ALAN Online

Building a Classroom Library
Dr. Lori Goodson

I have a few personality flaws that have served me well in teaching.  Possibly the best of those is that I’m a tad lazy.  To be more specific, I like to find ways to make my life easier.  Remote mini blinds, pet doors, etc., all sound like wonderful inventions.  When it comes to teaching, one of my most valuable decisions was to create a classroom library filled with quality young adult literature.

At first, it seemed a little excessive—especially since my school library at the middle school where I taught was just across the hall from my classroom.  However, one of the things that hit me early on in my teaching career was that the kids who really needed books in their hands couldn’t check out books from the school library because they had unpaid fines from lost books.  My classroom library was an easy fix for this problem—they were accessible to all students.

Since then, I’ve gathered an estimated 2,000 books for my classroom—so much so that I had to have a friend build six new bookcases for me.

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What does a classroom library accomplish? Students come in during breaks to borrow outside reading books; those in my classroom know that during their silent reading time (well, almost silent), they can get up and thumb through the books to see what jumps out at them.  Teachers and librarians now contact me to see if I have extra copies of specific books students are wanting.  Parents check out duplicate copies so they can read along with their children.  (OK, this one made me a little nervous for a while, but the censor police haven’t approached me yet.)  This spring, on the last day of school, half a dozen students dropped in to check out a collection of books (one girl took home 41 books) for the summer.  Students and teachers alike refer to my room as the library annex.

In regard to my laziness factor, my classroom library makes it SO easy to make recommendations.  While the students are silent reading, I’ll go through my shelves and place a stack of book suggestions in front of specific students.  A couple students initially rebelled, when they mistakenly thought I was telling them what to read., until others around them soon explained the routine. (I’ve even had students interrupt me to say they think other books would better suit a specific student.  Ahh—let the students make recommendations to other students, and I’m even lazier!)

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So, if I’ve convinced you to be lazy like me (and get your students reading more than ever), here are some tips for getting your library started:

·      Check out book sales at libraries—usually you can get good, used books for 25 cents to 50 cents.  (Hand over the membership fee, if they have one, so you can go to the opening night sale that is usually limited to members only.  You’ll get a greater selection.)

·      Don’t forget garage sales.  I’ve been known to buy books by the box at garage sales.

·      Internet sales—you can buy “lots” of used books, or you can look for specific titles.

·      Shop for collections from publishing companies.  Scholastic and others provide an inexpensive way to build your library.

·      Let parents and community members know you’d welcome donations of books or funds for books.  If you teach middle school, check with older grades to see if students have books they’ve “outgrown.”

·      Do not take in books from your own collection if you can’t deal with them disappearing forever.  You’ll spend too much time worrying about their fate.

·      Attend conferences—such as NCTE and the ALAN Workshop, where you will receive dozens of new books—a great way to kick-start your classroom library.

You want quality and quantity.  I have to admit I am pretty selective about my classroom library—and have gotten more selective as time goes on.  I want quality young adult literature that students can relate to and enjoy—titles they will want to flip through and borrow.  Start small, and your library will grow through the years.

You’ll also need to determine a check-out system.  I had good intentions.  I had a typed list of books, and students were to fill out cards to show who had which book.  That lasted about a week.  Cards didn’t get turned in, and I spent too much time trying to keep track of books.  (Again, that laziness issue.)  Today, I simply stamp my name on the outside of the book and on the inside and then set them on the shelves.  I tell my students it’s really, really nice if they return the books at some point. For the most part, the books come back.  Do I lose some?  Yes.  Do I care?  Well, maybe.  But, at 25 cents or so a book, I’m OK, and I can still make my house payment.

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So, what books have I seen be especially popular on my bookshelves?  Here are a few suggestions, which I’ve loosely grouped into middle and high school levels.   Use your own discretion as for age appropriateness.

Middle school:

·      Jade Green by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

·      Monster by Walter Dean Myers

·      Lemony Snicket series

·      Gary Paulsen books

·      Caroline B. Cooney books

·      Lurlene McDaniel books (Paulsen, Cooney and McDaniel were so popular that my students came in during breaks to arrange my books so those three authors each had their own shelves.)

·      Any automobile books (such as the coffee table books you find on sale in book stores).  These are great for reluctant readers who will flip through these and read a little here and there without committing to reading a complete novel.

·      Bone graphic novels by Jeff Smith

·      Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer

High school:

·      Invisible by Pete Hautman

·      Stuck in Neutral by Terry Trueman

·      Stephanie Meyers’ series

·      Homeboyz by Alan Sitomer

·      World War II books—again, the coffee table style books

·      Crime books—also coffee table style books

·      Any Chris Crutcher books.

·      You Don’t Know Me by David Klass

·      Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

·      After by Francine Prose

·      Gym Candy by Carl Deuker

·      Malcolm X by Walter Dean Myers

·      Feed by M.T. Anderson

·      Hole in My Life by Jack Gantos

·      Francesca Lia Block books

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These books won’t appeal to every student, but they’re a great start for your library.  In about a week, I’ll have a new crop of students who’ll spend the next year teaching me what’s hot and what’s not in YA literature.  They’ll give me all sorts of insight into which plots work, which characters capture their attention, and new titles I need to add to my library.

And I thought I was the teacher…. 

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Lori Atkins Goodson has taught middle school language arts and high school English and newspaper in Wamego, Kan.  An instructor at Kansas State University, Manhattan, she received National Board Certification and a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction.  She has received numerous teaching awards, including NCTE’s 2007 Hoey Award, being a 2008 top 10 finalist for the NEA Excellence in Teaching Award, and the Kansas Master Teacher Award.  She is the former chair of the NCTE middle level nominating committee and co-editor of The ALAN Review. She has had articles published in the Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, Voices from the Middle, and Kansas English, among others.  Her Book Business blog can be accessed at bookbusines.lorigoodson.com.