How to Organize Books

It's much more exciting and fun to read when books are organized in a kid-friendly way, whether at home or at school.  Having to choose a book from a big pile or from a group of books all stacked together on a shelf is a daunting task for many kids.  Here are some suggestions that have worked well for me.

1)  I divide my classroom books into categories such as mysteries, people books, non-fiction animal books, fairy tales, etc.  I store each group of books in a plastic shoe box (usually available for about $1 at Wal-Mart or Target).   Then I put a matching colored round sticker on the top corner of all the books in each set so that the children will remember which box to return the book.  I've found that it is cheaper to just buy a set of white round stickers and then color them whatever color I want them to be with a marker.  That gives me more options on what colors I can use also. 

A tub of "people books" with blue sticker labels so the kids know where to return them.

Part of our classroom library divided up by category.

2)  Sometimes it is nice to have a section of books divided by reading level so that children can choose a book that they know will be just right for them to read.  You can either level the books yourself (you start to get a pretty good idea of levels just by looking at them after awhile), or there are several websites that have lists of leveled books you can search through. 

Books labeled according to reading level.

3)  I like to keep a shelf open for seasonal and holiday books.  That way the kids always have something new and fun to look at throughout the year.

Halloween books on my seasonal book shelf.