My classroom library was my pride and joy! It took years to build up and it was my favorite place in the classroom. Today I wanted to share some tips with you. Things that will help when organizing your classroom library in a smart way that will last for years!
Supplies
I’ve definitely upgraded my supplies over the years. When I first started out, all I could afford was Dollar Tree bins and Goodwill furniture. As the years went on I slowly upgraded. You’re obviously not going to start with a library that looks like the one above, but slowly over time, you will build something truly wonderful.
Book Bins
Like I said, my first book bins were from the Dollar Tree. They held up for a couple of years and then started to crack. In recent years, places like Target, Walmart, and Michaels have started selling book bins. They are slightly cheaper, but the color options are limited.
I finally made the investment in Really Good Stuff Book Bins. They are expensive, but they have wonderful color and size options. I used mine for years and never had a crack in one of them! They are very durable. Make sure to choose a color theme that you are going to want for the long haul. I decided one year that I wanted different colors for my books bins so I decided to spray paint them.
Not my brightest moment! LOL They looked pretty good from afar, but they did chip and they also got some paint on my books. The paint easily came off with a wipie, but learn from my mistakes and think long and hard about your color choices!
Book Cases
I hope you are at a school that provides these for you. I had no library furniture when I first started so I bought some bookcases from Walmart.
Two rows of book bins can fit on them and then I bought smaller book bins from Really Good Stuff that held my National Geographic non-fiction readers.
The bookcases got a little wobbly over time. My husband would add L brackets to the shelves and they became much sturdier!
The bench you see in the background is from Walmart. My husband cut a piece of wood to lay on top of it. We added egg crate material to the top, wrapped it in fabric (actually a blanket from IKEA), and attached it with a staple gun.
If you want more in-depth instructions, Kristen at Easy Teaching Tools has a tutorial on how to do this with an IKEA bench.
Library Labels
I went through a couple of different organizational methods over the years. Once I found the labels from Maria Gavin I was hooked! She provides a simple visual way for your students to access books and more importantly, put them back where they belong! I attached the labels to the front of the boxes with hot glue. They stayed pretty well and didn’t do any damage to the boxes.
If you have more chapter books in your library, I suggest my friend Molly’s library organization system from Lessons With Laughter.
- Maria Gavin – Classroom Library Labels (Available in both black and white)
- Molly Maloy – Classroom Library Book Spine Labels
Furniture
I’ve used furniture from Goodwill and children’s chairs from the garden section of Target and Walmart. When I wanted to upgrade my library area I got the faux leather chairs from Amazon.
I love these chairs! Teachers would come into my room to chat and chill out in these chairs. They’re really well built and add a touch of class to your classroom.
Youth Wing back Chair
Rugs and Pillows
Most of my rugs, pillows, and stuffed animals came from IKEA. Their prices really can’t be beat with that stuff, so I hope you have one near you!
Questions to Ask Yourself
- Location – A classroom library should be easily accessible for all students. It should be in a prominent section in your classroom. Remember, the goal is to develop a love of reading!
- Accessibility – In my opinion, a classroom library should always be open. Expectations should be taught the first couple of weeks of school, but after that, I allow free access.
- Personal Book Boxes – Is this something you will allow? I always let my kids keep 5-6 favorites in their own personal book box. We changed them out every few weeks. Students still shared from their book boxes if a friend wanted to read one of their books. I think it really helped develop a love of reading along with a sense of responsibility. I got my student labels from Learning in Wonderland.
- Book Hospital – Make sure you have a designated spot for damaged books. Train the students on this procedure during the first week of school. When a book needs some tape or staples – put it in the book hospital. You don’t need to tell the teacher : )
- Organization – I organized my books by genre, author (if I had a lot of books from a certain author), and guided reading level. What I love about Maria’s labels is that she gives you so many choices!
- Teacher Books – There were some books I didn’t want my kids to have open access to. These books might be expensive, a part of a curriculum program, or seasonal.
Seasonal and Teacher Books
The seasonal books usually lined the top of my bookcases balanced on wire display stands. When the seasonal books weren’t on display, they were in boxes stored away for the next year. For all other books that I didn’t want the students to have access to, I kept them behind my desk in white bins from Walmart (that are actually ice bins : )
This particular set of labels came from Little Miss Fiesta in her Tropical Pack. She had some blank signs and I added the font on top of it.
Just because I don’t keep these in the classroom library doesn’t mean my kids don’t have access to them. I ask that they request permission before they look at them. They aren’t allowed to keep them in their personal book boxes either.
Through trial and error, I found this organizational system to work best for me. I hope you found some ideas that you’d like to try in your classroom.
I still remember my 4th-grade teacher’s classroom library. It was filled to the brim with a wide variety of books. That’s where I fell in love with reading. (The Babysitter’s Club specifically). Let’s all try to create inviting spaces in our classrooms where children can feel at home and fall in love with reading.
Looking for more tips and tricks on how to grow and organize your classroom library? Check out these posts:
