Editor's Note: Franki and Aimee are exchanging four letters during August as they arrange their classroom libraries and think about matching books to their third and fourth grade students' needs. In late September, they will compare notes to see how well their rearranged libraries worked for students.

From: Franki
To: Aimee
Re: Getting Started

Hi Aimee!

I worked on my classroom library for the first time this week. It is always a bigger job than I think it is going to be. This year, I am sharing the 3/4 multiage classroom with another teacher. We moved into a classroom that had about 900 books that the district had purchased. So, between my co-teacher, the district, and me we are technically combining three sets of books. I find that I have to give myself a certain amount of space or else I can take up the entire room with books. The space determines what can stay and what has to be packed away. It is always lots of decisions.

Since I taught 5th grade last year, I want to make sure that my library is appropriate this year. I am trying to remember what beginning 3rd graders read. I know I'll also have some struggling 3rd graders so I want to make sure that picture books and poetry are prominent in the classroom so that those are valued as books for reading time. I know that once kids start reading chapter books (about 2nd/3rd grade), they think the fatter, the better. For struggling readers, that adds more stress. So, I tried to weed out those huge books like Inkheart by Cornelia Funke. I figure the kids who will read those will find them on their own. My main worry is that I have the right books for the span of kids who will be reading them. Which books are you adding for your 3rd graders?

Right now, we have a section that is along one wall that will house nonfiction in baskets by topic.

An idea from my colleague Jen - a basket of nonfiction books in a question and answer format.

We have a long wall that is completely lined with shelves that will house baskets of fiction-baskets organized by author and series. And then we have three shelves by our easel area where we have picture books. We have a shelf by the sink with poetry. And we have two shelves in the back for spine-out fiction novels that don't seem to fit the baskets. I want them to be separated by genre so the younger kids can actually see the different genres in different places. And the spacing seems right. Now it is a matter of organizing them within that space. Any ideas?

My big work this week is really thinking through those baskets of series and author books. I am giving it a shot and trying to figure out whether I have met the span of readers in 3rd and 4th grade. I know that the library set up will teach them lots about book choice so I want to make sure it works for everyone. So, that is my next big job. Then I need to think about weeding out some picture books and novels - we have far too many. Which ones stay and which get packed up? How are you making these decisions?

Such decisions!

Franki

Aimee's Response

From: Aimee
To: Franki
Re: Weeding

Hi Franki -

I can relate to ... everything you've written. I am teaching third grade, after I've been teaching fourth for nine years. Also I moved to a new classroom, and as with any move, I realize I have too much stuff.

One of my goals has been to reestablish a reading area in this new classroom. I really want the classroom to look spacious and not crowded. This is what my mother would call an unrealistic task. To top things off, my classroom comes with two metal bookcases - no built in shelving. So my challenge had been collecting enough bookshelves. Now that I have those set up, along a long wall and a short wall, making a corner reading area, I'm ready to weed out, sort, and organize.

I thought before moving I gave away a lot of books. It seems I keep unpacking more and more. I realized that I don't think I've weeded out books - ever. So I have more than a decade's worth of books to go through. I've decided to weed out most of the longer, more complex books my high readers in fourth grade would read. I'm also looking at copyright dates. Books that were copyrighted before 2000 are coming under close examination from me. If I don't remember kids reading and/or writing about it or if it looks like it hasn't been read in a long while, then I will weed those out. I picked the year 2000 out of the air. If that doesn't weed out enough, then I may reconsider that.

I am concerned about meeting the needs of my lower readers and average readers as well. I will rebuild part of my book collection with them in mind. I do want to keep enough challenging text, however, for my high readers. I think it's easy to become so wrapped up in the kids that "struggle" that we may over look the kids who "excel." So I plan to keep my Avi books around - especially the Poppy series. I love Kate Klise's novels, but I think the humor will be above third grade heads. I may take those home. (I can't part with her books.)

I plan to have fiction books sorted in baskets by genre, series, author and then do the same thing you are for the books that don't fit into a category. These will be on the two walls forming the corner of the "library" area. At the far end, I have picture books on display and several crates of picture books. I haven't really sorted these - usually I just have fiction picture books and nonfiction. The books on display are ones I'll use with the class, new books I want to display, and books on the topics we're studying in social studies and science. I think I'll go peek in some first grade classrooms and see how they sort their picture books.

