My Classroom Library

Oh, my classroom library. It's by far my favorite part of my room. All the books! All the possibilities! All the pillows! It's so nice to have such a comfy, cozy place to spark a love of reading in my students. Here's how I organize it all...

First of all, I have a TON of books. I mean, a couple thousand. And with that many books, it is essential to have it well organized so it is actually useful for my kiddos and their book boxes { read about how I use those here }. Secondly, my classroom does not have built-in shelving so I had to think outside the box when it came to housing my books.

ENTER. STERILITE. DRAWERS.

I house my library in Sterilite Three Drawer organizers.  I actually found mine at Target {my second home} for $9.99 at Back-To-School time.  It was a big investment up front, but they are still in perfect condition and it is literally the only thing about my room I haven't changed in ten years. Really.

They are perfect for so many reasons! They are free-standing, they always look organized, I can put baskets on top, I can easily move drawers around, I can design the space in any shape I'd like, and students can remove the drawers to get a better look.

I organize all of my books in three basic categories: nonfiction, author, and levels. My nonfiction books are sorted by topic, like math, language arts, biographies, etc. This is helpful because I require my students to have at least two nonfiction books, so they can easily find the nonfiction drawers to choose from.

Then, I have some of my fiction books sorted by author. I love collecting books from authors, especially my favorite author, Robert Munsch, and second favorite author, Mo Willems. It's great to have lots of books easily accessible. Recently, we used Kevin Henkes books for character traits and it was so simple to just pull out our Kevin Henkes drawer.

 Finally, any book I have that doesn't fall into one of those categories gets sorted by reading level {we use Fountas & Pinnell}. This is perfect for when my kiddos choose their just right level books for their book box baggie. It makes it so easy for kiddos to find a book they will be successful with. I use the Scholastic Book Wizard app to find levels. I found parents were more than happy to help find levels and label books for me. I just send home about ten books with directions  (grab the directions here). I write the book level on the cover with a marker so it's easily seen.

I know what you're thinking.... "How do they know where to put the books back?"  So.... when I first started teaching, I labeled my books with stickers like Mo Willems, math, animals. Major. Fail.  It was too hard for them to read and match the labels. Then, I had a realization that I needed to simplify { a "simplifization"?}  Now, each drawer and basket has a number, 1-63. Each book has a round sticker on the top corner with the matching drawer number. All they have to do is match the book number to the drawer number. Easy peasy. I went from having to clean out drawers weekly to, well, never. They can all put books away.

The labels I use are super simple as well. {Are you starting to learn something about me?}  During Back-To-School time, I found some great 3in x 3in clear pocket pouches in the Target Dollar Spot {anyone remember when it was actually $1 items?????}. They stick easily on the front of the drawer. Then I just made some labels in Powerpoint. I made them black with white letters because I love the way they look and I didn't have to use my color ink. Grab my labels for free here! {You may have to change the font if you don't have the one I used.}

Across the top, I have small baskets from Dollar Tree. These are pretty much all of my chapter books. I just recently moved a couple of series to a pull out drawer, but mostly, all my chapter books are on top. They fit nicely in the baskets and are at the perfect little-person height.

I really love this space and it is so functional. My kiddos LOVE to read and I am so glad I can give them organized access to surround themselves with books!  How do you organize your library? Leave a comment below!

**8.14.17 Update: Now that you know how it all started, check out how I changed it the next year here!

Happy reading!