Re: organizing classroom library

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Re: organizing classroom library
By dolmansaxlil

I teach 8th, but I've done a lot of reading about how to set up classroom libraries (my library is a bit of an obsession). One of the things that I read really hit home with me. Bookstores such as B&N and Borders pay marketing
and research types to figure out how to get people to buy books. I worked at a similar store here and Canada, and it's amazing how much psychology went into it. The book I read talked about going into those large bookstores and seeing how they are laid out, and then using those ideas in your classroom. Since I worked in one (and did merchandising for them for a time) I came up

with my own list of things bookstores do that successfully get people's cash out of their pockets:

Have displays with front facing books
Group books by subject
Organize them well so they are easy to find
Have tables/end caps of books that are related (author, subject, current event)
Change displays often, but leave the basic organizational structure alone

So, using those 5 cardinal rules of book selling, here's what I do:

Most of my general fiction (and some of the genre stuff that doesn't fit elsewhere, due to space or topic) is on a bookshelf, organized alpha by author. You could organize by reading level as well if you feel that's important, but then I would organize alpha by author within that. I do it strictly alpha by author, and then mark the reading levels on the books themselves. I don't care if a kid attempts a book that is too difficult if they're truly interested, because most of them will get through a tough book if they have chosen it because it grabs their attention.

I have several other larger shelves where I have book baskets. These are very prominately labelled and organized by genre or subject or author or series. Basically, whatever I have a lot of or what I see the kids are interested in. A lot of my students are into reading books about war, so I have a World War bin. I have a huge group of girls that are into horse books, so I have a Horse bin. Then the standard Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Mystery, etc, as well as some author and series books.

On top of those larger shelves, I have a long counter. I have some books on display here - usually a couple of bins of a subject that is popular or current (at the start of the year, I have a "School Stories" bin. The next one I'll do is "At the Movies" with novels that have been made into films. Even though those books are in the normal library, the number of kids who pick them up increases when you group them and display them like that.

I also have a "New Releases" bin that sits on top with any new titles I've recently purchased.

Sometimes (not always!) I have a bin out just called "Great Reads!" and I put random books that I know are good, but that aren't getting a lot of attention in my room. As soon as they are called "great" the kids pick them up.

When I do subject bins, I mix fiction and non-fiction. So my World Wars bin has very fictional war stories, along with a biography of Ann Frank and a book about Military Uniforms.

I'll sometimes put a single book on display with a sign with a quick blurb about it that a student has written. "Bobby recommends...." The kids like to see their names there (yes, even in grade 8!) and it's a good use of peer pressure!

My binned books are spine up, and my bookshelf is just a normal bookshelf - but the bins on top have the cover facing forward. So even if there is a number of books in the bin, I face everything forward, stick the most appealing looking one at the front, and kids flip through them.

The last thing I do isn't covered in the rules above (though publishers certainly do this!) but if I get a copy of a book with a shiny new cover (rereleases), even if I have very old copies of the book on the shelf, I display the new cover. Kids clamour to read it - then I pull out the older edition for anyone who is interested after the new one is taken.

Just my opinions from my experiences in the book world. :p