Classroom Library

At the end of the school year I decided that my classroom library needed a major overhaul.  I had my books in tubs and labeled them by genre with different colored stickers.  I figured that would be enough for my kiddos to put the books back into the right bin.  Right?  Completely wrong!!!

Books never seemed to make it back to the right bin.  After blog stalking, I realized that I needed to change things up. 
So I sat and took all of the books out of the bins and reorganized them.  We use AR at my school so in addition to topic/genre, I also reorganized them by AR level.  Then I hit up the Dollar Tree!  I bought 26 of these bins in blue and green:
from Teaching in Room 6
Then I created these labels:
Each label has the topic/genre of that bin, the AR levels in that bin, and a bin number.  I will be using these stickers on the front of each book so students can return the book to the correctly numbered bin:
I will also have 2-3 empty baskets for students to return their books.  Instead of having each student reshelve their book, I will have the class librarians do that.  I'm hoping that this will eliminate books being misplaced!
As soon as I label everything in the library I'll take pictures.  I'm excited to have a better hold on the look and organization of this part of my room that's visited daily by my kids!

With the overall organizational aspect done, now I'm looking into managing the books.  I haven't finalized my how I want to do my check out system.  What do you use to manage students checking books in and out?

10 comments

  1. I like your labels! I need to do something like that just to make sure my books don't disappear!

    Sara :)
    Smiling In Second Grade

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  2. I love the idea of the book return! I think that will def. help keep your books more well organized! Thanks for sharing!

    -Krista
    The Second Grade Superkids

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  3. I love love the idea of a book return. Definitely doing this next year! Your library looks great.

    Megan
    I Teach. What's Your Super Power?

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  4. Looks like it will help your students put the books back in the correct spot. Good job!!

    APril
    Wolfelicious

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  6. I don't do a check out system, but so many off my books were lost or misplaced. I found them in students desks, cubbies, and other random places. So I think I do need a check out system!

    Please share if you think of something that you think will work!
    Adventures in Room 5

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  7. I like how you organized your classroom library with the dollar tree baskets! I need to do a check out system too, because some of my lovelies like to shove them in their desks for months. :)
    Lisa
    Learning Is Something to Treasure

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  8. I use an online book check out system called Classroom Booksource. Best part is it's free! Check it out!

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  9. @A Von Rosey Life
    Thanks for letting me know about this! Will definitely check it out!

    Brandi

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  10. Hi Brandi - Where did you find the cute drawn frames for the AR labels? I would love to make my labels look like yours.

    Thank you! :o)
    Jennifer

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