Tricks of the Trade- Classroom Library

Only three and a half more days of school!   I cannot wait and I know my students are eager to finish up and get to summer vacation!  It has been a long and hard year and I am excited for a break!  I am once again linking up with Jessica from Joy in the Journey and Becky from Compassionate Teacher for their Tricks of the Trade!  This weeks topic is my favorite: Classroom Libraries!  

I have spent a lot of time getting my classroom library the way I have wanted it.  I have spent hours labeling and separating books in to the appropriate baskets.  My library is one of my pride and joy things in my classroom.  Let's take a look...

My books are placed in baskets according to topics.  I try and have an equal amount of fiction and non-fiction and a wide range of topics.  Each book has a Loiacono sticker on the back and a colored dot with a letter on the front.  The colored dots are used to know which basket each book belongs in.  My blue stickers are fictions, green are science books, yellow are history and red stickers are for other categories: picture books, math books, poetry and grammar books.  Students find this system very easy to use.  

I have started using Classroom Organization Booksource and online book cataloguing system and I am loving it!  It is very simple to use and I love having a record of the books I own.  I have been using my iPhone to scan the books and the website to add books that don't have a bar code or cannot be found.  I have scanned two shelves and I am already over 400 books.  I still have five more shelves to go!!!  I am excited to try the student check out next year.  This year I have used card pockets in file folders with each students' name on a pocket.  Each of my books has a pocket with an index card with the title on it in the back of the book.  The student removes the card and places it in their pocket.  This system has worked ok, but I know some of my books have gone missing...I am hoping the electronic system might work a little better next year.

I hope you have enjoyed a look into one of my favorite classroom spaces, my library!  Tomorrow is Olympic Day so I need to get my rest for a fun filled day!

Rosie