I'm beginning a new job this year teaching elementary Spanish (K-4), so the ability to utilize and integrate childrens books is very exciting. My predecessor was organized and had all of the classroom books labeled into categories. Fantastic, but now I want to take the classroom library into a new, child-friendly environment. Are my students going to flip through a box of books to find something appealing? Maybe...but not likely.
I think about when I am standing at the checkout aisle. Inevitably, a toy, candy bar, or some other tempting 'money trap' will catch the attention of my children and I brace myself for battle. Amazing marketing strategy for the store? Most definitely. I decided to take this "marketing" approach into my classroom library. If the books are displayed, it will catch the attention of my students.
I typically do not enjoy DIY projects due to lack of time, resources, tools, or motivation to build something. However, I had a vision and decided to go with it. Here are step-by-step instructions on how I created a book display.
My classroom wall is fabric, so attaching velcro to the back of my shelf would be an easy, portable, and damage-free investment. I searched through the local home improvement store for different styles of trim. The styles of trim are endless, but knew that I needed something that would have an edge to attach to the wall and keep the book from sliding to the floor.
I bought 8' sections because they were on sale. (Plus, we were doing some home improvement projects at the house and had a miter saw readily available to cut in half.) I also bought several different colors of spray paint. I normally don't go for the multi-bright color paint, but knowing that this is going in my elementary classroom and learning colors are part of the curriculum, I gave myself a free pass. I cut each 8' section in half.
Then I spray painted the trim various colors.
In my classroom I attached velcro to the back of the painted trim, leveled, and attached to the wall.
The shelves do not hold all of my classroom books, however I intend on rotating the books depending on current curriculum, themes, and holidays.
***As a side note. The computer and table space is used for the "listening centers", as described in a previous post.
