Caring for Books
When making new additions to the library, there are a few things that must be done to the books before they are available for checkout by students. I stamp every book with my name in two places, once inside the cover and once on the outside edge of the pages. I purchased a self-inking stamp from an office supply store for $15. It lasted five years before I had to get it re-inked. Based on the number of books that find their way back to me from the hall, the school library, and other classrooms, the money for this stamp was well spent.
The majority of our books are paperbacks because they are more affordable, but they do not hold up well. In order to extend the life of the library collection, I cover almost every new or used paperback with clear Con-Tact shelf paper, which you can purchase from a big box or discount store such as Wal-Mart. I trim the edges into flaps and fold them around the corners of the book the same way you would cover a textbook with a paper book cover. The vinyl strengthens and protects the book cover from creasing, tearing, and spills. Library supply catalogs sell rigid plastic adhesive-backed covers, but they are expensive, and for classroom use, they’re not significantly better than the vinyl. Covering the books is labor-intensive, so I weigh the cost of the book against the labor and material cost of covering it. If I spent less than a dollar on the book, I just stamp it and put it in the library.
I teach my students how to take care of books. I talk to them about propping books open on the spines, describing how the glue breaks and the pages fall out after a while. I also ask them not to dog-ear books by folding the corners over to mark their place, encouraging them to use a bookmark instead. I used to purchase cute little bookmarks from library supply catalogs, but I decided that was a waste of money. My students often personalize their homemade bookmarks, made from index cards or Post-its, with their names or comments about reading—another tiny way to move reading toward their choices instead of mine.
I do not run the checkout or check-in for our library. In the early days of the year, I explain to students that the freedom to choose books and enjoy such a vast library means they have to take responsibility for keeping the library in shape. When we are choosing class jobs for the year, I pick two or three students from each class to serve as class librarians. The class librarians keep the library organized: applying stickers, stamping, and shelving new books. The librarians also make recommendations and serve as guides, helping their classmates find books when I am busy with other students. All students check out and reshelve their own books.
I am constantly digging in the library—helping students find books and pulling books for recommendations during conferences—but every month or so, I spend some time really looking at the library. Which books are in need of repair? Which books don’t seem to get checked out? Unread books are an opportunity for a book pass or a book commercial that will expose them to more readers. Which books have I overlooked when making suggestions to children? Which books should be culled due to damage or long use? I also wipe down the books and the bins with antibacterial wipes every now and then. This job is too gross to expect the class librarians to do, and I want to scrutinize our collection. The library withstands heavy use, and that means a lot of hands come into contact with the books.
Which Books Make the Cut?
How to set up a library like ours may be of some use or interest to you, but the nuts and bolts of library care are secondary to the library questions “Which books do you recommend?” and “What are some of the books that your students like to read?” Although I endorse any student-selected reading material, I am extremely selective about which titles I stock in the classroom library. Space is limited, and I prefer to use the space we have to offer a wide variety of books. In addition, it is my responsibility, not just as a teacher but as a more knowledgeable reader, to lead my students to books that are rich with good writing and well-regarded by reviewers or other readers.
If students’ tastes run toward books that have dubious literary merit, they can find these on their own; I cannot pander to their tastes by filling our library with junky books. Is the writing good, or is it schlock? Does the book have interesting social themes, historical information, or language? Award winners, beloved favorites, and books by acclaimed authors dominate our collection. We have few movie, television show, or video game tie-ins in our library; the same goes for series that are basically the same book over and over. I also limit the number of books that reflect popular trends or that are time-sensitive titles like books of lists. The books in our library need to last a long time, and ephemeral pop trends or titles with a short shelf life are luxuries.
There are no adult fiction books in the library, either, even though some of my sixth graders could read them. Eric read Robert Louis Stevenson’s horror classic Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and then moved on to Michael Crichton’s adventures Jurassic Park and The Lost World. Michelle is slowly making her way through her mother’s favorite, Jane Eyre. I support advanced readers as much as my developing ones, but I am careful about the line between support and providing adult reading materials to eleven-year-olds. Just because a gifted reader can read more advanced texts does not mean that they are emotionally ready for adult themes and issues. This is not my decision to make; it is a parent’s decision. Gifted readers should read fiction close to their age level and nonfiction at their advanced reading level (Halsted, 2002). In keeping with this principle, I have gathered college textbooks and adult nonfiction texts on a variety of topics of interest to my students, but I limit the fiction offerings to what is age-appropriate.
