Jessica Amsler December blog post 5: Routman Chapter 5 Organize an Outstanding Classroom Library

This chapter was inspiring yet discouraging at the same time.  While reading this book I’ve felt, for the first time, that I am doing what I was supposed to be doing and didn’t need to completely revamp my classroom.   As I read chapter 5 I felt inspired and encouraged to better my classroom library but it also made me feel that this is something that I cannot achieve.  Chapter 5 is titled “organize an outstanding classroom library”.  This is my eighth year teaching and I still have no idea how to effectively and efficiently set up a great classroom library!  I have TONS of books but they are not great books for students to read, they are great read aloud books.  Routman discussed having a great “reading nook” or designated area for students to read in.  I try but my reading corner is so small that when my students go to the area they are so close that it makes it hard for them to get comfortable and read.  I love the ideas in this chapter but I feel so negative when I think about applying these things in my classroom.

Routman suggests getting more books based on student interest.  I think this is a wonderful idea but where is the money going to come from?  She provides ideas about where to get money such as PTO or parent donations but these two things seem impossible here at Arcadia.  Our PTO is still growing and doesn’t have funds to buy books for each classroom and not many of our parents are going to donate books.  I spend so much of my own money on books and other supplies in my classroom already.  I simply can’t afford to buy anything else.

I enjoyed reading over the checklist on page 66 but the questions made me feel like my classroom library was inadequate.  My classroom library does not jump out at you when you walk in, it is squeezed into the only corner that I had open.  We have such a small classroom and it is hard to fit all of the things we need, never mind a beautiful, inviting classroom library.  My books are old and some are falling apart but I used my money to buy other things for my classroom.  It would take a lot of money to have a great classroom library and I do not have that kind of money.  My students were not involved in the selection of books or organization of the books and they cannot comfortably sit and read in the reading corner.  I have a rug and a few pillows for them to sit on and read but they are squished together and do not have enough space.  I look at Pinterest and dream of having a couch or a loft for them to sit in during read to someone, but it wouldn’t fit.  I think my students still have the desire to go to the reading corner but it is frustrating as a teacher to continuously read what I should be doing but don’t have the space or resources to do it.

I hope this doesn’t come across as a negative reflection to the chapter.  I thought the ideas were great and I wish my classroom library was better.  I would like to think of this as a realistic reflection rather than a negative reflection.  I guess I have a hard time prioritizing where my money (money from my pocket, not the money given to us at the beginning of the year) is spent for my classroom.  Do I buy supplies for the new math curriculum?  Do I buy supplies for hands on science activities?  Do I buy books for my classroom library?  Which is the most important for student success?   I’ve done Donor’s Choose grants in the past and a Junior League Grant but I can’t rely on applying for grants to get supplies that I need.  The last grant I got for books took almost a year to get the books after we awarded the grant.  I will do whatever I can to help my students! They mean the world to me and I want them to be successful, but can I do that with a limited classroom library?  I keep reading about giving them choice and having high interest books in my classroom library but where will the money come from?