Who is this guide for?
Are you a teacher, reading coordinator, or school library administrator struggling with declining student interest in reading? You've already put a lot of effort into enhancing reading enjoyment at your school, but the expected outcome is still not reached. That is why you have decided to establish your own school library or improve the current one.
Do you recognise yourself in this profile? Then you've come to the right place! In this comprehensive school library guide, we address all of your pressing questions.
The significance of reading pleasure
Often, reading education focuses more on reading skills than on fostering reading pleasure. We take the technical reading level examinations every period and the school is evaluated based on the reading results in year 10. Reading pleasure z
However, this does not diminish the significance of reading pleasure.
To the contrary! The more joy pupils experience reading, the more reading miles they log and the faster they improve their reading abilities.
So you could argue that reading for pleasure should come first, and the school library is the perfect place to start.
The purpose of this article is to assist you and your team in establishing a school library on your own without the need to hire external experts. This money would be better spent on new books.
So let's leave the classroom and focus to the school library, because reading promotion can only be genuinely effective if it's given a central place in the school. What have you accomplished so far?
Begin with the checklist below.
Start here: The checklist
Organizing and classifying your school library
Managing your school library inventory
Building and maintaining a diverse book collection
Effective school library management and maintenance strategies
Organisation and classification
Books in a central area or distributed across classes?
Even with limited space, you can create an attractive and functional school library. A huge central school library may provide something for everyone, but maintenance takes more effort. The range of a classroom library is more limited, but the books are always within reach, and with some clever tactics, you may stretch the range even further. Which technique works best for your school?
Maximizing space for your school library
Maybe you would like a huge school library, but it's impossible... For example, because your school is expanding rapidly or undergoing renovations? Then classroom libraries are an ideal answer.
Do you wish to make the transition to a central school library after a particular period? Then, when building up the classroom libraries, make sure you know where all of the books are so that the future establishment of a central school library goes smoothly.
Rotate the classroom libraries
If you start working with classroom libraries, you risk that the supply within the classroom is limited, and kids will thus have less reading pleasure. If you work at a large school with two or more groups per year, it is a good idea to rotate the cabinets every quarter or six months. This way, the supply stays new. Cabinets with wheels make the transition even easier.
Strategically placing series and educational books
The main problem of classroom libraries is that books that should be together are separated by class. To address this issue, we recommend locating series and educational books in a central location within the school.
This strategy has the advantage of increasing the likelihood of pupils being addicted to an intriguing series and making it easier for them to find content for a presentation or paper, for example. The disadvantage of this strategy is that you'll require more space in the corridor.
However, this variety of books is frequently limited, so this is not a huge issue.
How to Effectively Remove Outdated Books from Your Library
Regularly removing worn or damaged books from your collection is essential for maintaining a quality library. The main reason for this is that those books are chosen less frequently, which means that the actual choice is smaller than it appears.
It is also advisable to clean up books written before 2000 because they employ obsolete spelling.
Cleaning up guidelines for the school library
The following criteria are utilised when cleaning up the present school collection.
- Wear and tear: broken or damaged books;
- Appearance: outdated appearance, such as cover, font, paper discolouration, illustrations;
- Content of reading books: story or language that no longer appeals to today's children;
- Content of informative books: information is sensitive to aging. Informative material that is older than eight years deserves a critical look, especially informative books about countries, science and technology. For informative books older than 12 years, the advice is to throw them away immediately.
- Target group: not intended for babies, toddlers and children of primary school age;
- Written-off books from the public library do not belong in a school library either.
Based on libraries experience data, it appears that 50% or less of the volumes remain after a complete cleaning of the school library.
Effective Book Labeling Techniques for School Libraries
The labelling of books is essential. Labels make it easier to return and find books that have been grouped together. Labelling is labour-intensive, yet without labels, a library quickly transforms into a chaotic book zone. What labels do you have on your books, and which are missing?
The ideal scenario
In the ideal scenario, you label the books for initial technical reading with an reading level sticker. In secondary technical reading, the reading level is irrelevant, because these pupils can read all youth literature. That is why primary schools label these books based on the world of experience of the children. In addition, it is practical to label the other categories such as "informative", "picture book" and "Spanish" separately.
Below an overview of the labels in the ideal scenario:
If the cabinet with so called B-books is overflowing, it is a good idea to separate it into age-based sub-categories. This allows pupils to more quickly find and return books. In this scenario, it is critical that pupils in year 8 understand that they can also select a book from year 9, and vice versa.
Technical reading level
Many primary schools label their textbooks with technical reading levels. This is beneficial for fifth- and sixth year pupils who are new to technical reading. However, some elementary schools use this method for continual technical reading as well. This might reduce children's reading enjoyment, because it links reading skills directly to reading.
What schools hope to accomplish with these technical reading level classifications is to provide a book that correlates to a child's world of experience. A better solution would be to simply designate these books to years rather than a technical reading level.
