Hit the Books!
Once your office space and working areas are organized and clutter free, it is time to "hit the books"!
You need to take a visual tour of the shelves. Think about how they are currently organized and if this is how you want them to be arranged. Do you know your philosophy about how children should use the library?
In an elementary setting, you want to think like a 5-9 year old. When a child comes to the library, what kind of book might interest him/her? How will the child independently find the book they want?
If your school uses Accelerated Reader, and you have Kindergarten students (or a low performing school), you may want to "assist" them. Now, I am NOT proposing to arrange them by AR level! I believe in teaching children HOW to use the library.
In the past few school libraries I took on, I found it best to have the following sections:
You don't want your shelves to be crammed from one side to the other. Children become overwhelmed when they have to "dig" through 20-30 books to find the book they want.
In an elementary setting, you want to think like a 5-9 year old. When a child comes to the library, what kind of book might interest him/her? How will the child independently find the book they want?
If your school uses Accelerated Reader, and you have Kindergarten students (or a low performing school), you may want to "assist" them. Now, I am NOT proposing to arrange them by AR level! I believe in teaching children HOW to use the library.
In the past few school libraries I took on, I found it best to have the following sections:
*Kindergarten level section (fiction and non-fiction)
*First grade level section (fiction and non-fiction)
*Non-AR book section (fiction or low level books)
*Series Section (AR Level 2.0 and higher)
*Fiction picture books (AR Level 2.0 and higher)
*Chapter books (AR Level 2.0 and higher)
*Non-Fiction books (AR Level 2.0 and higher)
Depending on how many bookcases and number of shelves you have, will depend on how you will be able to arrange the books. Your non-fiction shelves should be your largest section of cases. Kindergarten level and Non-AR books** will not take up as much space, so they could share shelving.
You will want to put your lowest level books on shelves closest to the circulation desk. This way, as they are learning to find books and checkout; your clerk, volunteer, and/or you can watch them and assist as needed. Proximity is important with reinforcing procedures and behavior.
Map/sketch out the layout of the shelves the way you want them to be prior to moving books. Set up the sections you want to train the children on first. Once you know how the shelves will be organized, remove the books from the shelves the lowest level books will be on first. (Just find a place for them.)
I never open up the entire library for the first few weeks of checkout. This way the children can know, understand and explore each section without being overwhelmed with the entire library as a choice. (We will go into this more when we get to lesson planning.)
I never open up the entire library for the first few weeks of checkout. This way the children can know, understand and explore each section without being overwhelmed with the entire library as a choice. (We will go into this more when we get to lesson planning.)
You will need to clean the shelves.Take off any labels and remove the dust and grime. Clean your bookends as well.
You will need quite a few cleaning supplies on hand:
*Goo Gone
*Rags
*Endust or Pledge
*Clorox or Lysol (store brand)wipes (some schools do not allow Clorox wipes)
*Swifter wand and refills
*Label maker and refill cartridges (a lot of them)
*Lysol spray
Once the shelves are clean, locate all the books which belong in the lowest level section. Go ahead and begin to analyze your books:
*Weed out the ones which are damaged beyond repair.
*Clean the ones whose covers are dirty. (This will probably be all of them and don't forget the spine.) Be careful. If the labels are not covered with tape or a clear label, it may damage the label causing more work!
*If the spines are loose, you may want to set them aside as well. Make an executive decision about them.
*ALL the books you need to fix, find a place in a back room to deal with later. If you can keep them separated by "issue" that will make it easier when you have time to deal with them, if not, one big pile out of the main area will do.
*Put the ones which represent your library well and are in good condition on the shelves the way you want them.
Remember! Keep fiction and non-fiction separate. You want your students to realize which type of book they are checking out.
You don't want your shelves to be crammed from one side to the other. Children become overwhelmed when they have to "dig" through 20-30 books to find the book they want.
Look at the middle shelf in the picture on the left. For a kindergartner looking for a book, he would become frustrated quickly or make a huge mess. Neither of which are the results we want from our patrons.
My rule of thumb is to fill 1/3 on the left and the right. Leave the center blank so you can stand a book up or an object in the center to attract attention to the shelf.(See the shelves on the right.)
This process is massive and can become overwhelming. It is best if you can have A LOT of help! Make a plan before your volunteers show up. Plan (and sticky note label) where you want things to go. Have your work areas ready to go before they get there. Organization is the KEY! One or two can clean books, one can move books and clean the shelves and bookends. This will leave you to go through the books before you put the ones ready to be checked out on the shelves.
Next blog will cover how to organize the books on the bookcases.
**If you have enough books in the Non-AR section to checkout to your kindergartners, you might want to allow them to check them out first. This way your lower level AR books do not go missing or lost as they get used to borrowing and returning books. This section also comes in handy with self-contained ESE (special needs) classes who may not be as "careful or easy" with books, but still allows them to checkout books, too.
My rule of thumb is to fill 1/3 on the left and the right. Leave the center blank so you can stand a book up or an object in the center to attract attention to the shelf.(See the shelves on the right.)
This process is massive and can become overwhelming. It is best if you can have A LOT of help! Make a plan before your volunteers show up. Plan (and sticky note label) where you want things to go. Have your work areas ready to go before they get there. Organization is the KEY! One or two can clean books, one can move books and clean the shelves and bookends. This will leave you to go through the books before you put the ones ready to be checked out on the shelves.
Next blog will cover how to organize the books on the bookcases.
**If you have enough books in the Non-AR section to checkout to your kindergartners, you might want to allow them to check them out first. This way your lower level AR books do not go missing or lost as they get used to borrowing and returning books. This section also comes in handy with self-contained ESE (special needs) classes who may not be as "careful or easy" with books, but still allows them to checkout books, too.
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