Are you ready to embark on a quest to create the ultimate reading oasis in your classroom? As educators, we’ve got the power to spark a love for books, and your classroom library is where the magic begins. But let’s face it, figuring out an easy classroom library organization system for a massive pile of books can feel like navigating a maze. Don’t worry, though – in this post, I’m spilling all my favorite secrets for whipping that library into shape. Get ready to transform it into a cozy nook where students can’t wait to dive into the next adventure!
Never Leave This Area To Chance
While there is no ONE right way to organize your classroom library, this is not an area you want to leave to chance. Creating an organized and inviting space is the first place to start in enticing students to want to explore, read and stay. I have a quote that has always stuck with me that I think about when I begin my classroom library organization project.
“You don’t fall in love with a book because of it’s reading level.”
Instead you fall in love with a book because it was intriguing enough to pick up, you realized it was a type of story you love or about something you enjoyed or was interested in. You were able to go to a section that you liked, clearly see the covers or titles on the spines to jump out at you, and things were neat enough to not overwhelm you. That’s what I envision when I think about my library experience. We want to give our student’s that same feeling so organize we must!
To Bin or Not To Bin?
That is the question. Personally, I am all about bins, especially in primary grades, and I’ll tell you why. Our littles need visual supports and practice reading as much as possible. When your classroom library is organized with bins, it makes it easier for students to see the title, cover, and illustrations of the book. It is more accessible for them to physically sort through books easier, which eases possible overwhelming feelings of looking at rows and rows of books on a shelf. Last but not least, when you use bins you open up a world of possibilities in how you categorize your organization.
Of course there are also positives to not using bins, with some great systems to help kids navigate a bin-less library. You can also do a hybrid model and see which works best for your students. What area do you notice is being gravitated to more? After all, this area is for our students and we want to always keep their needs at the forefront of all classroom decisions. Check out this combination of bins and shelved organization below!
If you do decide to use bins, I love THESE bins from the Dollar Store. They are large enough to fit a good sized amount of books and fit very nice on shelves. I’ve also found great bins from Target. They are more narrow so they fit less books, but you can fit more of the actual bins on the shelf which allows you to have more categories. My suggestion is that if you have a lot of categories and genres but fewer books, I would recommend the Target, or skinnier bins. If you have less categories but more books, I would recommend the Dollar Store, or any larger bins! You can also snag those Target book bins during back to school in the dollar section!
Organization Strategies
To start the classroom library organization process, I begin by assessing the collection of books in front of me and organizing them into piles of common themes/topics. I typically have many categories for our books, such as animals, humor, fairy tales, back to school, seasons, and holidays. These are to just name a few of the categories I sort books into. How you decide to organize is completely up to you. You can also choose to organize your books into number or letter bins.
Just remember, the ultimate goal is to have a well organized space that is easy to navigate AND clean up. I love having thematic bins for primary students because it is easy for them to utilize independently. For my bin labels, I create brightly colored pictures that are easy for students to see with the title. I also have book labels on the actual books for students that match their bin so that it is easy for them to return without support. See some examples below and don’t forget to grab the labels!
Editable Classroom Library Labels
Organizing your classroom library this thoroughly is definitely a time consuming process, but SO worth it. I have never seen as much reading growth as I have this year. I truly believe that allowing book choice, along with a variety of books, and an organized system, has been a huge contributing factor. You can also routinely rotate through books so that they don’t get bored and you don’t have to display all your books at one time, possibly overfilling the library.
If you’re ever wanting to display a cute seasonal book bin that you change throughout the year, grab these labels for FREE by subscribing below!
Borrowing Bliss : Keeping Your Systems in Place
Once you’ve spent all the time and effort to sort, organize, and set up your library, it’s important to implement a system to keep it that way. In our classroom we host “book shopping days” once a week. On these days, 5 students at a time return their classroom library books, and then check out five more. The matching book labels pictured below make it SO easy to help students keep the books organized in the correct bins!
During the time students are checking out books, the other students are reading. This process does take some time for students to get down, but they get quicker as the year goes on as with anything. To further help keep up with your classroom library organization, we also have a librarian who helps with our tidiness. One of their jobs is to go through the book bins at the end of the week and make sure all books are organized in their correct bins. It’s an amazing way to give students autonomy, responsibility, AND take the task off of you so you can focus on meeting student’s needs.
With solid systems in place that allow students to independently choose and love books, your classroom library will soon become one of their favorite places!
Learn more by watching the YouTube video below!
Easy Classroom Library Organization Tips and Tricks
EDITABLE CLASSROOM LIBRARY ORGANIZATION LABELS
So are you ready to organize your classroom library and set your students up for success? You’ll LOVE this jam packed Editable Classroom Library Label pack. You’ll have everything you need to organize your classroom library by genre and create ownership over your classroom library. There are over 75 different categories offered, as well as editable labels to create your own! They can be printed on Avery labels so that all you have to do is peel and stick them on the books! One of the reasons I love these is that there are big labels that go on the book baskets and little labels that go on the books. This way students know exactly where the book belongs and they’ll soon become masters at putting them back!
You find these also included in the Classroom Organization Growing Mega Bundle where you can organize EVERYTHING in your room. This is the secret to fostering true independence in your classroom!
Editable Classroom Library Labels
If you want more tips to master your classroom library organization, check out this post HERE!
I really hope you enjoyed learning more about easy classroom library organization! Stuck on planning and want help? Got specific storage questions for your classroom? Drop them in the comments below and we’ll be glad to help answer them! Don’t forget to subscribe to my email list! Not only will you get the most up to date tips, tricks, and classroom projects… and of course more fun FREEBIES including the Months of the Year Labels FREEBIE! You will also have exclusive access to tons of digital how to videos! If you would like to learn about this and other things happening in my classroom follow me @sweetnsauerfirsties on Instagram.
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