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By: Morgan Strennen

Finding a cohesive way to organize supplies and other tools is essential part of incorporating makerspace in the media center!

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Demco® Modern Genre Subject Classification Labels

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Demco® Modern Genre Subject Classification Labels

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By: Morgan Strennen

Adding these labels on book spines will
provide a visual reference to help students locate specific genre subject classifications of their interest.

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I love the idea of using Makerspaces in the Library Media Center!

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This is an area where students can get involved with creating a library display of books that they enjoyed reading and recommend to their peers.
-Sam Emge

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I thought this was such a creative way to organize book drop off, and loved the detailed blog all about it! Will definitely be keeping this pin for future reference!

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Hi friends! Do you get overwhelmed by all of the library books that your students check in every day? Our guest blogger Amanda Maslonka shares her genius solution, plus more ways that students can help you keep your school library organized! Here’s what Amanda has to say… My name is Amanda, and I work in a large distri

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I thought this was such an amazing way to incorporate new technology into the library media center to encourage kids to find their books. I especially loved the speech option for students who are not reading/writing yet, or struggle with spelling!

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This display can help students who are not sure what to read next. It is an eye catching display to showcase new books and books that are currently trending in the library!

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Glenthorne Library on Instagram: “#Repost @sararosett with @get_repost ・・・ Libraries are Netflix for books. How often do you… | School library displays | School library displays, Library book displays, School library decor

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Glenthorne Library on Instagram: “#Repost @sararosett with @get_repost ・・・ Libraries are Netflix for books. How often do you go to the library? I drop in about once a week.…”

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The pictures on the tags can assist beginning readers and ELL students to find books quickly. Great for the Elementary Library!

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Whole Number Dewey: A Year Without Decimals

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Whole Number Dewey is common sense cataloging for elementary school libraries and children's sections of public libraries.

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This SLMS descibes how she has reorganized her media center. I found the comments and responses following the main article to be, in some ways, more valuable and thought provoking than the article itself.

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Hooray! I'm catching my breathe and finally getting the chance to write the follow up to my previous post entitled Welcome Back and What is Going on in the Library?!

If I knew how much work all this would be, I'm not sure I would have ever taken it on. With that being said, I'm ecstatic about my own naivete! We've already witnessed the positive results of this project, and we're still far from finished. We started fifth grade orientations this week, (will write a follow up post on particulars), and I used the comparison of cleaning out your garage with students; it gets messier before it gets better!

Nevertheless every student walked out with at least one nonfiction and one fiction book without a hitch, and most importantly, they're excited about reading the books they chose!

Now for the how. We prefaced every decision we made with these thoughts,

"Will this shelving decision help our students easily find the books they're looking for? Will this shelving decision help our students find new interests and foster understandings, through books that they never would have been attracted to in a more traditional shelving scenario?"

As described in the previous post, to start this project we massively weeded our collection. This was long overdue and in my humble opinion, it was not worth re-shelving books that no one is interested in, aren't appropriate for our students or teachers, are not up to date and are clogging up our shelves.

Next, we decided on a shelving scenario that would make the most sense for our students and our current and planned collection. This was not easy! Because we had just weeded the entire collection, we we're a bit more aware of what we had, which was a good thing. Even though we made a lot of inevitable mistakes and continuously needed to change our plans. We did stick with our decision to keep fiction separated from non-fiction. We plan to shelve fiction by genre, however there will be time consuming research and decision making involved in this process. In the mean time, we decided to keep the books on the shelves alphabetically by author until most of our fiction collection is labeled by genre. In addition we're not sure about what primary genres will work out best for our collection and student needs. We decided to use old genre stickers in the mean time but need to reevaluate books already labeled since we found many inaccuracies. For example, Winn Dixie was labeled animal book because there happens to be a dog in the story, however it's not truly the essence of the story. See what I mean about research and decision making! Cheryl Reed, the awesome substitute that I negotiated to get to assist in this project, found that Amazon was a good source for genre labeling unfamiliar books. Scroll down to the left hand bottom of the book's page to where it reads Look for Similar Items by Category. If you've found a better way to label an unfamiliar book's genre, please let me know by adding a comment to this post!

