Organizing the Classroom library- {Optimum Organization #3}

For today's Optimum Organization link up, I am going to share how I organized my classroom library and the system I use to keep track of the books students have checked out.








My classroom library is actually made up of two big sections.  In this picture you are seeing the "fiction area"  where students will find books under historical fiction, mystery, realistic fiction and more.

In the middle of my classroom on the back wall is the "nonfiction area" where students will find reference books (dictionaries, thesaurus and atlases) along with the biographies, autobiographies and other information type books.

As you can see all the books in the classroom library are displayed face out in many, many baskets. In each area, the baskets are either sorted by genre or by author. I have the genre baskets all grouped together on the shelves to make it easier to locate books for students and for putting books away.

 

Each basket is labeled with a card displaying the specific genre (you can get them FREE at my TPT store). Knowing how tough it can be for students to put books back where they found them, I added another element to help them out.  On the outside of each book I have placed a colored sticker dot which represents a specific genre. (For example, a dark green dot is realistic fiction, blue = mystery, etc).  Inside the front cover of the book, there a another sticker that says the type of book it is, along with a book pocket and colored card bearing the title of the book.  The color of the book card matches the color of the dot.  When students check out a book, they put the book's card into the pocket of blue chart that corresponds with their number.  At a glance, I can see who has books checked out from our library and what genres they are reading.  After finishing a book, the students put the card back in the book and put the book into any one of the baskets labeled for that genre. (I decided it was too much of a headache to try to make sure that books went into the exact same basket it came out of).

During the school year, I display books for the author/genre of the month, a basket of new books and a basket for books that need to visit the book hospital.

That's my idea for this week.  Don't forget to link up with Kristin & Elizabeth with your organizing tips.

Hope you enjoyed a quick peek at my classroom library.

                                                                     Until next time.....