Donna Lowe's Blog #6 Routman, Chapter 5

Chapter 5 Organize an Outstanding Classroom Library

There has been a huge emphasis over the past two years within our district to create outstanding classroom libraries.  Our school and district have been supportive to provide more books and organizational materials to make this happen in every classroom.  "Model classrooms" were created to help provide direction and ideas to teachers.  I appreciate the effort of our district and my principal to provide the books and resources needed to make this happen in every classroom. 

My own classroom library is evolving year after year.  At this point I am waiting for a grant to be funded to provide me with more book baskets.  I know that I will be getting more books for lower level readers and I am running out of basket space and closet space!  I enjoy the way that my library is organized and I think it works well for my students.  In the future I plan to have more baskets and a more topical organization.

One of the requirements for my students is to have 2 books in their reading baskets that are in their own reading range and 2 or 3 more books of any reading range.  They can be books that are too easy or too difficult, they just need to be books for enjoyment.  I appreciated the section of this chapter on "light reading".  More than anything I want my students to enjoy reading.  Sometimes that means reading a book that your mama has read to you 100 times at home.  Sometimes that means picking up a chapter book because it makes you feel so smart and you like to look for words that you know or look at the pictures.  I can appreciate all of these reasons a child picks up a book.  All I care about is that they "pick up a book" and get to know and love books. 

Routman provided some great strategies as to how to include students in creating and maintaining a classroom library.  In my own classroom we have share times after our independent reading time where students get to showcase a favorite book.  This is a great way to get other students interested in more books.  Everyday I have at least one student ask me, "Can I share this book today at the carpet?"

Routman also suggested that having multiple books or book sets can encourage shared reading.  I have found this to be very true in my own classroom.  In fact, I have even had students hunt down multiple copies, bring them to me, and say "I want to start a book club with my friends using these books."  It's a wonderful and exciting thing to watch students find ways to enjoy reading. An organized classroom library definitely helps promote reading!