Caroline Smith - Blog Post #2: Organize an Outstanding Classroom Library

Perhaps the biggest thing that stuck out to me in this chapter is where Routman makes the point: "while we have poured thousands of dollars into commercial programs, technology, and test prep, it is rare for funds to be allocated for classroom libraries." She goes on to say that teachers wind up spending large amounts of their own money to make up for what lacks. This seems so frustrating for me that with such an emphasis being put on literacy and reading, we are not given the materials that we need to make that happen which makes no sense. I wasn't surprised to read that the most effective reading programs include large classroom libraries - the more books the better. Most of the children in my class come from low income families so they might not have access to as many books as other homes do. While it is great for children to read books online, most of these families probably do not have access to the technology to allow their children to use the same online reading websites that we use in class. 

Routman suggests that to create the reading initiative, educators should expand the home-to-school connection. This will ensure that students have books and materials to read at home to borrow and keep. I will admit that this part is harder for me. Especially knowing that I am buying these books out of my own pocket, it's hard to know that I would be losing the already limited resources that I have if the children took them home. We used the "Book Buddy" system at my old school where the children would "check out" books that were appropriate for them, take them home and read them with parents, then bring them back in a few days to check out another book. More often than not, we never saw those books again which wasn't as big of a concern because teachers didn't have to pay for them on their own (so it seems less of a personal loss). I do think that an easy and important way to encourage parents to get books for their children is through the public library. 

As always, it's important to select books for my classroom library that my students actually are interested in and want to read. With my 4 year old students it is important to include things for "light reading" as Routman calls it. Magazines, comic books, and picture books with lots of illustrations are great because they are more manageable for these students. But no matter how many books I have in my classroom, if they aren't organized than I am not helping myself or my students. I like organization anyways so the fact that my library isn't organized right now bothers me! It needs to be inviting and comfortable for my students and I feel like I have done a good job creating the "comfortable" atmosphere so far. Of course there is always room for improvement but I feel that by reading the ideas in this chapter, I have a good idea of where to go from here!