Skip to main content

Classroom Library

Building & Maintaining your own Classroom Library


First starting out teaching, it can be hard to acquire a whole collection of books to create a class library. Don't worry! Definitely don't go out and spend your life savings on all new books. There are easier and cost efficient ways to acquire a classroom library in a short amount of time. Some tips I would suggest for starting your collection is to check out yard sales where you can get books for a quarter or less. Also, post on social media that you are in need of a wide range of children's books and see if any of your family and friends are willing to donate or sell their old books to you for a decent price. Keep collecting books and your library will grow more and more each year. Even reach out to parents and see if they are able to donate any books to their child's classroom. Parents love to help out!

*If you want some great children's book recommendations and lesson ideas to go along with them, please feel free to check out this amazing blog: https://inspirereadingearly.blogspot.com/

Okay, so now you have a bunch of books and don't know where to put them all. It is time to create a class library. I suggest buying low cost bins or baskets to separate books by genre or however you would like to organize them. Some teachers like to do it by author's last name. I would suggest using visuals to make your signs for each bin look more appealing and to help young readers find books they are interested in.

Now, if you don't establish rules on day 1 with your classroom library, chances are it will turn into a big mess. Kids will not care for the books and some can get ripped or ruined. Kids will also not put the books back into the proper bin. It is essential that you teach students how to properly handle the books on the first day of school. If students can't respect your books, then they should not be allowed to borrow them! I also like to allow students to "check out" books from my library if they truly love it and don't want to put it down. Type up some cute library cards or check out slips. Make it fun! Making reading fun will encourage students to love reading.

Comments

  1. JennaMarch 23, 2019 at 6:03 PM

    Hi Kristyn! Thank you for the shout out to my blog! I definitely agree with checking out yard sales for your classroom library. I also go to my public library's "store" and usually find great books for a huge discount. Even if you don't have a classroom of your own yet, I definitely suggest stocking up on books for a classroom library as early as you can. That's what I'm doing right now!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Brooke M.April 5, 2019 at 10:55 AM

    These tips are great! I work in a preschool now, but am hoping to get into my own kindergarten classroom next year, so I need to start building up a library now. I will definitely have to find some yard sales to check out and I like the idea of using social media to get the word out as well!

    ReplyDelete
  3. awakereadingMay 5, 2019 at 5:29 AM

    It looks so nice and neatly organized!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Katie SarnieMay 6, 2019 at 3:48 PM

    Thanks for these tips, they are great! In the reader's workshop we use, the classroom library is a huge aspect of it! Thanks for sharing these tips to keep it organized and clean!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ketchup Folder

The "Ketchup" Folder The insanely cute "Ketchup" folder is designed for students to retrieve any missing work they must catch up on if they were absent. This low-cost display will get your kids excited about catching up on work! It also puts less work on you as the teacher because all you have to do is put extra worksheets in the folder. It is the student's responsibility to check the "Ketchup" folder if they were absent the previous day(s). It can be really hard to remember who was absent what days and trying to track these students down and give them the work that they missed can be a challenge. This is an easy solution. Students will love the name of the folder as it is kind of silly. It will get them a little more excited about doing make-up work :) All you need for this display is any old folder you have laying around. You can type up your own display however you like. Be sure to add a big image of a ketchup bottle as a nice visual. Visuals a...
Post a Comment
Read more

Reward Systems

Reward Systems for Classroom Management This marble management is a great idea for managing behaviors in the classroom. Displaying a "marble jar" like this on the board will motivate students to behave so they can earn a class reward. These images and texts can be printed and laminated and taped to the white board. Super simple! You can decide what your goal amount of marbles is and write it in with dry-erase marker. The great thing about this is you can always change the goal and make it higher as more of a challenge as time goes on. You can also change the reward. Rewards can be anything you choose. Perhaps you could do a pizza party (depending on allergies in your classroom!), movie day, or something as simple as letting students sit with a friend as pictured above. I recommend displaying it somewhere where the kids will constantly see it and be reminded to behave. Another way I did this in the past was having the reward, which in this case happened to be a picnic, sp...
1 comment
Read more

Class Jobs

Assigning students new classroom jobs each week not only helps you keep your classroom tidy and in order, but the kids absolutely love to help out their teacher. My students look forward to doing their jobs at the end of each school day. A great tip is to display classroom jobs in a cute way like this clothesline display. Super easy to do! All you need is some string and some mini clothes pins. Create cards for each job however you like and then just print out each child's name. This display makes it super easy to rotate jobs each week by simply moving the names on the cards over one. This makes it easy to change jobs and it is also fair because this way students will eventually get to do each job on your list. It is also a great idea to keep jobs on display because kids are often forgetful and if they forget their job, they won't have to bother you about it they can just check the door! Another helpful piece of advice is to always stay consistent with classroom jobs and ...
1 comment
Read more