CLASSROOM LIBRARY -- ONE TAKE ON ORGANIZING ALL THOSE BOOKSI

Now that SDE/TPT Vegas has come and gone (((sniff, sniff))) and I have my feet back under me, it's time to get back down to business. The business of SHARING good ideas.  With this said, I bring you the burning question . . . WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO ORGANIZE A CLASSROOM LIBRARY?

We have ALL been here -- multiple times if you have been in the education biz for awhile.  It seems that every time I move grade levels, classrooms, or schools, I take a moment (or a lot of moments) to re-evaluate my thinking on this one and it's an absolute NIGHTMARE in the time spent department. Well, it just so happens that I am in the middle of a school move this summer and here's what I have settled on after much deliberation.  I didn't change too much this time as I have honed this system over the past nine years and it fits my style.  With this said, I will share my overall take on organizing all of those classroom titles . . . it's just one of MANY different ways, but I figured I'd toss it out there for y'all.

Before I jump into the meat of this one, I took a quick inventory as I unpacked my moving boxes and figured that I have around 3,000 books in my classroom. This figure does NOT include the little guided readers that I use for home reading . . . GULP!!!  Not only does it prove that I have a huge book addiction, but it also equates to hours of organizing. Anyone with me on this one? Please tell me I am not a lonely storybook hoarder . . . there is so much comfort in numbers :) Anyway, I digress. Here's how I chose to tackle this beast in my room. I broke it down into my two main book areas.

LEVELED BOOKS 
(ACCELERATED READER -- STUDENT LIBRARY)
First off, I should tell (or remind) you that I teach first grade.  Accelerated Reader plays a BIG part in our home reading program once kiddos have mastered the art of decoding. I like to have a classroom AR library as it takes time out of the schedule for kids to dart off to the library to snag a new book every day.  I'm not saying that this is wrong, but I would just rather keep the kids in house as I am lucky enough to have the book depth in my room.    

I had built this baby up over the years and my AR collection was pretty impressive until I moved. I didn't get to bring all of these books with me as about half of them belonged to my previous school (((sad face))). This meant I had to rework the whole system to make things fit . . . sigh.  I began by sorting the books I did get to take by level and then pulling books from my collection or new sets I picked up from Costco to fill levels that looked a little sparse.

I am still working on finalizing my AR library.
Each bin contains 1-3 levels depending on the size of each level.
The sticky notes helped me organize.
I will make cute labels for the front of each bin in Power Point soon.

When I posted a picture of this process on Instagram, I received this question quite a few times -- Do you level ALL of your books?   

Please excuse the photo of an adult beverage.
However, levelizing books calls for a big old glass of wine and
some HBO GO in my book :)

The answer to that question would be a big fat . . . NO WAY!  I have about a third of them levelized. It would take ages, and I just don't have it in me. Although many might say YES to this one, I chose to not kill myself on this mighty mountain.  

Followers also asked -- What do you use to help you find book levels? This is an easy one.  A few years ago, I found AR Book Finder and I haven't looked back. You just type in the title.  If there is a test, it comes up.  Pretty simple, huh?

Handy dandy little site.  Check this one out for sure :)

Finally, I was asked -- How do you show a book's level?  Well, I'll be honest here. I used to put a cute little white dot in the corner with the level. Now I just write the dang number in the top right corner in black Sharpie and move on. #ninthyearproblems

NON-LEVELED TEACHER BOOKS
Now that we've discussed my AR library, here's a little look-see at the rest of my books.  I call them TEACHER BOOKS.  These are organized into large categories and then subcategories.  I have a non-fiction shelf, a fiction shelf, and a books by month shelf.  Within each of these umbrella categories, I have broken them down into manageable sections that make sense to me.  

I didn't do anything fancy when making these dividers.  I simply drew a line down the center of a page in Power Point and put text boxes at the top -- one one each side.  I picked one of my favorite fonts at the moment (KG Shake it Off) and started typing.  I just kept duplicating the slide until all of my subcategories were complete.  Oh, and I laminated these for durability.

I ask my students not to get into the organized "teacher shelves."  Instead, these sections of books slowly make an appearance throughout the year. About twice a month, a new section of books gets placed in my student bookshelf at the front of the class.  I have found that if new books roll out every 2-3 weeks, it keeps things fresh and the kids beg to sit down and read them.  I upped the ante in my student reading area with a couple of bean bags two years ago. Fresh Books + A Cushy Seat = Kid Heaven 

I know you have been here . . .
Classroom book organization H-E-Double Hockey (@#$%).
I spent hours sitting on that floor.

Now, some of these "teacher books" have a level in the corner. If I have time when I pull a section out to use, I take a moment to look up a few. I don't sweat it if there isn't time.  

Alright, so there you have it . . . my take on organizing a classroom library. By no means am I saying that this is the RIGHT WAY . . . it's just ONE WAY :)  I figured I would share for some of my newer teacher followers out there as I received oodles of questions on that Instagram photo. 

On a final note today, the Pen Pal Pair Up 2015 goes live this Saturday (7/18) at 7 am California time (AKA - Pacific Time). What is this event? Well, I will find you a classroom to pen pal with for the year. READ MORE HERE (this is last year's post, but you'll get the idea).  

I should add that I am only taking the first 500 people who sign up this year as I am still getting settled into my new school (I'm sure you can tell that I am a bit in over my head via the classroom pictures above). So, sign up early if you want in my friends. Spots will fill in a matter of hours.  Big hugs gang and thanks for visiting.