Classroom Library

Hello there, knowledge-seeker!

This is my favorite post to date - my classroom library.  It's been a long road but I'm so thrilled to show you my final product (for now at least)!

 The start - I pulled in a cubbie shelf that was up for grabs in the hallway and turned it sideways to use as a temporary library shelf.  The baskets were left behind for me by the previous teacher, but didn't match my color scheme and quite a few were missing handles or had sharp, broken pieces.

This is the contact paper I mentioned in a previous post about my bulletin boards.  It was pretty simple to use and held up great throughout the year!  My main piece of advice is to cut it pretty close to size (within 1/2 inch) and then start in a corner and slowly peel it from the bottom, smoothing it down as you go using a cloth.  Using a fingernail will end up giving you very sore fingers and a credit card could end up scratching a hole in the contact paper.

I found a great file folder pocket chart on Amazon that was made of heavy canvas.  I hate the fact that it's blue, but it's functional!  It's hung using the small command hooks (they didn't even budge the entire year, even when the entire thing was filled with books).  I also added number labels that I created for each pocket.  That way, I won't have to change them each year from using student names.

 My library towards the start of the year.  Books in baskets (although they weren't organized) and succulent planters along the windowsill.  The lamp is purely decorative to make it feel more 'homey' and doesn't even have a light bulb in order to prevent fire hazards.

The start of the final transformation of the library.  I don't know about you, but every single one of my projects starts on a whim, way too late, and with chaos!  The motivation finally hit me after seeing many inspirational classroom libraries Pinterest and having a student volunteer to help me in the classroom while her mother was in a PTO meeting.  Why I thought I could sort all of my books in the hour she was there is beyond me.  I'd already entered all of my books using BookSource online and sorted them into genres there.  I was able to sort most of the books into genre piles just by looking at them, but for a few I had to reference where I'd placed them by looking them up on BookSource again.  This step took until midnight when the cleaning crew kicked me out.  Then I went home and taped my laminated genre labels to all of my book bins, printed off the coordinating book labels, and finally caught some sleep!

My gorgeous book bins!  As soon as I saw them, I snatched them up!  They're from ReallyGoodStuff and I ordered a set of 12 each of water, shell, and pebble (click here to buy them yourself).  I didn't buy the 4-packs in this case because I don't have any brown in my room, so I didn't want the 'sand' color.  I thought 36 would be enough, but I ended up with about 30 different genres.  I strongly suggest ordering more than you think you'll need.  I have a few left to expand my library with, but I'll have to order more to accommodate the books I still need to categorize at home.

The next morning, I arrived at school as early as possible to set everything up.  I grabbed a genre pile of books and placed them into their corresponding genre basket.  Then, I switched out my shelf that used to be under my calendar area with my teacher books for my old sideways cubbies.  Even though the regular shelf is shorter, it had repositionable shelves that were perfect for my book bins (from ReallyGoodStuff).  Then, I organized my genre book bins into alphabetical order and put them on the shelves.  I put my teaching books in piles on the sideways cubbies and moved that in front of the calendar area with the intention of buying a shorter shelf similar to the one below to replace it, to be used for my teaching read-aloud books next year.  One project at a time!

This is the final product!  I'm thrilled with how it looks, it's just so much more accessible to my students.  Now, they're able to find books based on their reading levels or what they're interested in.  I've noticed that my students are much less frustrated when they have independent reading time because now they have the tools that they need to find a book that they like.  Each book in the genre bins has a matching genre label that I printed on square Avery labels sheets.  They're identical to the labels on the front of the genre bins - by doing this, I made students responsible for keeping the library clean and organized (along with threats that they'd be banned from the library if they didn't treat it with respect).  The chapter books that I have multiple books from that series are in the bins with handles on top of the library.  I bought 2 of the 4-packs of their medium bins and just hid the brown bins below (click here to purchase them yourself).  The chapter books that are independent (or that I have 2 or less from that series) are in the brown bins with handles on the lower shelf.  The large aqua bin with a handle on the lower shelf has all of the Dr. Seuss books.  I purchased one 4-pack of the large bins for the Dr. Seuss books and plan to use the other 3 for my teacher read-aloud books on another shelf (click here to purchase them).  The lowest shelf has the dictionaries (yes, my students enjoy reading them during independent reading time) and a small bin with flashcards that have president or animal facts on them.

*Since finishing my library, I've purchased quite a few chapter books and ended up buying 3 more sets of the medium bins and 1 more of the large bins.  Now that I know that I needed quite a few more than I originally bought, I wish I'd just bought two 12-packs of the medium bins in order to maintain my color scheme and not have to use the brown bins.  I currently have 20 of the medium bins, with 5 of each color.  I could have had 24 bins in two colors of my choice (probably pebble and shell).  Oh well, you live and you learn!*

That's it for now!  My library is an ever-evolving organism and I'm still working on it over the summer. Much to hubby's dismay, there are two tote bins full of books that I'm working on adding to BookSource and putting genre stickers on.  I've also created nameplates for each book with my name and email to return the book if they are ever lost, which are printed on Avery address labels.  Just picture a teacher sitting at a back table putting address stickers on over 1,000 books!  Well, we know what I'll be doing all summer.

What is your classroom library like?  Are there any tips you'd like to share?  Leave your response in the comments below.

CAUTION: I do not advise completing a total library overhaul within 24 hours.  It's a horrible idea!

Until next time,

Ms. Frisch