In secondary technical reading, the technical reading level has a minor effect in book selection. Labels stressing the technical reading level can demotivate pupils to read a book that would otherwise be appropriate for them. That is a terrible shame!
Thematic education
We propose that you include a theme label in addition to the age or technical reading level. Theme labels improve the appearance of your book collection and help you organise it in a child-friendly manner.
It is best to organise all books with the same label together. For example:
- Group 5/6: Animals
- Group 5/6: Detective
- Group 7/8: Detective
This method of categorisation has various advantages:
- Each pupil can quickly locate a certain book.
- Every pupil can quickly return a book to its right spot.
- Teachers can tell which volumes are in the wrong position at a glance, so the library stays orderly.
Theme labels provide several benefits, but the team must first put in more effort to put the theme labels on all of the books. An investment that will be worthwhile in the long run.
While pasting the topic labels, you will come across various novels that you are not familiar with. Is this book more suitable for "magic" or "adventure"?
Consider the learners' point of view and examine the cover or title. It is not about the label encompassing the complete complexity of the book, but rather matching the pupils' immediate association.
Another disadvantage is that pupils develop tunnel vision for a specific theme, whereas literature and pupils interests are far more complicated than a label. As a result, teachers must continue to actively guide pupils in selecting suitable books.
However, practice has shown that teachers find this difficult. They know very little about (new) books and are unaware of which ones are accessible at school. How do you solve this?
Invest in school library software that enhances reading engagement and helps track student preferences. Good school library software is always aware of the books that are available and takes into account the layered complexity of books as well as the changing interests of young children. This ensures that a pupil is consistently reading an interesting book.
Best Practices for Classifying Your School Library
Classifying is a fantastic approach to organise the library, but sorting requires a lot of effort. Before you consider classifying the books, consider whether the categorisation is not overly broad. Classifying a small set of books with the same labels is unnecessary because pupils can identify a book at a glance.
Also read: Choosing the Best Book Labels for Your School Library
However, if the school library is properly labelled and just includes a large number of books, you will find an overview of the merits and cons of several classification alternatives below.
We like the middle ground, where books are classified by the first letter of the author's last name. This choice offers the best of both worlds. It is best to use book stoppers for each letter of the alphabet.
Managing Your School Library Inventory
Which books do we currently have at school?
A good library starts with awareness. Which books do we have in school? Are all of the books owned by the school, or are some privately owned by teachers? Do we already have a list of the number of copies by ISBN number?
Also read: Scanning the Collection: Opitimize Your School Library and Improve Book Diversity
Don't you have such a list? Then, find software that allows you to easily scan these lists in one afternoon. It is not worth your time to experiment with spreadsheets on your own.
Which software will we use to inventory the school library?
Before you can truly consider working on a school library, you must first inventory your primary school's current book stock. You have several tools for this.
Building and Maintaining a Diverse Book Collection
What is our budget?
A well-organised school library requires a series of investments. A budget must be set aside for cabinets, different seating arrangements, decorations, and, of course, the books themselves. But have you also considered the future?
The school library should be updated once a year to ensure that the book supply is up to date. If you neglect this phase, you risk having to make another large investment in five years. Therefore, the most sustainable and cost-effective alternative is to allocate an annual library budget.
Do you have a limited budget, but want to build a school library? Then create a multi-year plan to progressively build up the collection. It typically takes around five years to have a school library in good working order.
How many books are we going to purchase?
According to libraries, five titles per pupil are considered the minimal starting collection, with eight titles per pupil being the optimal collection. Collections of school libraries based on these standards provide adequate variety for pupils.
For collections in schools with fewer than 150 pupils, at least 750 books are recommended to provide pupils with a suitable selection.
Where are we buying the books?
Local children's bookstores offer much more than just the delivery of books for the school library. Most children's bookstore owners have completed the teachers academy themselves and therefore also look at the range in your school library from an educational perspective.
The children's book expert puts together a tailor-made book package so that you get books that the pupils really like. They will laminate the books on request and label them according to your wishes. In addition, they give tips for the "hidden gems"; the books that you did not know, but that are really fantastic to read.
Which books are we going to buy?
Stop! Take a pause... Consider the following question: "Do we actually need new books?" And, if so, do you know which books your pupils actually enjoy?
New books cost hundreds of euros, and you want to spend the money wisely. You only have one chance to do this because next year's library budget will be a fraction of the current one.
Most external parties will sell you a large amount of new books straight away. A collection of novels based on this year's sales data, or maybe the most read books throughout the last ten years. But do they take your primary school's particular identity into account?
The school library contributes significantly to the integration of school life and culture. Every school culture is different, which is why buying a standard list of books is one of the most common mistakes when starting a school library.
