When I had my first classroom, I was so excited to start gathering books and setting up my classroom library. Although it was small, it was my student's favorite place to go. These were all books organized by genre and subject. My kindergarteners and first graders were allowed to check out books freely and had access to the library for free read time. At the beginning of my teaching career, I would take any donated book I could get my hands and my kids didn't care. They loved seeing our library grow throughout the year. I also had a reading bathtub (an old donated vintage tub) filled with pillows and stuffed animals that students could read their books in. This was a HUGE hit!
Fast forward to my previous school year...I was the teacher who ran out of bookshelf space to hold all of my books! My library has grown (thanks to the help of Scholastic and parent donations) and has its own leveled inventory database. My second grade students were very involved in the organization of their classroom library because their reading time followed the readers' workshop curriculum. In a workshop approach, the library is a much more integral part of the classroom since students are checking out 5-8 books each week in their book bags. It's important that books are leveled appropriately and quality stories. In my previous classroom, I had plenty of pillows and bean bags for students to get comfy with. I created a reading nook in my room with a comfy rug and pillows that made for an inviting environment.
A classroom library should have a good balance of fiction and nonfiction texts. I think it's a good idea to have books leveled, but also have books organized by subject. If I know a student loves sports, I know quickly where to send them. I also recommend having a basket of mentor texts and tradebooks that students can reference after teacher's have read them aloud. Anytime I update my "Mrs. Samet's favorites" basket, the kids come running. I also include a class "librarian" as one of my jobs. This makes the students responsible for their books and makes sure that all books are accounted for. The students check out their books through an online iPad app and they think this is so fun. The last thing I do in my room that gets students excited about reading is my "books I recommend" basket. After a student reads a book that they love and want to share with others, they write a recommendation and put it inside the book. Then, those books all go on display for others to see and check out themselves. This is a great way to get students excited about the books they read.
Overall, if you involve students in the library and create an organized, inviting space, it will be used well. If you just put books on shelves, it may not be user-friendly and students won't take them as easily. Books should be accessible and include a wide-variety of subjects. Since I taught every subject, I had different baskets of math books, social studies books, and science books. If we want our students to love reading, we need to create classroom libraries that bring them to the books. After all, what good is having books in your classroom if no one reads them?!
