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School Library

  • 1.  School Library

    Posted 01-21-2019 09:45 PM
    Hello,
    I teach at an early childhood center that struggles, as do many centers, to find enough space to adequately store materials and books. Currently, all of the books that the center owns are housed in cardboard boxes in a common storage room. The books are  boxed by arbitrary categories that were decided by someone long ago. It is very cumbersome and time consuming to try and locate a book in the storage room. Furthermore, we have no system for tracking down a book we want, and have to resort to asking each teacher if they have seen that particular book. As a result, I mostly rely on the public library, which is a fabulous resource. I would like to help improve the school library situation, and would love to hear from people who feel that their school has effective ways of storing and circulating books. Thanks for your help!

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    Hilary Laing
    Teacher
    Orono Discovery Center
    Orono MN
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  • 2.  RE: School Library

    Posted 01-22-2019 10:55 AM

    We have organized our books into tubs, with thematic units. The tubs are one per age level or one per classroom, depending on how many books. We also include some art ideas and some curriculum suggestions (we use Creative Curriculum, so this works for us).

    We also have books that stay in each classroom, and books that we pull out for carpool dismissal time, when kids are lined up in the hall.

    It takes a long time, but is worth it. We used parent volunteers, paid teachers during the summer, and then made the maintenance part of our curriculum coordinator's job. We

    Books are being used way more than they were before, when teachers didn't have the time or the energy to sort through them.

    Good Luck!

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    Nina Burrows
    Preschool Director
    FUMC Preschool
    Fort Worth TX
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  • 3.  RE: School Library

    Posted 01-24-2019 08:07 AM
    Thanks for all of the suggestions! Very helpful.


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    Hilary Laing
    Teacher
    Orono Discovery Center
    Orono MN
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  • 4.  RE: School Library

    Posted 01-23-2019 06:19 AM
    Hi, not sure how to help you solve the issue of physically organizing/storing your books, but you may want to check out the website "Library Thing."

    https://www.librarything.com

    For a one-time fee of $25, or a yearly fee of $10, you can enter all of your books so teachers can see what you have on site from a computer or smart phone. If you have less than 200 books, it is free.

    You can scan books in with a smart phone or enter info manually. Maybe as you enter each book, you can organize alphabetically by author's last name or title & label each box? 

    Would require some work up front & somebody willing to add/remove books over time, but would be an easy way for staff to quickly see what is on site before going to a library.  I used this for my personal children's book collection when I was a classroom teacher because I often couldn't remember what I had & it helped me with lesson planning. 




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    Lori Burkart
    EI/ECSE Assessment Specialist
    Columbia Gorge ESD
    The Dalles, OR
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  • 5.  RE: School Library

    Posted 01-24-2019 07:19 AM
    I am definitely going to look into the library app suggested! I have over 700 books of my own and I am constantly buying duplicates because I forget what I have.  

    Thanks, 
    Jamie Jenkins

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    Jamie Jenkins
    Winslow IN
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  • 6.  RE: School Library

    Posted 01-23-2019 10:39 AM
    We use an app called Libib that helps us catalog all our titles and add descriptions and notes to help us find the books we need.  We store books (colorcoded with masking tape on the binding by subject/topic) on shelving in our hallways.  Would love to hear any suggestions people have on storing big books.

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    Meaghan F
    NY
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  • 7.  RE: School Library

    Posted 01-23-2019 10:39 AM
    We use LibraryThing which is an online easy to use system.  Cost is minimal (depending on how many books you have and whether you want to have a check in/check out system).  It takes some time initially to get all the books in, but I found parent volunteers were willing to take a tub of books home and enter them, especially if you buy their little Library Cat scanner.  Then they all go in one central area alphabetized by author.  It is GREAT!

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    Julie Bedard
    Wildwood FL
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  • 8.  RE: School Library

    Posted 01-23-2019 01:58 PM
    We have about 1700 categorized books for teachers to use.  I spent about a week this summer scanning them with the BookBuddy Pro app (about $4.99 and well worth it!).  They are tagged in as many categories as I want, and stored in magazine files by main category.  Teachers can download the app onto their personal devices and access our library from home while lesson planning, and they love it.  The app has availability to check out books, but I have not used it that way.  We love our library and use our books so much more because of it!
    Books in Labeled Magazine Files

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    Allison VanLoon
    Director
    Acorn Academy
    Ham Lake MN
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  • 9.  RE: School Library

    Posted 01-23-2019 07:19 PM
    Great Evening,

    I commend you, that was a wonderful idea and took time to do. It shows how much you care about children, and making sure that their teachers have resources that can help them truly make a difference in their kids. It is nice to know that your staff has a wonderful director that goes the extra step. I hope that you continue to prosper and educate.

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    Cassandra Murff
    Southfield MI
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  • 10.  RE: School Library

    Posted 01-23-2019 07:33 PM
    This is a great idea. I have a very small school and we are in the process of putting our library together. I am going to research this app.

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    Keisha Wright-Daniel
    Director
    C.A.R.E. For Me Children's Learning Center
    Pennsauken NJ
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  • 11.  RE: School Library

    Posted 01-24-2019 12:16 PM
    We use the social media site Goodreads for our catalogue, which also has a free app with a scanner. We use the "read" shelf for books we have, and the "want to read" shelf for books on our wishlist. You can also create additional "shelves" for categories.

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    Encian Pastel
    Richmond CA
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  • 12.  RE: School Library

    Posted 01-23-2019 11:19 PM
    I, too, am in a location with little storage for all of our books.  I love all of the ideas that were shared and will be giving recommendations for what might work best for us.  You have definitely put a lot of sweat, and probably tears, into your library.  Some of ours were sorted similar to yours, but no resale categories or themes.  Great job!

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    Natalie Mcintire
    Director
    Helen Lieber Early Learning Academy
    Hartford City IN
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