Sunday, August 4, 2013

Library Labels

My wonderful friend Molly from Lessons with Laughter just made some really cute labels on TPT.  I really thought about doing book baskets again,  but I have some problems with either too many books in a basket or not enough of genre or topic in a basket. To solve that problem I created a way of organizing my books without baskets.

Color Coded Genre Tape

1. I sorted my books into 9 categories: realistic fiction, sports, biography, award winners, fantasy, animal fiction, historical fiction, mystery, humor.
 
2. Next I assigned each color a genre. I picked blue for realistic fiction since that was one of my bigger catagories. I have the most blue tape.
 
3. I used multiple colors of painters' tape that I got at Lakeshore. It isn't cheap but for the future I wanted something that was easily accessable to add to books as I get them through book orders etc. I could have used duct tape but I find that difficult to cut.

3. I cut a piece about 1 inch long and put it on the base of the spine.
Now the books are easy to replace and sort on the bookshelf. Students won't be putting them in the wrong baskets and I can display more books.



I will be posting a reference sheet in several places so students can check the color against the genres. Just another way to organize your library!

6 comments:

  1. What a great idea! My next project is to tackle my classroom library and I will probably use this method! I am your newest follower!
    Check out my new blog at teachingwithmrsbro.blogspot.com

    Natalie

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have run into the same problem with too many/not enough books to go in a basket. I seem to rearrange things almost every year.

    Great idea! Thank you!

    Enjoy the final days of summer!

    Mary

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is a great idea! I've never seen tape in all of those colors that wasn't duct tape. (And remember when the only color for duct tape was silver???)

    Jennifer
    Mrs. Laffin's Laughings

    ReplyDelete
  4. That is such a fantastic idea! I love adding colored tape to the spine... I'm trying a new library system out this year because my poor library was a wreck at the end of last year. Books were all over the place and in the wrong genre baskets! This could be just another way to help keep it organized plus I have some loner books that don't always have a "home" per se.

    Thanks so much for sharing this idea!

    Now to go check out the rest of your cute blog :)

    Amanda
    My Shoe String Life
    Follow me on Bloglovin'

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great idea! I've changed the way I organize my books a billion times!
    Alison
    Rockin' and Lovin' Learnin'

    ReplyDelete
  6. Love this idea, I am going to use it in my classroom starting tomorrow! You can purchase cheap electrical tape in many colors on Amazon.com.

    ReplyDelete