Margaret Tiller: Blog # 6: Chapter 5: Routman “Organize and Outstanding Classroom Library” Reading Essentials

For my sixth blog post, I chose to read Routman’s Chapter 5, “Organize an Outstanding Classroom Library.” Organizing my classroom library was one of the most time-consuming parts of preparing my room for the school year. Mountains of books covered my floor, and it was hard not to ask myself if spending this much time organizing books was worth it. However, when the first day of school finally arrived, I realized that all my hard work had paid off. It is not until you go to a room without an organized library system that you realize how important it is. If a classroom library is not organized, students tend to spend more time wandering around from book basket to book basket than do actually reading: “Until now, I never associated a successful independent reading program with a well-organized classroom library” (Monica Carrera-Wilburn, page 63). I was happy to read: “While levels can be a helpful guide for teaching students, we need to be careful to factor in the quality of the text and students’ interests” (Routman 69). My classroom library is organized by genre/interest and does not feature book baskets that are leveled. I also liked that Routman mentioned the importance of teaching students what “just right” books look like. If students develop the ability to differentiate between books that are too hard, too easy, and “just right,” they do not have to be bound by a strict book level.