This question is essentially a trick question to make you aware of this flaw. It is now your responsibility to investigate which books are best suited to your pupils, so that you can allocate your book money effectively.
Which books suit our school population?
To solve this complex question, you need to do research. For at least two months, you have to monitor your pupils' reading behaviour and attempt to answer the following questions:
- Which books are chosen often?
- Which books do they put back quickly?
- Which books are always left behind?
- Which books do they read at home?
- Which books do they talk about in class?
- Which books do they talk about with friends?
Pay attention!
Asking the question "How much did you like this book?" will result in the same answer 90% of the time. Young children will respond with "I liked it" since they lack the words to articulate their reading interests. As a result, focus your research on quantitative observations, such as how frequently books are chosen.
Do you find this challenging and you don't know how to approach it? At the end of this article, you'll find software that allows you to automate this process.
Pupils designate which books they borrow in the management system, and the software tracks the pupils' reading habits automatically. After a while, you will automatically receive recommendations for novels that your pupils would like to read even more.
The insights on reading behaviour, combined with the experience of a local children's book specialist, provide a solid foundation for purchasing books that are appropriate for your pupils and distinctive school culture.
Keeping your school library collection current
Once the basic collection is complete, it must be maintained in order to keep the book supply current. According to public libraries, 14% should be replaced. Every year, damaged and old books are replaced with new volumes. With a 14% depreciation rate, the entire collection of the school library is replaced in 7 years.
This annual purchase requires careful consideration to ensure that the restricted budget is utilised wisely. You want to buy books that reflect your school's identity and the reading habits of the pupils.
Set a yearly budget for expanding the school library and order new books at the same time every year. This way, you ensure that the quality of the school library is maintained.
Effective School Library Management and Maintenance Strategies
Choosing the best software for school library management
To easily manage your library, you need a library management system. Below you will find an overview of three different types of systems.
- Collection inventory system
- Library management system
- The School Library App
Let's take a look at the differences and similarities:
The year of development
The big difference between the library management systems and the (often mobile) collection inventory systems and the School Library App is the year of development or the application for which it was developed, such as a strict library management process with loan periods and fines.
Most library management systems were conceived at a time when smartphones did not exist or were developed with the public library process in mind. Usually it was both.
Collection inventory systems are usually designed to inventory only a small book collection and for the use case of primary and secondary schools.
The School Library App was conceived with a focus on reading motivation and engagement and developed for mobile devices (smartphones, tablets and laptops).
For this reason, it is the best choice for schools that want to work on reading motivation and student engagement and are looking for a system that allows them to set everything up exactly the way they want.
The management process
The more traditional Library management system assist schools in implementing a disciplined management structure. The similar approach is used to lend books to secondary school students and people in public libraries.
For this use, each copy of a book must be uniquely recognised, either through the use of a barcode on the front or an RFID sticker on the inside cover.
The only difference with the School Library App is that you simply know the ISBN, not the specific copy. This information is included in the book's logbook.
Reading pleasure
Another distinction is the motivation for the system's development. In addition to managing the library, the School Library app seeks to improve reading enjoyment. The app already keeps track of which books pupils borrow, so why not assess how much they enjoyed that book and which other books they might like? You can kill two birds with one stone.
Compare it to Spotify for your school library.
Streamlining book lending procedures in your school library
If you wish to use a traditional management system, the only feasible solution is to hire a library manager who will be present in the library at specific times to lend out books. It is best to share this task among the congierge, teachers, and parent volunteers so that the library is always accessible.
If you start using the School Library app, you can also allow teachers and pupils to borrow books on their own. This is frequently chosen in constructivist institutions, such as Dalton schools.
We cannot recommend the optimal borrowing method for you. The effectiveness of the borrowing procedure is dependent on your school's particular scenario and implementation.
The three approaches are summarised here, followed by a more extensive explanation.
Via librarian or assistants (usually parents)
This strategy places accountability on the library managers. Those are a number of teaching assistants, teachers, or parent helpers who assist with book lending at specific times.
The benefit of this technique is that it relieves teachers and keeps the library in good order. As a result, the library looks neater, and volumes are less likely to be misplaced.
The problem of this technique is that, after the initial enthusiasm, library managers are frequently unable to visit the library due to the demands of everyday practice. As a result, the school library becomes increasingly inaccessible. Unfortunately, scenarios in which the school library is only available on Tuesday mornings and Thursday afternoons are not uncommon.
This technique is effective when parent volunteers are available every day, potentially supported by the congierge or facility manager. The teachers are relieved, but they remain involved in selecting a book to guarantee that it matches the pupil.
Via the teacher
With this technique, the obligation falls on the teaching assistants and teachers in a classroom.
The benefit of this strategy is that teachers are actively involved in selecting a new book. They can prevent pupils from making poor decisions or borrowing a new book every day. It works especially effective in schools that have their own classroom libraries.
