How do I set up my classroom library?

How to organize your classroom library and train students to use it.

Having a classroom library for students to extend what they are learning into books they are reading independently is very important in The Read Side by Side program. There are a few things to think about before setting up your library.

1. Determine how books will be sorted, preferably by genre, author, and topic.

2. Decide how to showcase the book box for the first unit of study.

3. Create a procedure for borrowing and returning books.

Determine how books will be sorted.

Data supports matching students to an exact level only at the primary grades where students are emerging and newly fluent readers. Once students become fluent readers, the focus shifts from matching students by level, to matching students to texts based on background knowledge.

Organize books by level for K-1 readers. Focus on leveling texts for students reading at levels
0.1 – 2.5 (AR), A – L (Guided Reading), and below 400 (Lexile).

All other books—levels 2.6 + (AR), levels M + (Guided Reading), and 405 + (Lexile) will no longer be sorted by level, but sorted according to genre, topic, and author/series. This way your students can ‘shop’ for books by interest first, and consider the level second.

You can sort genres onto shelves with the spine of the book facing out, just like students would experience when searching for books in a school or community library.

Genres might include: Realistic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Nonfiction.

Decide how to showcase the book box for the first unit of study.

Since the book boxes are specifically related to the genre and topic of the read aloud and book club books, display them in a more prominent location. You can display them within their box, or place them on display shelves facing out so that students can easily identify the book they would like to read.

If you would like to highlight a sub-genre such as realistic fiction-adventure, remove these books from the realistic fiction shelf and place them in a bin. Label the bin so students can find this sub-genre easily.

Another way to sort books is by topic. Note that as you are sorting books by topic, you may find books of varying genres. In the Titanic topic bin you will find nonfiction, historical fiction, and biography.

Sometimes students will get excited about a particular author. Help them find other books by the same author by creating author bins in the classroom library. Focus on authors you are studying within your reading curriculum.

Reading across a series is a wonderful way to motivate readers to read a lot of books across the school year. Series books can either be placed on a specific shelf, or organized into bins.

Keep in mind that within a school day, there are more opportunities for ‘short’ reads than ‘long’ reads. This is because the day becomes fractionated due to block schedules and interruptions. Have a place in the classroom library for students to find short text. This would include picture books, short story collections, poetry, nonfiction, articles, and magazines. Teach students to use these short reads to fill 5-minute blocks of time.

Create a procedure for borrowing and returning books.

Borrowing:

The first question you need to ask yourself is if the students will be allowed to take your class library books home or if they will remain at school.

If students will be allowed to take them home, it will be essential for you to have some sort of a check out system in place. This could be a binder where students write their name, the title of the book, the date it was borrowed, and the date they returned it. Or you could purchase card pockets and place a notecard in the pocket similar to how libraries used to do it before they became digitized. There are many ways in which you can do this. Find one that works for you...and then teach it to your students.

If students will be using them at school, and they will not leave your classroom, a checkout system may not be necessary.

Returning:

Come up with a way to label the shelf so that students know where to find each genre for both book shopping and returning. Once you have your library clearly labeled, take your students on a library tour and teach them where to return the book they borrowed and how they are to return the book. So that you do not end up with a book that is upside down and facing backwards, be specific about how they should replace the book. Spine facing out? Front cover facing out? Right side up? If it works for your classroom, you could have a class job of librarian who will take the books students return to a "book bin" and then the librarian can put them back in the correct place at a specified time of day.