BOOK ORGANIZATION - PART 1

BOOK ORGANIZATION - PART 1

I was recently asked if I would write a post about how I organize our books. I had to laugh as I responded and said I would, but it's organized chaos! I may get this written in one post or it may be stretched over a series of posts.

I think it's important to start with acknowledging that you need to make your books in your home the most accessible to you. Take what I write here and change it anyway you want to. The goal is for your books to be organized in the most usable way for your family.

I have chosen to centrally locate the majority of our books. That way everyone knows right where to go to look for them. My kids will keep current reads on a shelf in their room or stashed under their bed, but in general, when they are finished they go back to the main shelves.

FICTION BOOKS

Picture Books- A group of my lowest shelves are dedicated to our picture book collection. The picture books are organized in a loose alphabetical arrangement by the author's last name. What I mean by loose is that all the A's are together, all the B's are together, and so forth, but I don't care what order all the A's are in. I was happy if my littlest ones could just keep the A's together. My goal is easy use, and I didn't want the burden of putting books away so great for myself or the kids that they wouldn't be used.

Easy Readers- All my Easy Readers are on one shelf. We have quite a few, but not so many that it takes more than 3 minutes to scan the spines when in search of a specific one. In this area I lean towards the side of use versus perfect return to the shelf.

Elementary-High School Fiction- This is my most challenging area. I have the books divided into two groups - Elementary and Jr. High and above. What makes this area so difficult is you reach a point where the books can and are enjoyed by both groups. So what do you do then? I try and place them where they will be used the most. Elementary receives a pink sticker on the spine and Jr. High and above receives a green one. (The stickers are ones you use to price items at garage sales found at Walmart.) The books are then placed in true alphabetical order in their category by the author's last name.

Controversial Fiction Books- I read books with my high schoolers that deal with tough subjects like suicide, date rape, gang related death, etc. These books go on the tip top shelf where little ones climbing the ladder can't get to them. Inside their covers I write HS for High School and write notes to myself on the material covered in the book.

I'll include pictures at the bottom with some captioning. Obviously, I've only covered fiction so far, so there will be more to come in later posts!