Use of Time and Space
Action Items:
By 2023, the School Library Team will update the library space by:
Weeding the collection such that there are no books shelved on the highest shelf of the Easy/Everybody Fiction and Easy/Everybody Nonfiction collections.
Creating separate shelving areas for lower-grade and upper-grade Graphic Novels
"Genre-fying" the Fiction (F) and Easy/Everybody Fiction (E) collections to improve student ease of use and searchability.
Summary
The results of a 2019 library survey indicated that the large majority of students were satisfied with the spatial arrangement and furniture options of the library. The library has a designated classroom space with tables, chairs and a smartboard, as well as a story-time area for younger students. Additionally, the library offers a space that has comfortable furniture and flexible, comfortable seating options for independent and group work. Since the library serves students in grades 4K-8, the collection is broken into age-appropriate collections of books, which are segregated to their own spaces within the library, allowing students to easily identify which collections are appropriate for their grade level.
One idea that was popular among students of all ages is "genrefication," wherein the library collections are organized by topic/genre in addition to author last name, rather than only author last name. Our plan is to fully rearrange the Fiction (F) section by genre subcategories (started by the previous librarian, Mary Baney), and to partially genre-fy the Easy Fiction (E) collection by creating bins that hold books with various topics. Genre-fication has proven to increase collection circulation, browsability, and student satisfaction. (Source)
Results:
The library team succeeded in enacting our action items as listed above.
We weeded the Easy/Everybody Fiction and Easy/Everybody Nonfiction collection to remove books that were outdated, in poor condition, and/or no longer circulating so that there are no longer books on the highest existing shelves. This makes it easier for young students to browse for books, which are now shelved, generally, closer to their eye-level.
We also weeded the upper grade Nonfiction section so that the top shelves could be used as display space, both for "Dewey of the Month" books, as well as realia/displays that highlight different sections of the Nonfiction collection. Examples of this realia include:
400s section (Language) Learn some words in a different language display
500s section (Science) large rocks and dinosaur models
700s section (Arts and Recreation) Cooking utensils alongside cookbooks and craft items alongside DIY books
900s section (History and Biography) "Meet a new person" display
We created a separate shelving area for lower-grade Graphic Novels and re-cataloged/labeled the books accordingly. This update has been highly successful, as lower-grade students who are interested in checking out graphic novels are not going to the section typically designated for upper-grade students. This also helps student browsability and supports students of all grades finding materials better suited to their age-levels.
We organized the middle grade Fiction book collection by genre, using color-coded call number labels. We also created a collection of high-interest topic-based bins for leveled readers and picture books for younger students. Some examples are: Unicorns, Legos, Pete the Cat, Pokemon, Superheroes, and Wordless Picture Books. Organizing books in this way has improved the ease-of-use and searchability of our library.
