Tonya Hendricks Blog 3 Routman (2003), Ch. 5: Organize an Outstanding Classroom Library

After reading this chapter I am more motivated to recreate my classroom Library so that it better meets the needs of my young readers.  Unfortunately my classroom is one of the smallest in our entire school.  With much work and still more to do, I am still trying to create a cozy learning community for my students.  I believe my classroom Library is one of the most important parts of my room.  I currently have one two sided bookshelf in the front of my classroom. The bookshelf sits on the floor in front of the colored carpet and displays a variety of books.   I also have milk crates with hand-made covers that the students sit on while reading books or they can just sit on the carpet.  The books on the bookshelf are frequently switched out with book baskets and other book collections that I have.  I try to have books displayed that we are currently reading with our unit of study or, books that we have read previously in the year.  After reading this chapter I have been given ideas as to how to recreate my classroom Library. My first plan of action will be to discover what my students are interested in reading.  I would like to discover what their likes and dislikes are.  My desire is to go beyond the common, simple, idea of “car books,” for boys and “princess books” for girls.  After reading this chapter I do plan on creating a Class list for my students based on what books they would like to see in our class Library.  I plan to use this information for the Donors Choose Grant I am currently writing to purchase books for our classroom Library.   I also continue to keep collecting books when the opportunity presents itself.  I frequent the Library for cheap books for sale.  I visit garage sales in search of books for our classroom Library.  I’m also in the process of trying a “Book Swap,” with a friend who teaches as well. In addition, I would like to have my students help in the organization of my classroom Library. I believe that “we,” can create a way of organizing our collection of books so that students are able to easily choose books based on their interest.  Another goal I have is to incorporate more times to visit our classroom Library.  I would like to focus on reading for “pleasure.”  I believe that my young students often overlook visiting our classroom Library because they feel insecure about their reading abilities. My goal this year is to incorporate more reading times throughout the day.  I believe with more opportunities to read and look at books students will become more comfortable with choosing to visit the classroom Library on their own.   I believe that as students continue to visit the Library their interest and love for discovering what’s in a book will only deepen.