Library Organization

I am into my second week in second grade!  I survived- and I must admit that after the first day, I wasn't sure if I would!  All you second grade teachers out there, this third grade teacher wants to send you a big THANK YOU!  I never realized all the social skills that beginning of the year second graders are lacking- and beginning of they year third graders are not...

I am posting today however, to say that I have found a book check-out system that works for me and my classroom library!  This process has been 4 years in the making and I am so happy that it works.  My first year teaching  I started out with no check-out system and I "lost" so many books that I knew I needed to try something.  I moved to a paper/pencil/card system- way too complicated!  I tried the technology route- but the kiddos had a hard time logging in to the program I used and looking up the book to check it out.  Then I noticed my school librarian use paint sticks during book "shopping."  The kiddos grab their numbered stick and use it to hold the place of the book that they are looking at- if they decide not to check it out, they know right where to put it back.  I thought I might be on to something if I tried a system like this and then...what do you know but I saw an example of what I was thinking online (I would love to link up to the blog post/pin that I saw but I can't find it)!

Book sticks in the bins

So here is what I did: 

I went to Home Depot and grabbed the smaller size free paint sticks and some spray paint. I came home and spray painted them on both sides.  You'll need to use a bit of spray paint to cover up the Home Depot logo.  Then I made some plain numbered labels and I laminated them and hot glued them to the sticks.  Voila!  Each student grabs their number, and then holds it while they browse for books.  When they pick a book, the book goes to their desk with them and the stick stays in the book bin that their book came from.  When it is time to return the book and pick a new one, they remember where the book goes and they put it away before grabbing their stick and picking out a new book.  We have only been using this for a short while but the second graders caught on to the procedure quickly and have done a great job of using it while browsing for books.  If you are thinking of developing some sort of book check-out system or are just frustrated with students who don't return their books to the right place, you might find that this cheap system works for you too!

The book sticks in use