My nonfiction books - including poetry - are on the metal book shelves formed at an angle on the other side of the room. I'm suddenly thinking - WHY? Am I short changing nonfiction by having it away from the larger reading area? Does it deter my students from reading nonfiction? Maybe I need to rethink the placements of those bookshelves.

Nonfiction is organized in baskets by topic. So I have the weather books in one basket, rock books in another, and government books in still another. (By the way, I found some great baskets at the dollar store near us. I'm finally getting them all in the same color scheme. Limited budget...) With my new curriculum, this will be another high need in my reading area.

Another challenge I have brewing in my mind relates to guided reading and literature circles. In past years I have done different things. Sometimes I kept these texts in the general circulation of books and went searching for them as I needed them. Other years I have kept these books to the side and used them as needed. How do you organize those books? For guided reading, I prefer short texts, so I do use a lot of articles from assorted news and kids magazines. How do you organize these books?

MAGAZINES! I have to sort those too. Do you have a magazine section in your room? How do you organize those? I think they're important to have around for quick reads and to promote nonfiction reading. Hmmmm... just one more thing to think about.

Aimee

Franki's Response

Hi Aimee!

This always sounds so much easier than it really is when it comes down to it! I keep rethinking so many of my decisions and playing with the library.

I agree about meeting the needs all readers with the library. I guess I am not sure where my stronger 4th grade readers will be. I am trying to weed out those books that many of my strong 5th graders read this year. I am so torn every time I weed a book. I know that it often takes one book to get a child reading and I never know which book it might be. I am keeping lots of the older books but they have to be good. I have a basket of award winners and a basket of classics. So many of the author baskets have books that are older, but they are great ones like the Ramona series. I have finally weeded out all of the books I purchased at the beginning of my career---you know the ones you purchase at any garage sale when you are building your library?

I've thought about the fiction/nonfiction placement a lot. In our classroom, we don't really have a reading area. We have a meeting area, but we meet there for all subjects. I read a long time ago that for primary students it is a good idea to separate fiction from nonfiction. It teaches young students the difference between the two just by the placement. And kids learn about why they read certain books when they have to walk to a different place in the room. So, I started separating them when I taught kindergarten and have stuck with that. It also spreads books out for me so that kids are never crowded in the reading area. When they are shopping for books, there are several places they can be. I am worried that the poetry section is too far removed from the rest of the books, but Jen (who I am sharing a classrom with) has this great little rug that we put right in front of the poetry to create a little spot for reading it. I also have a basket of poems on top that may invite reading them.

Weeding and organizing books into baskets.

As for literature circles, etc. I always have a "Read With a Friend" bookshelf that houses books in sets of two or more. I used to keep those books packed away but then I realized that if I want kids to know that I value talking about books, those sets needed to be out and visible to students. So, I put sets of books together so when kids wanted to read together, create book clubs, etc. the books were visible. I loved it and kids used them so much. But space is an issue this year and I'm not sure that we'll have a space for them. Soooo, that section may go. I may find a way to put them in baskets in cupboards and just somehow make them accessible to the students. I haven't figured that out yet.

I am really bad at organizing and making choices around magazines. I weeded out all of the magazines I had - I didn't pack and move them with me. I think they are really important but I want them to be current. So, I didn't feel bad about getting rid of last year's. I usually put them in baskets on top of shelves but I have very few to start the year. This is not a strength in my classroom library but I'd like to make them more available. Which ones do you get and how do you organize them?

I am trying to pull lots of picture book authors and series in with the other chapter series books so that they are seen as valued parts of the library. I have several author baskets including Patricia Polacco, Louise Borden, and Chris Van Allsburg. I'd like to have even more and add some poetry author baskets too. I also have authors like Jon Scieszka and Ralph Fletcher who have picture and chapter books. I feel like we are missing some great picture books with our kids during reading time because they are set on reading chapter books. I have a good collection of picture book fairy tales (The Princess and the Pea by Lauren Child is my new favorite!) and those are on a designated shelf. I hate for kids to miss these great books as options for reading time.