The majority of the book choices for our library grow from my own reading experiences and continual recommendations from my network of teachers, librarians, friends, and students. I try to read every book before I place it in the library. Reading a book every few days over summers and holidays, and one book a week during the school year, I rack up about a hundred books a year. Occasionally, I will add an unread book to the library, but only if I have read something else by the author. And I add it to my reading list as soon as possible.
Appendix B: Ultimate Library List
I COULD USE my diverse knowledge of books to create a list for you that would make a killer library. Lord knows a bibliophile like me could spend blissful hours composing it. (It would be an extreme version of the desert island-game!) But in keeping with my beliefs that my students run the reading show in every way possible, I have asked them to create a list for you of the books every teacher, grades five through eight, should have in their class library. I tried to set one hundred books as an arbitrary number for the list, but my students kept those titles coming! Because this list reflects the interests and tastes of real students today, you may not see your favorite authors or treasured books here. Remember item 10 in Pennac’s The Rights of the Reader: the right not to defend your tastes.
These books are the books the children like to read, not those that a teacher chose for them. I made no attempt to balance reading levels, genres, or topics. The third column of the table indicates titles that have a sequel or are the first in a series. You could expand your library by adding the subsequent titles. Once your students are hooked on a series, they will want to read the rest.
Ultimate Library List (grouped by genre; alphabetical by author)
Title Author Sequel or Series?
Realistic Fiction
Nothing But The Truth Avi
Hope Was Here Bauer, Joan
Rules of the Road Bauer, Joan Yes
Tangerine Bloor, Edward
Frindle Clements, Andrew
School Story Clements, Andrew
The Chocolate War Cormier, Robert Yes
Walk Two Moons Creech, Sharon
Chasing Redbird Creech, Sharon
Seedfolks Fleischman, Paul
The Clique Harrison, Lisi Yes
The View from Saturday Konigsburg, E. L.
The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place Konigsburg, E. L.
Silent to the Bone Konigsburg, E.
L.
The Sixth Grade Nickname Game Korman, Gordon
Son of the Mob Korman, Gordon Yes
Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life Mass, Wendy
Tripping Over the Lunch Lady Mercado, Nancy
Hatchet Paulsen, Gary Yes
The Boy Who Saved Baseball Ritter, John
The Schwa Was Here Shusterman, Neal
Peak Smith, Roland
Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie Sonnenblick, Jordan
Maniac Magee Spinelli, Jerry
Loser Spinelli, Jerry
Wringer Spinelli, Jerry
Stargirl Spinelli, Jerry Yes
Surviving the Applewhites Tolan, Stephanie
Each Little Bird That Sings Wiles, Deborah
Love, Ruby Lavender Wiles, Deborah
Fantasy
The Word Eater Amato, Mary
The Underneath Appelt, Kathi
Artemis Fowl Colfer, Eoin Yes
Gregor the Overlander Collins, Suzanne Yes
The Sea of Trolls Farmer, Nancy Yes
The Thief Lord Funke, Cornelia
Inkheart Funke, Cornelia Yes
Princess Academy Hale, Shannon
Children of the Lamp Kerr, P. B. Yes
Guardians of Ga’Hoole: The Capture Lasky, Kathryn Yes
Ella Enchanted Levine, Gail Carson
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe Lewis, C. S. Yes
Twilight Meyer, Stephenie Yes
Eragon Paolini, Christopher Yes
The Lightning Thief Riordan, Rick Yes
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone Rowling, J. K. Yes
Midnighters Westerfeld, Scott Yes
The Warrior Heir Chima, Cinda Williams Yes
The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp Yancey, Rick Yes
Historical Fiction
Fever 1793 Anderson, Laurie Halse
