Yesterday I sat arranging books by genre, and levels, putting them neatly in baskets, all spines facing outward so that my students would have no trouble choosing a book that they would love to read, one that they could curl up with at night, one that would yield hours of enjoyment.
This afternoon I looked over at the library and noticed that the baskets were not in the proper order, book lay strewn across the floor, and the labels that I so carefully made were beginning to hang off.
As I saddled up next to a student for a reading conference she whispered,"I love the new books that you displayed." Then I looked around the room and saw my students reading and engaged with text. I noticed that they had books on board-the ones from my book talk and newly arranged displays-even though they were not yet at the end of their current read.
After reading workshop I sat down and rearranged the library.
Again.
8 comments:
I love having time to rearrange books. It's always better for everyone when it looks more appealing!
S
It is a never ending chore. I hate book organizing, but it does help the kids.
Wow...this could have been me writing this. But, better that you have to clean up everyday than have those books sit there untouched!
I do love when half the books I put on display end up in the log-out book. lol
I'm currently doing this on my home bookshelf...
Thanks for sharing your story.
Ah- Love those ahha moments. What's a little mess when the kids are "engaged with text.". But then I guess you'd know I'd say that.
Writing from messy brooklyn...
Been enjoying reading your words...
Please come by and show some love for Tisha, one of our judges for our first Color Online Black History Month Writers'Contest.
I've recently shared with a friend what peculiar people we school librarians are. As a librarian, we have to have our order; our books arranged correctly on a shelf classified by dewey numbers calculated to the third decimal place. Spines are lined evenly on the shelf and tightly held together by bookends. Throughout the day, students come into the library moving, removing, unshelving and upending books. We're so glad to see students are finding the books!!! And, we straighten them all again and again and again!
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