One of the things in my classroom that I have worked the hardest at is growing my music library. No, not that one. My books about music and musicians, not the sheet music and octavos. I love my classroom library! Here's the story of how it has grown and evolved over the last 10 years or so. Read on to find solutions for your music room and a free resource to help you organize your books.
For several years I just piled my books onto a little shelf with no system whatsoever. This worked quite well until I started buying duplicates. As my collection grew, I needed a better solution.
The next step was to put SOME of the books into book bins with labels on them. I picked a few categories that I had several books for and the rest I just tossed in a milk crate. This worked beautifully for centers. I created a small reading area with a rug and loved keeping this a permanent center no matter what group I was teaching.
During the next few years I gathered books from used book stores, discount sellers, Amazon and from authors in workshops I attended. You can see some of my favorites in these posts: Books You Need in Your Elementary Classroom Primary and Upper Elementary. As my collection grew I needed a way to keep track of what I had. At first I created a spreadsheet, but to be honest I just couldn't keep it updated. It felt cumbersome and wasn't easy to edit from my phone. That's when I was inspired by a post from Katie Wonderly on Instagram and downloaded Book Buddy.
Book Buddy allowed me to QUICKLY add books to the app and download a paper list only when I needed it. I currently use Book Buddy Pro to catalogue my classroom library, keep it organized and to keep me from buying duplicates. All I do is use my phone to scan the barcode and for most books the information about the book just pops up, including cover photos! I can add custom categories too which is how I organize my books.
Current Categories:
BOOKS ABOUT MUSICIANS In this category I put picture books with stories about musicians that may not be bibliographies or about musicians of a specific genre.
BOOKS THAT RHYME I use rhyming books for drumming, for movement, to add instrument accompaniment and more. In this bin students can re-read some of the ones we have used in class.
DANCE AND MOVEMENT I guess this category is pretty self explanatory. Titles like Giraffes Can't Dance and Boys Dance are in this category.
CAREERS IN MUSIC I NEED more books for this category. Right now it contains one fabulous book called Mandy's Mom The Music Therapist.
COMPOSERS In this category are the typical composer books that many of you may have. I'm always looking for books about more contemporary composers.
INSTRUMENTS -There are mostly non-fiction books in this category, but some titles like The Remarkable Farkle McBride are also in there.
LEARN ABOUT MUSIC This category used to be pretty dull. LOL. Recently I have added books like When Step Met Skip and Tiger Tempo. My students love them!
MUSIC GENRES In this category there are books about different genres of music like When the Beat Was Born and The Story of Country.
MUSIC HISTORY I am currently not using this category as the books that I have all fit into other categories too.
MUSICIAN BIOGRAPHIES In this category you'll find non-fiction books about musicians.
NON-MUSIC I have several books about character that go in this bin. Also books that don't rhyme but that I may have used for some other purpose in class are here.
PATRIOTIC/AMERICN Books about the Star-Spangled Banner, song lyric books with patriotic songs and books about songs like "America the Beautiful" are in this category.
SEASONAL AND HOLIDAY Books about holidays or about seasonal topics or music are in this bin. My favorite might just be "Leaf Man".
SONG HISTORY This category is one that I am introducing this year. It holds books about the history of certain songs.
SONG LYRIC BOOKS This category is SO full that I have 2-3 bins of books in this category.
THIS AND THAT I don't have a category for everything. Oh wait....this is it! LOL. If it doesn't fit anywhere else, it fits here.
WOMEN IN MUSIC I am introducing this category this year and moving some books from the Books About Musicians category into this one. I have a LOT of books about Dolly Parton. This is almost a bin filled will Dolly books.
WORLD MUSIC I don't like the name of this category, but I don't have enough books from one specific place or about one specific culture to create bins for them. Yet. I hope to one day.
Before students use the library, I remind the class that they should return the book to the SAME bin that they take it out of. I didn't expect this to work. I was surprised that about 80% of the books DID remain in the right container, but it is not foolproof. This year I'll be adding color coordinating dot stickers to both the bins and the books that go in them so that they also have a colorful way to remember where they go.
To help you get started organizing your music room library, check out these colorful labels that can fit on a book bin, magazine box or basket. The categories mentioned about are all included, but they are not in any particular order. If you find these handy, please leave some feedback!
DOWNLOAD HERE: Book Bin Labels for the Music Room
If you liked the ideas in this article PIN it for later!
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