Blog Post 4: Olivia Boykin’s Routman Chapter 5

 As Jeff Foxworthy might say, “You know you’re going to be a teacher when you buy books from yard sales and library rummage sales for your future classroom library – when you are still in high school!”  That is exactly what I did, though, and still find myself doing 20+ years later.  Routman did state the truth when she wrote, “When classrooms do have adequate libraries, most often, teachers have spent large sums of their own money.”  I honestly don’t want to think about how much money I’ve given Scholastic, Trumpet, Lucky, etc. over the past 15 years and I do wish teachers were given a certain amount at the beginning of the year simply to purchase books for their classrooms.  This would allow students to have a say in what is chosen for the library and would help to keep the classroom libraries more current.  

Sadly, I feel like my classroom library is no longer current.  This is, I believe, partly because I started spending money on my own children instead of books for my classroom.  I can no longer justify purchasing $30 worth of books for my students every other month or so when my own children love to read and need books that interest them and quench their need for literature.  Another reason my classroom library is no longer “current” is the fact that the students’ abilities and interests have changed so drastically even in the past 8-10 years.  I have series books like The Boxcar Children & A Series of Unfortunate Events and books by famous authors like Beverly Clearly that don’t get read anymore.  The students now tend to lean toward reading Arthur books along with other picture-type books.  Seeing one of my students read and/or finish a chapter book is no longer the “norm” as it once was. 

I do like that Routman says, “It really doesn’t matter much what kids read as long as they read and enjoy what they’re reading.”  She even lists “books” like comic books, magazines, and picture books that are more appealing to some students because they seem more “manageable.”  As I was reading this chapter I also thought about my own children and their reading habits.  I have one child who embraced reading in 4K and has yet to stop while my other child loves books but not necessarily the reading part.  What I think is interesting is the correlation between the television and the books….  There have been some words that he has “read” that I know he wouldn’t know had he not watched Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or Ninjago – Masters of Spinjitzu.  He’s proud of himself for reading the hard words and I’m happy that he is feeling some success.  As long as I continue to find books relating to his favorite toys and television shows I think he’ll embrace reading.  Hopefully one day he’ll realize that it goes so far beyond a few television shows and he will loves it just because. 

Our library definitely jumps out at visitors because it does take up a large portion of one wall.  It looks nice but isn’t what I see in my head as the “finished product.”  There are numerous genres in our classroom library and I do stock books by well-known children’s authors.  Are some of the books “dated?”  Absolutely.  L  Have the students been involved in the selection and organization of the classroom library?  Absolutely not.  L  Can the students find/put away easily?  Yes, they can.  J  I normally do rotate book baskets after the winter break so the students have something new to peruse if they happen to have a few “extra” minutes to read.  Again, though, I don’t know how ready some of them are for the more advanced books but we’ll soon see.   Trying to get some of them to read for more than 5 minutes uninterrupted is a major hurdle.  Some students are also down on themselves because of their “level.”  To that I say, “Who cares?”  Level, schmevel.  J  Routman states, “It is disheartening to see classroom libraries in which most of the books are leveled.”  I agree wholeheartedly.  When a child says he/she can’t get a book because it isn’t on his/her level or isn’t an Accelerated Reader book I have some major concerns.  L              

I do think starting a top ten list of books is a great idea.  I am going to try to start that by working on units and finding books that go along with that unit of study.  I especially love it when a student brings me a book to read and I see it’s about something we’ve been studying.  J  I want all my students to be excited about reading and I think a top ten list will definitely help us reach that goal.  I do wonder, though, if Routman thinks the classroom library should be reorganized from head to toe each year so the new students have some ownership.  When I think of how long it takes to organize the library each year and then I think about redoing it I feel a little woozy.  Whew!  J