We decided on these nonfiction shelving topics and subtopics after much trial and error. It should be noted that part of our decision making rested on our current space: how many shelves we would designate for nonfiction books and trying to make each set or sets of shelves a different main topic. We also decided to keep things in alphabetical order, simply because it's an ordering system which we are all familiar with. We did fudge some of this however. For example, we liked the cross over between "Ourselves" and community so we named community "Our Community". We lucked out on many topics too. For example, "US Then and Now" luckily just happens to come just before "World Then and Now", which keeps history together. In addition, we decided to disperse biographies within the topics where they best belonged. For example: a book on Monet was placed in the Art section.

In addition, mainly due to our shelving scenario, which by the way, cannot be changed because the current flooring does not lie under the shelves, we added an area for special collections and highlights. Our special collections and highlighted books include:

Inspirational True Stories, The Titanic, Holocaust Stories, Orca Currents, Orca Sports, Graphic Novels, Author Bios, Hunger Games Book A-likes, Diary of a Wimpy Kid Book-A-Likes, Mummies and highlighted Series.

We kept our primary category signs clean and simple for now, by mounting card stock on pre-cut 11″ by 14″ foam core bought at Staples. We planned on buying shelf stoppers from Demco to denote subcategories, but in order to save money, we decided to use the shelf stoppers we already have, also giving us an opportunity to recycle some of our weeded books. I included the appropriate call number on the bottom of the shelf stopper signage in order to assist in finding and shelving books. See pics below:

Next Steps:

We need to update our nonfiction books' call numbers and spine labels according to classification, by scanning the bar label in Destiny, changing the call number accordingly and adding copy to a Clean Up Copy Category, which we will use to print new spine labels. In addition, we'll need to inventory our entire collection, since we decided this was a better option than deleting the records of weeded books.

Back to School Night is tomorrow night; hopefully these changes will make as much sense to parents as it does to their kids!

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Reshelving Project: Almost There and Already Awesome!

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Hooray! I'm catching my breathe and finally getting the chance to write the follow up to my previous post entitled Welcome Back and What is Going on in the Library?! If I knew how much work all this would be, I'm not sure I would have ever taken it on.

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This book would be a great way to introduce the Dewey Decimal System in an engaging way to primary students.

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We did this activity in our 5th grade classrooms in the fall in collaboration with our Library Media Specialist. The students loved it.

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This product will guide you to have a "Book Club Tasting" in your classroom! This is a fun way to give students a preview of book club books and involve them in the choice of which book they will read. Included in this product is: Teacher directions Invitations Tasting Menu Book Club Order Forms P...

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Our media specialist did this with our cart, and it is fabulous! Washi tape for the win!

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This is a cute lesson to introduce a scavenger hunt to your students to teach them about the Dewey Decimal System. It also gives them practice searching for books.

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Learning & Applying the Dewey Decimal System - Teacher-Created Lesson Plan | Common Sense Education

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Check out this lesson from a classroom teacher who uses Common Sense Education. It's part of a huge library of lessons that span grades K-12 and every school subject.

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The Librarian can post signs that provide information about topics included in each Dewey section or other special sections of the library.

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National Library- New Zealand offers easy tips and ideas for setting up your library

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Traditionally, fiction in a library is arranged by the author's surname from A to Z. Another approach worth considering is to arrange fiction into smaller genre sections then alphabetically within these sections.

Benefits of arranging fiction by genre

There are a variety of potential advantages to arranging fiction by genre. We have identified some of them below.

Helps students finding the 'right book'

Arranging fiction by genre can help students find what they want to read for pleasure more easily.

Successfully browsing, previewing and selecting is a critical first step towards reading engagement, and choosing 'the right book' to borrow can be a challenging first hurdle to overcome.