I try to display new books on top of all of my shelves. I try to change them often and I use plate holders or something similiar so they are standing up on display. I also have a basket for new books, a basket for books we've read aloud, etc. One of my favorite baskets is my Fun With Words basket.

The "Fun with Words" basket.

It has lots of books with great word play, books about words, books with puns, etc. I also have a basket of books about books and reading. These are just miscellaneous baskets but they are some of my favorites that don't really fit anywhere else.

What do you do about books you use for writing? Do you have any baskets or places for books that you use in minilessons or by mentor authors? I have never done this but wonder if I should. I noticed in your video that you had a display shelf with books and post-its. Were those the books you were using in Writing Workshop? I am not sure how to use the library to better support writing. Any ideas?

Franki

Aimee's Response

Hello Franki,

I spent the day weeding, and I didn't use copyright. I decided that younger children need books with decent size pages and print. Many of my books have small pages and print. I thought those would be more difficult, on the whole, and began there. As I was doing this, I realized that many of the books I wanted to keep were books that I liked, not necessarily books that are appropriate for third grade. Catching myself a number of times thinking this, I began to weed those too. I kept a personal copy of them and gave the rest to a new fifth-grade teacher. So now I think I have plenty of room to grow. I may have to go back to those garage sales! : )

I keep a basket of books near my easel that I use as mentor texts. It's a revolving basket, in that the books change. I first make sure I read them to the class and then later use them for writing. In my video, the books displayed with post-its were books we had read as we prepared for our persuasive writing unit of study. We then used those same texts as mentor texts. Since any book can be used to model writing, I don't separate trade books other than how I described. I do have a basket of books with characters who write. And I have a shelf of books about writing -- including books with famous first lines, histories of words, how to write a paragraph, and information on the writing process. I keep these with other writing resources near the computer area. Actually, I just found a gem at my grocery store. It's a picture book version of Eats, Shoots, and Leaves. It's perfect for this section of books on writing.

I have a ton of magazines that our library discarded. They're within two years of printing and are on topics that won't change much -- like hurricanes, money, etc. I think I'm going to purchase some cardboard file holders -- not magazine holders -- that I can staple to a bulletin board. That way the magazines can face out and kids can be allured by the cover. I'll also ask for parents to donate a magazine subscription from a wishlist of magazines for kids I provide. I will have them send it to their home so their child can read it first and then bring it into share with the class.

What do you do with book jackets on hardback books? I hate how torn up they get. I used to laminate them, but that is a lot of trouble. Now I take them off the book, since most hardbacks have the same picture as the book jacket. I use the jackets as posters around my room. I also clip off the "About the Author" section and add it to our wall of fame. (That is where I keep pictures of different authors and information about them. One year I added students as they wrote books. I may do that again.)

I kept my nonfiction on the other side of the room. I thought you made a good point to help children understand the difference between fiction and nonfiction. I decided I wanted my kids in the poetry section more often, too. So I put two book cases together that have three shelves. On top of the bookcases I'm showing two of my favorite anthologies: School Supplies and Advice for a Frog. The first shelf has the letter trays I use to collect work and next to each stack of trays is another book of poetry. Then I have filled the rest of the bookshelves with poetry books and baskets. So children will HAVE to go there. Is that too manipulative???

What are you going to use as your first read aloud? I know this has little to do with classroom libraries, but now that we're talking books, I can't help but ask. Also, do you keep comic books in your class library? I don't usually, but I'm finding that I use comics a lot when we're talking about inferring. Also, I reread Kelly Gallagher's Reading Reasons, and he does keep comics in his classroom. Just wondering what your take is on that.

Another thing I'd like to pick your brain about ... I noticed many teachers have their books organized by levels. Our teacher book room is organized that way, which is helpful for teachers, but I am not sure I want to do that in my class library.

Getting close to organized with my classroom library.