The disadvantage of this strategy is that it can take up a significant amount of time for teachers. If certain teachers are dealing with high workloads and an overcrowded curriculum, this strategy may produce friction among the team. As a result, the school library will not be covered in the long run.
This strategy works well within teams that agree on this approach. They actively work together to boost their pupils' reading enjoyment and have the time to do so.
In practice, it looks like this using the School Library App:
A pupil walks to the library and selects a book either independently or with a teacher. Once the pupil has found a book, he or she walks to the teacher. The teacher borrows the book using a phone, tablet, or laptop, scanning the pupils' bookmarker with QR code and the book's barcode. This entire process takes approximately 10 seconds.
Via the pupil
In this scenario, pupils autonomously borrow books from the school library.
This strategy has the advantage of making the library always available while also relieving teachers. It works especially well in primary schools with classroom libraries and pupils who are used to taking on responsibilities.
The problem of this strategy is that pupils frequently forget to return books. You won't notice it right away, but over time, you risk losing track. Teachers assume they don't have to spend time lending books, yet they are nonetheless busy correcting pupils' mistakes.
This technique is effective when pupils are accustomed to taking responsibility and teachers can provide adequate education about the School Library App. Teachers delegate lending books to pupils but remain involved in the selection of an appropriate book.
In practice, it looks like this using the School Library App:
The pupil will independently borrow a book from the app using a Chromebook in the classroom or his own Snappet tablet. He logs in using his bookmark and scans the book he intends to return. He indicates where he stopped or that he has finished reading the book before returning it. The pupil then scans the book he wishes to borrow and clicks on borrow.
Setting book exchange policies for pupils
A proper selection of books does not imply that pupils will always select a book they are so enthused about that they will complete reading it. Be honest with yourself. There is also a dusty book in your cabinet that you purchased but have never read.
But what do you do then? Do you allow your pupils to swap books without limits? This predicament will likely sound familiar to you, as many pupils will take advantage of it. As soon as the game between teacher and pupil becomes conventional, a new book avoider emerges.
From this perspective, it makes sense to implement a more strict book swap policy. Both options are not optimal, so we offer a middle ground.
Every traded book is a fresh learning opportunity.
Allow pupils to swap books as often as they wish, but make the swap a conscious decision. When a pupil approaches the teacher and requests to trade books, the teacher asks the following questions:
- Why don't you enjoy this book?
- What are your interests?
- Which books have you finished in the past?
- Based on the questions above, which book would you prefer to read?
You may repeat the procedure 50 times in a row. Don't get discouraged; instead, remember that the pupil is still discovering what he or she enjoys reading, and it is the teacher's responsibility to support that pupil in this process.
Some pupils learn this at home. Other pupils simply require extra attention, which is fine.
The problem is that many teachers have insufficient understanding of the library's book selection. They are generally more familiar with literature from their youth than with books from recent years.
A software integration with your library that provides pupils with personalised book recommendations based on their reading habits is therefore critical. A computer simply excels at this.
This offers the following advantages:
- The computer is aware of all books that the pupil has not read or has not finished in the past.
- The computer can compare each pupil's unique reading profile to that of hundreds of thousands of other pupils.
- The computer is aware of the whole collection of books at the school library.
- The computer knows which books are available, ensuring that the pupil is not disappointed with a book that isn't there.
Maintaining Order in Your School Library
Keeping a school library organised is a huge challenge. Pupils frequently handle the materials more harshly than expected. However, there are a few strategies you may employ to keep your library organised.
Only borrow with your old book in hand
The most typical mistake is that pupils return a book in the system without returning it on the shelf. This leads to instances in which a pupil wishes to borrow a book but it is not available in the management system. This is quite frustrating! As a result, we recommend that pupils agree to only borrow a new book if they still have the previous one.
Limit cabinet size
Some primary schools have all of their books spread throughout the library. There has been no thought put into categorising books, or the categories are overly broad.
As a result, pupils touch a lot of books before finding a good one. The more books pupils touch, the faster the school library gets disorganised. In this instance, it is best to categorise the library more effectively.
The monthly cleaning
A disorganised school library does not invite you to maintain order. The more chaotic the situation, the worse the pupils' performance on the material. It is therefore advisable to spend an afternoon every month cleaning up the library.
Every month, the colleague in charge of the library moves the books to their proper location and replaces any book labels that are about to fall off.
Repair box
Sometimes a book breaks. Consider a torn page or a label that has fallen off. Usually, the pupils put the book back to conceal the fact that they had accidently broken something. It is very likely that it will tear farther the next time it is read. This quickly reduces the quality of a broken book. What are you going to do about this?
It is advisable to install a repair box in the library. You assign pupils the task of putting a broken book in the box and establish an environment in which they believe this can be done without repercussions. This allows the manager to repair broken materials on time while also maintaining the school library's pleasant appearance.