Is This Guide for You? Identifying Your School Library Needs
You work at a primary school and want to set up a beautiful school library, but...
- Setting up a school library may seem overwhelming, but with the right approach, you can get started easily.
- Your Excel-based book list becomes outdated quickly, making it difficult to keep track of your collection.
- With a limited budget, it’s crucial to make thoughtful book purchases that enhance your collection.
- The inventory software you are currently using is only able to put the books into one large file.
Achieve an Organized School Library with These Proven Steps
With the correct tools and information, the school library may be organised in one day and secured for the future.
However, alternative tools will not truly fix this problem because:
- They are not designed specifically for primary education.
- They have additional interests, such as marketing their own books.
- They are not user-friendly and need a lot of labour, so getting the library in order can take a year or more.
We are the only one to address this issue for primary and secundairy schools. We give teams the authority over their school library and provide tools and advice so that they can manage it for the future.
The solution: organise your school library in four steps
- Clean up the school library by reorganising: Old books are read less, so the actual supply is limited.
- Categorise and label the books: Label books to make sure that pupils can quickly find and return them to their proper plaFce.
- Create an inventory of the book collection: Identify gaps in the collection and simply find a book by theme, title, or author.
- Buy books thoughtfully: Share your book collection with a local children's book specialist and get personalised advice.
Step 1: Declutter and Refresh Your School Library Collection
Older books often see less readership, effectively limiting the library's active collection.
The old way: Only clean up what you wouldn't read yourself.
Many people find it difficult to let go of books because they are emotionally charged. While teachers may view books with nostalgia, students are less likely to be engaged by outdated selections. This means there are far too many unappealing novels in the school library. This effectively minimises the size of the book collection.
The new way: Clean up according to stated guidelines.
The new strategy entails creating guidelines with the team before cleaning up and adhering to them during the cleaning process. For an extensive section on cleaning up with detailed cleaning guidelines see 'Which books will we clean up?' in the 'The Ultimate School Library Guide'.
Step 2: Simplify Navigation by Categorizing and Labeling Books
Properly labeling books ensures that students can easily locate and return them, maintaining library order.
The old way: the library becomes a mess
Poorly informed teams may elect not to label the books. Labels are unneeded and only enhance the appearance of the library.
After a few months, they scratch their heads.
Teachers complain that it's impossible to find a book, and books are never returned to their proper location. Without proper labeling, the library quickly becomes disorganized and difficult to navigate. A variety of solutions are introduced that need a significant amount of extra time:
- Categorizing by last name
- The reset bin
- Library helpers from year 10
In retrospect, sticking labels would have been a better option...
The new way: the library is always clean
Book labels are crucial because, in addition to their aesthetic value, they improve the library's use. This allows each pupil to simply locate and return a book to its proper location on their own. The school library is always kept immaculate without any effort.
Are you still undecided about what labels to use on your books? Read this article about 'Choosing the Best Book Labels for Your School Library'.
Step 3: Conduct a Thorough Inventory of Your School Library
Identify gaps in the collection and simply find a book by theme, title, or author.
The old way: Hundreds of hours invested, but still missing books
The library committee eagerly begins work, but soon realises that getting the library in order is a difficult task. One colleague perseveres and achieves results after months of effort.
However, only one colleague knows where each book is, and if he or she moves jobs or retires, the school library risks becoming a mess once again.
Old methods that we frequently observe are:
- Looking through past order lists to assess what books are present.
- Intensive spreadsheet management leads to headaches.
- Using outdated software that causes schools to undertake numerous unnecessary tasks, such as pasting additional barcodes.
The new way: Ready in a few hours, every teacher can find a book
Schools employ a technology that allows them to inventory up to 400 volumes every hour by scanning the barcode on the back of each book. It is smart to divide the books into different categories as described in this article.
Library categories can serve various functions, from offering novels to providing educational resources. Think about:
- Novel or informative
- Aula or year 10
- B-books or M3 (reading level for mid year 3)
This innovative method of inventorizing now allows you to configure the school library exactly as you want it, resulting in accurate insight into the whole collection for each library.
It is also possible to search for books by theme, title, or author and discover where they are situated throughout the school, making it easier for pupils and teachers to find the books.
Step 4: Optimize Your Book Purchases with Strategic Planning
Consult with a local children’s book expert to get tailored advice on enhancing your collection.
The old way: Purchasing books without determining needs
Many schools do not have an investment strategy for the school library, therefore books are sometimes purchased only after teachers protest. Hasty book purchases often lead to duplicates, incomplete series, and a lack of variety in the collection.
We typically encounter the following purchase strategies:
- Purchasing a conventional bundle that does not reflect the school's identity.
- Purchasing books that teachers believe are missing from the collection while having little knowledge of the contents.
- Only buy books from the children's bookshop that were published after the last bulk purchase.
The new way: Customised advice from a local children's bookshop
You inventory the school library and communicate your findings with a (local) specialised organization. The School Library App allows you to download a spreadsheet with the (composition of) the collection to share with your local partner.
Your local partner will provide personalised advise on the condition that you purchase the books from them. If you are happy, you can protect the school library by replacing 10% of the volumes on a yearly basis for a predetermined fee.
Summery: Achieving a Well-Organized School Library in One Day
How to make your school library organised in one day in the most cost-effective way:
- Declutter and refresh your school library collection;
- Simplify navigation by categorizing and labeling books;
- Conduct a thorough inventory of your school library;
- Optimize your book purchases with strategic planning.
Also read: 3 Types of School Library Lending Systems: Which is Best for Your School?
