Classroom Library Organization

Hello everyone! I am Danielle and I blog over at Krazee 4 Kindergarten. I am super excited to be a member of this Kindergarten collaboration blog!

I have been teaching for six years all of which has been in K. I feel very lucky to be able to teach at the same school as my mom. She teachers second grade. Although I barely get to see her at school (we teach in a very large and still growing elementary school in northern Florida) I am still excited to be able to share our teaching experiences together.
I absolutely love teaching Kindergarten and could not see myself teaching any other grade-level. My heart definitely belongs to K! I love watching my students grow as readers &  writers.

Soooo....Today is TIPSTER Thursday- Since I  have a passion for instilling a love of reading in my students, I thought I would share some tips/ideas with all of you on how to organize your classroom library. Having a well-organized library that is not only easily accessible but also kid friendly is essential for young Kinders just learning to read. An organized and inviting classroom library leads to a love of reading books!

I spend quite a bit of time at the beginning of the school year going over the rules for our classroom library; how to pick "just right" books, proper book care, returning books to their correct basket, etc. It is very important to have a system put in place that will ensure the classroom library stays organized.

A SNAPSHOT OF MY CLASSROOM LIBRARY

SORTING BOOKS:
I believe it is a personal preference on sorting books. I will share with you how I sort mine. I have leveled baskets A-K all in one section of my library. I also have various baskets throughout that are sorted by either author or theme. Within each author or themed basket, I try to have the reading level listed on each book.

I have chosen to NOT separate my books by fiction & non-fiction. Since I do have a large library this would be somewhat difficult for me. I also like for my students to know that texts on the same topic, such as Fire Safety can be fiction as well as informational. I do however, label all of my non-fiction texts with a label that my students can easily see when choosing books. You can snag these non-fiction sticker labels here!

  

I do not contain books to just the classroom library. I have various sections around the classroom where books are readily available to students. I place Kindergarten readers (levels A-E) in baskets above their individual book boxes, books at their table seats and books in an additional reading space located in the middle of our classroom. I also store monthly themed books and books on CD in storage bins.

GETTING ORGANIZED:
I am fortunate to have a large built-in bookcase in my classroom. I also purchased stand-alone bookcases to house additional books. These bookcases were purchased from Staples- There is usually a half off sale on bookcases during the summer. Many of my co-workers have similar bookcases that were purchased inexpensively at Target.

But..who says you need a built in bookcase and a large classroom to have an amazing organized library? Here are some pictures of my mom's 2nd grade library. Her classroom is in a portable (which she loves) and she has a pretty snazzy library for such a small space. She purchased her bookcases inexpensively from a church.

BOOK BASKETS:
Ahhhhhh....So many choices. I often get asked the question "Where did you get your book baskets from"? I actually purchased them from the Dollar Tree six years ago when I first started teaching. Every now and again I will see them pop back up in the store. These bins have lasted me for years and are the perfect size for all of my books. I did purchase my students individual book boxes from Really Good Stuff. All of my mom's book bins were purchased from Target in their dollar deal section during the summer months.

BOOK LABELING:

Every book basket with the exception of the table seat baskets contain a colorful kid-friendly label on it. These book basket labels help make book shopping faster and easier! Each individual book contains a smaller label that matches its basket label (printed on small mailing labels). I believe that this is a key component to any organized classroom library. This is essential, especially in Kindergarten. These small sticker labels have been a time saver for sure! My students know just the right basket to return their books to. If you are interested in learning more about these classroom library basket labels and stickers a link will be provided at the end of this post.

ATTACHING LABELS:
To stay organized, it is important to have labels that will stick! I often get the question "How do you attach your labels"? I simply use the tape that can be purchased at the teacher store. I have had these library labels on for the past few years and they are still "sticking" strong! Other ideas to attach labels are using double sided tape, using hot glue, metal rings, and Velcro.

TOOLS FOR ORGANIZATION:

I hope you found this information helpful when it comes to organizing your classroom library. You can check out the book labels & stickers featured in this post here.