Minerva,
Here's the letter from Renaissance Learning:
From: Eric Stickney [mailto:EMSTICKN@renlearn.com]
Sent: Thu 10/30/2008 3:36 PM
Subject: Library organization question
Bill,
Thank you for your question about library organization. As I had
suspected, we have never done a study on the impact of organizing books
a certain way on student reading productivity or achievement.
Renaissance Learning does not provide firm recommendations to schools
regarding the organization of books (by readability level, Dewey, or
other method). However, from 20+ years of experience working with school librarians we have offered the following guidance to librarians via our professional development:
- Color coding books by readability level may be useful in grades K-2
but is generally not recommended for middle and high school libraries.
Color coding and organizing titles by those readability levels becomes
less important in the upper elementary grades and may be detrimental in
the middle/high grades. For instance, it can be embarrassing for
struggling older students to be associated with a color code or section
of the library that represents a low reading range.
- In our training, we note that most librarians merge or interfile books
with AR quizzes along with non-AR books according to Dewey decimal
classification.
- Anecdotally, we have heard from several libraries over the years that
organizing titles by AR readability instead of something like the Dewey
system beyond the early elementary grades can cause confusion and
conflict in the school. The problems include the embarrassment mentioned
above, and parent/educator concerns that students are not learning how
to locate titles in a library that is more traditionally organized.
Again, we have no firm recommendation regarding library organization but have shared these experiences and suggestions via professional
development.
I hope that is helpful,
Eric Stickney
Director of Educational Research
Renaissance Learning
PO Box 45016
Madison, WI 53744-5016
phone 608.664.3880 x2009
fax 608.664.3882
eric.stickney@renlearn.com
Barbara Jeffus
School Library Consultant
California Department of Education
1430 N Street, Suite 3207
Sacramento, CA 95814
916.319.0445
FAX 916.319.0172
http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/cr/lb
School Libraries Improve Student Achievement.