As readers, we all have reading preferences. Helping students understand and articulate what they like to read, and why, will:

develop their sense of self as a reader

give them strategies to find reading material they enjoy

lead to reading mileage and growth.

Arranging books by genre can provide a scaffold, or short cut, in the selection process. It doesn't suggest that students limit themselves to reading within a genre, as establishing real reading preferences will come from wide reading experience.

There was an increase in the borrowing from the library, but the biggest change was in usability for the students - they loved it, and found it so much easier to get at the books they wanted to read.
- Miriam Tuohy, Russell Street School

Encourages confidence and peer-to-peer recommendations

Arranging fiction by genre can encourage peer-to-peer book recommendations, conversations and reading mileage within a genre.

Fiction arranged by genre can also help students:

find books if they are encouraged or required to read across genres

identify and articulate their own reading preferences

independently find 'read-alikes'

find books they want to read more easily and quickly

students make the transition from junior fiction series into fiction genre, for example, 'Boy vs Beast' to 'Beastquest' to 'Fantasy' genre, or 'Puppy Place' to 'Pet Vet' to 'Animal stories'.

It can also help less confident, less experienced readers select books from a smaller, more tailored sub-collection.

For teachers and librarians

Arranging fiction by genre has advantages for teachers and librarians. Genrefication:

provides opportunities to discuss genres with students, and demonstrate what different genres are by their obvious physical arrangement

gives librarians a new perspective on collection strengths and weaknesses with the physical arrangement of the collection

shows librarians areas of high demand and areas to be promoted

provides librarians with statistics on collection use by genre

refreshes the look of the library, relocates authors that have 'always been in the same place' on the shelves

could provide a focus for book club discussions and activities

increases borrowing according to libraries that have switched to genrefication.

In the last two libraries I have been in I have done genre shelving for fiction. It has worked really well. I know we think it will make students lazy and stay in their own genre. But everywhere I have done genre shelving the issues figures have increased. The students find it easier to get the books they want and often read widely in that genre then move towards other genres.
- Karen Clarke, St. Patrick's College, Wellington

Disadvantages of arranging fiction by genre

There are potential disadvantages of arranging fiction by genre including:

rearranging your fiction is a big project to undertake - assigning genres, labelling, cataloguing, signage, physically rearranging, leading library users through the changes

difficulties in assigning a title to a specific genre

potentially books by the same author in different genre sections

students reading only within a single genre

the library's physical layout may not be conducive to smaller genre collections

increased complexity in terms of shelving, may be more challenging for younger student librarians

resistance to change from some library users.

Ways of defining genres

As much as fiction traverses a range of subjects it can feel rather arbitrary and restrictive to 'classify' a book into a single genre. But, generally speaking, it is possible to categorise books through shared characteristics of:

Another way of defining genres within children's literature has traditionally been by format and length such as picture books and graphic novels.

The short, easy-reading fiction for younger readers category is often published and promoted by series. They are not included in this discussion, as they are most effective in helping younger students transition from picture books to fiction or supporting less-confident readers when they are in a stand-alone collection, shelved and displayed by their series name.

Similarly, picture books and sophisticated picture books are not included, while graphic novels are in their own genre.

Identifying genre headings in your library

Your choice of genre headings will typically reflect your students' reading interests and school level. However, our 'Genres for young adult and young fiction' page lists some commonly used genre headings.
Genres for young adult and young fiction
You may want to consult with students about genre labels and options for terminology or make it part of student's learning, as outlined on the 'Mrs ReaderPants' website. This site also explores series, authors and titles within a genre in 'Genre section spotlights'.
Genrefication - Mrs. ReaderPants
Librarian Carina - has advice about identifying genre categories.

Before you change your collection arrangement

Before you make changes to your collection you could think about the following.

Evidence-based practice

If you are going to make changes to how your collection is arranged, it would be useful to gather some statistics about current usage of the collection beforehand. This allows you to measure, compare and report on the impact of the changes you make.

Your library management system (LMS) will give you data about borrowing information. And you may like to do a quick survey about how students currently choose books looking at:

Before and after photos of the library fiction can form part of the story you share about the process and results.