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle Avi
Crispin: The Cross of Lead Avi Yes
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes Coerr, Eleanor
The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 Curtis, Christopher Paul
Bud, Not Buddy Curtis, Christopher Paul
Catherine, Called Birdy Cushman, Karen
Stone Fox Gardiner, John Reynolds
Number the Stars Lowry, Lois
A Boy at War Mazer, Harry Yes
Kensuke’s Kingdom Morpurgo, Michael
Private Peaceful Morpurgo, Michael
Soldier’s Heart Paulsen, Gary
Where the Red Fern Grows Rawls, Wilson
Riding Freedom Ryan, Pam Munoz
Esperanza Rising Ryan, Pam Munoz
Under the Blood-Red Sun Salisbury, Graham
The Wednesday Wars Schmidt, Gary
Homeless Bird Whelan, Gloria
The Ravenmaster’s Secret Woodruff, Elvira
Hiroshima Yep, Laurence
The Devil’s Arithmetic Yolen, Jane
Science Fiction
Things Not Seen Clements, Andrew
The Supernaturalist Colfer, Eoin
The Last Dog on Earth Ehrenhaft, Daniel
The House of the Scorpion Farmer, Nancy
The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm Farmer, Nancy
Among the Hidden Haddix, Margaret Peterson Yes
Double Identity Haddix, Margaret Peterson
Stormbreaker Horowitz, Anthony Yes
The Giver Lowry, Lois Yes
The Beasties Sleator, William
Cryptid Hunter Smith, Roland
Uglies Westerfeld, Scott Yes
Mystery
Chasing Vermeer Balliet, Blue Yes
Half-Moon Investigations Colfer, Eoin
The Face on the Milk Carton Cooney, Caroline Yes
Last Shot: A Final Four Mystery Feinstein, John
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler Konigsburg, E. L.
On the Run: Chasing the Falconers Korman, Gordon Yes
How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found Nickerson, Sara
Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief Van Draanen, Wendelin Yes
Traditional Literature
D’Aulaire’s Book of Greek Myths D’Aulaire, Ingri
D’Aulaire’s Book of Norse Myths D’Aulaire, Ingri
Myths and Legends Horowitz, Anthony
The Rough-Face Girl Martin, Rafe
The Outlaws of Sherwood McKinley, Robin
Beast Napoli, Donna Jo
Bound Napoli, Donna Jo
Favorite Greek Myths Osborne, Mary Pope
The Once and Future King White, T. H.
Greyling Yolen, Jane
Here There Be Dragons Yolen, Jane Yes
Poetry
Love That Dog Creech, Sharon
If You’re Not Here, Please Raise Your Hand Dakos, Kalli
Joyful Noise Fleischman, Paul
Toasting Marshmallows George, Kristine O’Connell
I Never Said I Wasn’t Difficult Holbrook, Sara
Dirty Laundry Pile: Poems in Different Voices Janeczko, Paul
The Headless Horseman Rides Tonight Prelutsky, Jack
For Laughing Out Loud Prelutsky, Jack
Where the Sidewalk Ends Silverstein, Shel
A Light in the Attic Silverstein, Shel
One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies Sones, Sonya
What My Mother Doesn’t Know Sones, Sonya
Biographies, Autobiographies, and Memoirs
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl Frank, Anne
Helen Keller: A Photographic Story of a Life Garrett, Leslie Yes
The Tarantula in My Purse George, Jean Graighead
Water Buffalo Days: Growing Up in Vietnam Huynh, Quang Nhuong and Tseng, Jean & Mou-sien
Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio Kehret, Peg
Tree Shaker: The Story of Nelson Mandela Keller, Bill
How Angel Peterson Got His Name Paulsen, Gary
My Life in Dog Years Paulsen, Gary
Informational
Hitler Youth Bartoletti, Susan
World War II DK Eyewitness Books Yes
The Way Things Work Macaulay, David
Gastle Macaulay, David Yes
Oh Rats! The Story of Rats and People Marrin, Albert and Mordan, C. B.
You Wouldn’t Want to Be an Egyptian Mummy! Stewart, David, Salariya, David, and Antram, David Yes
Appendix C: Student Forms
Source: Reis et al., 2005. “Reading Interest-A-Lyzer.” Copyright © 2005 by Sally M. Reis. Based on the Interest-A-Lyzer by Joseph S. Renzulli.
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