There are two reasons for this: first, libraries, media centers, and bookstores are not organized by level. If we are teaching children to become independent, lifelong readers they have to know how to find books. Second, no matter what system people use -- colors, numbers, letters ... kids always know. One year, I remember asking a child what his favorite book was from third grade. (I was teaching fourth grade at the time.) He said, "Oh, a level R." I worry about sending level readers off to the next grade rather than voracious ones. What do you think?

Happy book sorting,

Aimee

Franki's Response

Hi Aimee!

You sound like you are moving right along! We are still working. Jen and I worked on our library for several hours this weekend. We had to do more weeding and we squeezed in two more bookshelves! I have the nonfiction area set up - about five sets of shelves organized by baskets. Our biggest challenge there was fitting the baskets on the shelves. Because the books are so big, many of the baskets have to be put in sideways. Kids may have to pull the basket out to browse.

We have lots of topics and are trying to highlight some current titles. We found that lots of what we have is connected to content that we've taught in the past -- not necessarily something kids would pick up. I've been picking up really good new nonfiction books that aren't related to topic -- like Balls! by Michael J. Rosen and What Stinks? By Marilyn Singer. I found last year that if I wanted my kids to choose to read nonfiction, I had to have lots of nonfiction that was just interesting to read and I had been putting my money into content-related books.

As for fiction, I've highlighted LOTS of series books. I think my fiction section is about 1/2 series and 1/2 author baskets. I tried to get a balance between levels of text so I have some easy and hard series books on the shelves. This part of the library takes up the most space because I think it teaches them about book choice most. I want them to get to know authors, etc. It takes up a whole wall in our classroom. I did include some picture book authors on this shelf. I included Patricia Polacco, Louise Borden, Ralph Fletcher, and Cynthia Rylant. I wanted to make sure I was valuing picture book authors as well. We had the same challenge with the Magic Schoolbus books. We put them all in a basket together and I think they'll probably go with the series books at this point, only because we have a bit more space to play with there than on the nonfiction shelves.

I think we have about 100 books in the Boxcar Children series.

What will we do with 100 Boxcar Children books?!

We also have about 100 Matt Christopher books. We've filled a basket and are trying to decide what to do with these extras. I can't imagine anyone needs that many of them in one classroom. So, we will probably pass them along to some new teachers who may need books. My thought is that if they love the Boxcar Children, they could easily go to the library once they've read all twenty books that fit in the basket. I feel like the role of the classroom library is to help each child build an identity as a reader, so I am not sure that we need that many of one series. The pile is still sitting in the middle of the floor as we decide.

We also have a section of novels that are spine out -- library style. These are books that don't necessarily fit into the basket categories. I like to have a space like that for kids who just want to browse and be surprised by what they find. This would be similar to what I do in the bookstore sometimes -- just browsing for a book that catches my eye.

In terms of picture books, we have those front and center in the room. I have quite a few but lots are more appropriate for K/1 (I purchased these when I taught kindergarten). But I want to make sure I place more value on them for independent reading time than I did in the past. We pulled an entire shelf of versions of traditional tales like Cinderella and Goldilocks and the Three Bears. My new favorite on this shelf is The Princess and the Pea by Lauren Child. Most of these picture books are spine out mostly because of space issues. So, I need to figure out a way to highlight some.

Did I tell you that I heard Lester Laminack speak this week? He reads aloud better than anyone I know. Very engaging. So, I am thinking about adding a basket of books called "Books That Are Fun to Read Aloud" (another creative title!?). I think there are so many books that are like this -- books that kids could have fun with. I figure it will help fluency and really have them looking at text. But, my main goal would be for them to have fun with it. I've pulled a few books already that would go in there -- mostly funny picture books.

My poetry shelf is still pretty basic. No books highlighted so I need to make time to talk about poetry and to booktalk some books. I have a good selection of poetry books. Some years they are well used and some years, they aren't.

I guess our next task is to label each of the baskets. I like to have a photo on each label to support the kids in book choice. So, if it is an author basket, I usually have a photo of the author. If it is a series basket, I often use a photo of a main character or a book cover. For nonfiction, I usually find clip art that relates to the topic. I want to wait until the library is almost finished before I make labels.

As usual, this took more thinking than I had planned! I am sure I'll have to play with some of it as the year goes on. It is so hard to do this when you don't know your readers.

Franki