How, when and why considerations

How, when and why you approach making changes will depend on various aspects, such as:

Approaches to changing your collection arrangement

There are a range of approaches for arranging fiction by genre from simply labelling the books to complete physical reorganisation including:

No need to change the collection all at once

Changing the fiction arrangement doesn't need to be done all at once. The genre labels and catalogue information could be done as new books come in, or a particular genre could be collected together, labelled and displayed, working through the collection one genre at a time.

I noticed a group of girls were keen on horse stories, so I decided to feature them as a mini-collection all in one place to make the most of their enthusiasm. I went through the fiction and pulled out all the horse stories - there were more than either I or the students realised - and created a 'feature genre' display. Borrowing shot up, and the girls were reading more widely too - classics like 'Black Beauty' and 'My Friend Flicka' as well as all the series books like 'Pony Pals'. Next, I'm going to choose another genre to focus on - war stories, or historical stories maybe.
- Kris Robinson, Kerikeri Primary School

While handling your collection in this way, you may also like to do some weeding.
Weeding your collection

Practical considerations of fiction arranged by genre

We've noted some practical things to consider if you decide to arrange fiction by genre.

Labelling

Once you have decided on your approach, considered your users' needs and reviewed your collection to identify possible genre categories, then you can label the books. Options for labels include:

purchase specific, standard genre labels from suppliers

create your own easy to 'read' intuitive and distinctive genre labels using clip art or your own images.

use colour coding, connecting coloured labels for each genre to relevant coloured shelving signage. In your catalogue record refer to th e colour of the relevant genre section. Note that labelling genres by colour is very specific to your library, whereas genre names is probably more applicable to how a book is arranged in other libraries.

You may like to recruit student librarians or a student book club to help with the labelling.

Label placement on book

Some schools put the genre label directly above the spine label, others at the top of the book spine.

Adding the genre to the spine label means replacing existing spine labels, and can create quite a complicated looking label. For example, if you already have the first three letters of the author's surname and F for Fiction, NZ for New Zealand, adding a further labelling element risks obscuring vital wording on the spine.
School library suppliers list
Updating the Integrated Library System

When your fiction is sorted by genre, it's a good time to update the Integrated Library System (ILS) information. You can scan the barcodes of your genre piles and do a quick 'replace or update' function in your ILS.

Contact your ILS supplier for information about your system:

Shelving

Once labelled, you will need to consider the physical arrangement of the genre books. It may help to take the books from the shelves and group them by genre so you can see the relative sizes of the 'mini-collections' and consequent shelving requirements.

Arrange the books on the shelves alphabetically within the genre. Label the shelves, bays, sections with appropriate signage with as much of it facing outward as possible.

Examples of the genrefication process

For some examples of the genrefication process, visit:

Help your readers understand genres

If you decide to arrange your library's fiction by genre, make sure your readers understand what the changes mean for them. You might use your school's newsletter, social media or library web page to share this information with your school community.

Readers will also need to know:

which genres you're using and an explanation of each

where to find books in each genre, including how labels, signage or your catalogue can help

ways to discover their favourite genres or new genres to explore.

Show how your genres work

Here are some ways you can help students and staff find their way with genres in your library.

Talk about genres often. Mention a book's genre when you're reading aloud to students, or during book talks with classes.

Create materials that focus on a genre, such as displays, posters or bookmarks. Include a description and show books that highlight features of this genre.

Update your signage so readers can see where to find their favourite books.

If your library software can create a map of your collection, update it to show each genre's location.

Be consistent with the words, icons or images that describe or represent each genre - from spine labels and shelf signage, to catalogue records.

Help readers explore different genres

Some readers already know their favourite genres and may revel in being able to find these more easily. Other readers may need help figuring out what genres appeal to them.

Here are some ways to help readers discover and explore genres they'll enjoy.

Create read-alike lists - match TV shows or games to genres, or use the format 'Like ... try ... why'. See Epic Reads for ideas: Like Try Why #1.

