How to Build an Engaging Classroom Library
When I started teaching I was stuck on Pinterest searching how get reading materials for the students. I didn’t care if they were quality books or if they were published in 1972. All I knew is that I just wanted a classroom library. I scavenged yard sales and donation bins. I was eager just to get books, and not paying much attention to the quality. You can imagine my surprise when the students were not reading the books. First, I provided the students with a Reading Interest Survey.
Looking back the students would always ask, can we go next door and get books. I couldn’t understand why since I had a lot more books than he did in his library. Then it hit me! My co-worker classroom library was small, but he had engaging materials. My co-worker was taking the time to build his classroom library. It took me four years to realize what he was doing. Learn from my mistakes. I have some actionable tips on how you can create a high quality, relevant, and engaging classroom library.
Donor’s Chose Grants
Donor’s Chose is the first place you should start in attempting to get books for your classroom. There are a lot of opportunities for matching and getting fully funded. Once you have your project posted, start reaching out to family, friends, and parents. Also, tweet and post your project on Instagram. You can get some amazing books for your classroom. An important tip is to keep your projects under $500. You can find more details about getting funded on the blog post Getting Funded on Donor’s Chose: Up’s and Down’s. If you have a project more than $500, split the project into smaller projects. You can find some great options for books at ALSC (American Association for Library to Children). Use the Reader’s Interest Survey to help guide what you put in the grant.
FirstBook.org
FirstBook is a non-profit organization that offers high quality and engaging books to Title 1 schools. Start a simple fundraiser for books. You can sell candy at school or host a school event. Then use those profits to purchase highly discounted books. FirstBook also has a book bank. The book bank allows you to provide free books to your student. All you have to pay for is shipping. You can use the Reader’s Interest Survey to make suggestions to parents. I would also suggest you use the survey to have people donate to your classroom.
Facebook Marketplace
You can hit the jackpot in the Facebook Marketplace. This year I was scrolling and found an ad about boxes of books. The seller’s church had received boxes and boxes of free books from a national bookstore that was closing. The church was selling the books for $15 a box. I was able to completely redo my classroom library for $75! There were boxes and boxes of brand new books. All you have to do is follow the tag on Facebook, and keep your eyes open for these amazing deals. To ensure the books are high quality I reviewed the book reviews. I also read as many as I could to ensure they are relevant to my students and the classroom.
Scholastic Warehouse Sale
The Scholastic Warehouse Sale is amazing way to get books. You can volunteer to work the sale. In exchange for your time you get paid an hourly rate. For example, you volunteer to work 5 hours at a sale and receive $50 in credits to buy books. You can also participate in any specials they have going on as well. They recently had a buy one book and get another book for free sale. These are brand new books that you can provide for your students. After having the students complete the survey, you will have an idea of what the students would like. I also like looking on Scholastic for the latest news on book trends.
School Library & Public Library
Your school and public library can be a great resource for building a quality and engaging classroom library. Most libraries in my city let teachers checkout up to 25 books at a time. Also, teachers can check out library books from the school library. Try looking on websites that keeps you updated on the latest book trends. This will help you in deciding what to check out for your students. My favorites are Publishers Weekly and Goodreads.
If you have any questions or would like to share some insight please comment below.
