Emily Plumley - Blog #2 - Routman, Ch. 5: Organize an Outstanding Classroom Library

    Organizing a classroom library can sometimes be a very overwhelming and often stressful task. Especially when you back up and look at the classroom library as a whole. You think, "There's not enough time in a day to get through all of this." But I have found if you break it up into chunks, and a do a little bit at a time, it is possible to organize a classroom library to the way you want it. 
    I stated in an earlier blog that I've had a deep love of reading since I was a small child. And I've also wanted to be a teacher since a very young age. So naturally, one of the things that I had always planned for my future classroom was to have an amazing classroom library. That was important to me from day 1. I began collecting books for my future classroom library around my sophomore year in college. I would get books almost ANYWHERE. A professor I had in college, gave her students Scholastic Book Orders, for the sole purpose of us being able to gradually purchase books for our classroom libraries. I think I may have purchased books from almost every order she gave us. And because I'm blessed to have a very supportive and encouraging mom, she also bought books for my classroom. I also bought books from a teacher who was changing professions after several years of teaching, and she had ALL of her classroom books for sale....at VERY reasonable prices. I'm talking 50 cents to $1-$2 for books! You can't beat that. I also went to a Scholastic Warehouse Sale, where you can stock up on books. And one of my biggest success stories believe it or not, was when I went to the Goodwill Clearance Center. Everything is pay by the pound, so items are just dumped (literally) into big blue bins, and you have to dig (again...literally) to find what you want. I went on a day that it was half off, still pay by the pound, and racked up! My search for classroom books started off slow, but once I started finding books I was interested in for my classroom library, I was determined to until there was nothing left. I walked out with over 100 books, and it only cost me maybe $10-$15. 
    So when I walked into my classroom to set everything up for my first year of teaching, I went in with several hundred books. And that was as a FIRST YEAR teacher. Then came the task of organizing and labeling each book. Thank goodness again for a supportive and encouraging mother who helped me with that daunting task. I am very proud of my classroom library and how much my students enjoy it.
    I believe it is so important for teachers to have outstanding classroom libraries, that encourage and promote a love of reading within their students. I love the idea of having the students help organize the libraries, and hearing their opinion on what types of books/authors to include. That's an idea I had never thought of. I also love the idea of having more books on "display" so students can easily see the covers, drawing them to pick up the book and read it. 
    I try to constantly encourage reading in my classroom, whether it's coming from chapter books, picture books, magazines or comics. A quote from the book sums this up perfectly: "It really doesn't matter much what kids read as long as they read and enjoy what they're reading."