Make genre quizzes - ask questions that lead to a genre suggestion. Mrs ReaderPants (Leigh Callazo) has a range of resources you can use or adapt: Mrs Readerpants genre quiz resources.

Play 'reading bingo' - create a bingo card using your library's genres and offer rewards for completion.

Set a genre challenge - see an example from Michelle Simms, Library Manager at Te Totara School: Library Skills Session - Year 5-6s.

Benefits of arranging fiction by genre

There was an increase in the borrowing from the library, but the biggest change was in usability for the students - they loved it, and found it so much easier to get at the books they wanted to read.
- Miriam Tuohy, Russell Street School

In the last two libraries I have been in I have done genre shelving for fiction. It has worked really well. I know we think it will make students lazy and stay in their own genre. But everywhere I have done genre shelving the issues figures have increased. The students find it easier to get the books they want and often read widely in that genre then move towards other genres.
- Karen Clarke, St. Patrick's College, Wellington

Disadvantages of arranging fiction by genre

Ways of defining genres

Identifying genre headings in your library
Genrefication - Mrs. ReaderPants
Before you change your collection arrangement

Approaches to changing your collection arrangement

I noticed a group of girls were keen on horse stories, so I decided to feature them as a mini-collection all in one place to make the most of their enthusiasm. I went through the fiction and pulled out all the horse stories - there were more than either I or the students realised - and created a 'feature genre' display. Borrowing shot up, and the girls were reading more widely too - classics like 'Black Beauty' and 'My Friend Flicka' as well as all the series books like 'Pony Pals'. Next, I'm going to choose another genre to focus on - war stories, or historical stories maybe.
- Kris Robinson, Kerikeri Primary School

Weeding your collection
Practical considerations of fiction arranged by genre
School library suppliers list
Examples of the genrefication process

Help your readers understand genres

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Traditionally, fiction in a library is arranged by the author's surname from A to Z. Another approach worth considering is to arrange fiction into smaller genre sections then alphabetically within these sections. Benefits of arranging fiction by genre There are a variety of potential advantages to arranging fiction by genre.

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This is a Follett wheel of Dewey categories from the 1940's that I thought was really visually amazing. It would need to be updated to include new topics like technology, but I think it would be really fun to have students make their own Dewey subject wheels as a library activity.

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This is a tour with great details and great ideas for organization. I love the labels and pictures!

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Bruce-Guadalupe Community School: Elementary Library Map

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I Think My Elementary Students Would Like This!

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I Think My Elementary Students Would Like This!

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Sorting books by series and labeling the bins with character images would be great and easy way for students to find/browse
popular series.

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I thought this would be a great reference when we start working in a library we did not organize originally

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Truly, library school doesn't teach you about 95% of what you need to know as a school librarian. So, I've decided to dedicate a section of this blog to all the new librarians out there. Please know that the struggle is real. It isn't you; it's all of us. We've all been there, and we're here to help.

First Days of School in a New-to-You Library

In looking through my draft blog posts from the past few months (I am terrible about starting things and not finishing!), I found this little gem about my first days in my new school library. I just got busy and never polished it up for posting. Four months later, I am having a chuckle at my advice for new-to-their-school librarians. All of this is soooo accurate! In fact, I am still dealing with some of these issues four months later.

So instead of saving this great information for the start of next school year, I am instead posting it in December. Some of you may be starting new school library jobs in January. And some of you may be like me and still dealing with new-to-you library issues. It is my hope that this article can help give you focus and perspective in the new year.

Feeling Over-shelved? 11 Easy Ways to Speed Up Shelving Time

There's an episode of Seinfeld where George asks Newman why postal workers "go postal." And Newman starts freaking out, shouting about how the mail never stops; it just keeps coming and coming and coming...! I see shelving library books the same way Newman sees the daily mail. The books keep dropping into the book return. Boom, kerplunk, thud! It never stops!!! Argh!

Help! It's Book Fair Time!
Want to run a book fair AND keep your sanity at the same time? It is possible, but you've got to get organized. Here are some things I've learned from running far more book fairs than I want to think about. You're welcome!

31 BOOKTALKING TIPS

Looking to up-your booktalking game? Here are 31 tips and 10 Don'ts that will help make your booktalks fabulous! I don't recommend trying to implement a lot of them at once. Pick one or two and give them a try this week!

(Booktalking Tips is four different posts. Click on a picture below to go to that post.)

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Truly, library school doesn't teach you about 95% of what you need to know as a school librarian. So, I've decided to dedicate a section of this blog to all the new librarians out there. Please know that the struggle is real. It isn't you; it's all of us.

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Interesting Way to Engage Students in the Dewey Decimal System

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Interesting Way to Engage Students in the Dewey Decimal System

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After our "Dark Side of Dewey" discussion, I may omit his photo. Otherwise, a cool idea.

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This Could be a Fun Way to Start the School Year!

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This Could be a Fun Way to Start the School Year!

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This isn't practical for a media center, but our school's Scholastic book room is organized by F&P level.

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A Librarian can create displays based on popular topics or curricular connections.

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Organizing by Specific Grade Levels and Categories

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Organizing by Specific Grade Levels and Categories

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Cute idea for organizing by specific parameters.

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4. Involve Students in Keeping Your Space Organized

Now, let's be honest, do kid always put things back where they belong? No. Do they clean up after themselves when they should? No. Do they walk away from messes? Yes. But my students have learned that, as they leave, they need to clean up the space for the next group.

Every couple of months I get a few volunteers who are willing to go through containers, bins and garbage cans to just make sure that things are where they should be. We find marbles in the magnets, scissors in the glue and thread in with the pipe cleaners. With 610 kids using the space, this is to be expected.

Realistically, makerspaces are bound to be (and probably should be) a little messy if students are given the opportunity to truly explore their passions and ideas in a culture of making. But with the right organization tools, you'll keep your sanity, and your everyone will function better in the space.

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Keys to Organize Your Library Makerspace With Zones, Labels & Storage

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Makerspaces can get messy! Do you have a strategy to stay organized? Angela Rosheim offers ideas to keep your school or library makerspace materials in order and easy to find. You'll also get storage tips, ideas for handling works in progress and advice on how to get students to help keep your makerspace in order.

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student centered lesson

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***This is the directions that I would take through as students watch me create an example. Most students by 3rd grade have used this app, and have a good understanding of how it works.**** Explain Everything is an App that allows you to create a presentation with voice over. It is like an interactive Power Point
I will give students an example of 8 slides. These slides will have the correct wording, for students to use in their presentation.

I will introduce "Explain Everything App."

How to create a new presentation. First you select the App, then when it opens find the + button and select a color scheme.

Now you will see your presentation. At the bottom of the screen find, "Slide 1 of 1, and hit the + button next to it until you see 8 slides.

To add text select the "A" button on the left hand side of the screen. Then tap on the presentation and start typing.

To add a picture there is a "+" button the left hand side of the screen. Then select add a photo. It will show your photos you have taken ahead of time.

Student Instructions

During this time students are not on their iPads but they are watching the teacher as I model what they will do.

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Explain Everything-How to use the OPAC - Teacher-Created Lesson Plan | Common Sense Education

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This is the directions that I would take through as students watch me create an example. Most students by 3rd grade have used this app, and have a good understanding of how it works.**** Explain Everything is an App that allows you to create a presentation with voice over.

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I saw a librarian at one of my schools use these. I though it was a great idea.

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Shelf marker holder in school Library. | Library Organization | Pinterest | Library shelves, Library organization and Library lessons

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This is an AACPS-approved flash game that helps students practice shelving books alphabetically and by Dewey number. My students got VERY into it.

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A fun way for students to practice putting books in order so they can better understand call numbers.

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Great organization for commonly used genres/collections.

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Flag series with these shelf markers. Customize them with images from the books.

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this is a great idea if you have older students helping you re-shelve books