This is a video of an hour-long professional development workshop about embedding independent study projects in the regular classroom. Apologies for the not super-cute graphics, but the content is a good starting place for teachers who are trying to answer the I'm Through - What Do I Do question, as well as teachers who are trying to support gifted learners through differentiated options, in addition to teachers who want to support students in authentic inquiry - whether it is through Exhibition as part of IB-PYP, or an ongoing process of pursuing what genuinely interests students.
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As the former librarian at an elementary STEAM campus, I was always looking for useful read-aloud books to highlight books that illustrate creativity productivity. Whether it's the idea generation or research stage, building and refining prototypes, collaborating and exchanging feedback, or persisting in the face of struggles, there are a lot of skills involved with STEAM education and makerspaces. Here are a few titles that might be useful for classrooms, campuses, and families who want to explore maker concepts. Boxitects by Kim Smith Everyone who's ever known the joy of a group project can connect to this story, especially if you're a big ideas person who likes to be in charge. When you already have a vision about what something will look like, it can be hard to acknowledge other good ideas, much less incorporate them into your own work. This story respects and names this reality so that when team conflicts arise, participants can refer back to the story discussion for solutions and strategies. Pine and Boof Blast Off by Ross Burach A celebration of imagination and making that is sure to appeal to young students - and more than a few older ones, too. If you like Pine and Boof, there are more books in this series. And if you teach K-4 kids and haven't done any read-alouds by Ross Burach, run to your nearest library for guaranteed laughs. Be a Maker by Katey Howes The whole book is an invitation to engage in the creative process. It might be particularly helpful to read before brainstorming possible projects or building ideas. Made by Maxine by Ruth Spiro Maxine is shown trying invent something that will allow her pet goldfish to participate in the pet parade. Her persistence and clever re-purposing of recycled objects offer plenty of inspiration for additional projects. Meesha Makes Friends by Tom Percival Sometimes talented engineering students have difficulty convincing other people to try their ideas, or they struggle to communicate their visions or their needs. This book is helpful for young readers embarking on group work - not just for students who have trouble initiating friendships, but also for other students who can use the story to discuss strategies and practice including everyone in authentic ways as they work together. Jabari Tries by Gaia Cornwall I'm a fan of the first book, Jabari Jumps, for so clearly illustrating fears about trying something new. This title even more explicitly addresses the challenges of trying to make something work. As a bonus, Jabari's younger sister is really interesting in "helping," and her character is a great reminder that many different people can contribute useful solutions - not just the primary architect or leader. When Grandpa Gives You a Toolbox by Jamie L.B. Deenihan The main character wants a dollhouse, but is polite when he receives a different gift. This story shows his growing construction skills and how they contribute to needs of his neighbors, and even (spoiler) his own. It's an intrepid teacher who facilitates hammering with young students (ask me about the time my class string art project disrupted the reading-to-dogs program across the hall), but the use of measurement and tools - with appropriate safety precautions - are lifelong skills that open up many possibilities for creativity. The Perfect Square by Michael Hall This book has simple illustrations, and explores the mathematical idea that a shape retains its properties even if it is rotated. I don't know how you could read this and not take time to discuss - and build! - the different possibilities a square might become. This easily lends itself to expansion by exploring "what else" other shapes, from ovals to trapezoids might be, too. This concept of flexible thinking - what else could we use this for - is foundational to maker mindsets and accessible for our youngest students, yet still an interesting challenge for older ones. More-igami by Dori Kleber Joey is shown to be very focused and interested in practicing as he becomes better and better at folds, illustrating that practice is crucial for improvement at any skill. Although his mother gets frustrated with the extent of his practice (beginning violinist parents will sympathize), the multitude of attempts at different origami projects will resonate with readers who are passionate about new endeavors. Skater Cielo by Rachel Katstaller This book focuses on persistence in the face of difficulty, and I love that it features a female athlete for a younger audience. Everything about this book invites readers to get out maker supplies and design and build mini skate parks (tested with mini finger skateboards, of course), an activity sure to demonstrate what Cielo faces, too - the first time isn't always successful, so get up and keep trying! Maybe Something Beautiful by F. Isabel Campoy and Theresa Howell This title, based on a true story, explores the idea that what we make can improve the lives of others, in addition to being a personal interest or a process that builds useful transferable skills. Readers might be inspired to connect to their communities to create something beneficial - or even beautiful - after reading this book. Bridges and Tunnels by Donna Latham It's good to remember nonfiction titles for makerspaces, although we might not typically grab a how-to book for a standard class story time. Sharing selected portions of a book like this will not only be motivating and helpful before students try some hands-on construction, but it's a great model of how some reading involves scanning and selecting for a given purpose - we don't always read cover to cover. This book is good to have on hand for independent student use, but it could also provide project options to student groups to make in class. Crazy Contraptions by Laura Perdew Rube Goldberg machines take up a lot of space, but they are so much fun to investigate! It takes a lot of community trust, but if you've got a library schedule full of back-to-back classes, you might try having each class contribute their own machine steps that add on to prior machine motions. The last class of the day can engineer the final components, and a video of the completed machine in operation will be a satisfying record of all the collaborative creating and making! This book will get students excited to try their own independent projects, too. Finger Knitting for Kids by Eriko Teranishi There are many crochet and sewing craft books and websites available to try. Having a few beginner and intermediate resources available to students can be a great way to start a lifelong hobby. Even if teachers are not experts or even competent with a given craft, a little research and prep work with a carefully selected basic skill can make a new activity accessible to students - and often, a student will shine with some expertise that might not always stand out in other curricular areas. If you have volunteers (parents, community members, older students) who can offer support and modeling during craft activities, that can be a great way to build community relationships and mentorships, too. Finger knitting takes some patience and fine motor control, but very simple projects like bookmarks are possible for many students. After you introduce it as a whole-class activity, it can be available as a maker station option for students who are interested in improving their skills. Game Logic by Angie Smibert Although this book might work better as a guide for a small group or a club, it's a good resource for supporting students through the process of game design. Just as there are many "unplugged" hands-on activities to support thinking skills for coding, there are many different types of games that people enjoy - and even if coding a video game is the ultimate goal, understanding game mechanics and game play logic is fundamental. This is more of a resource book than a read-aloud recommendation, but it could be a useful addition to a maker station. A Super Sticky Mistake by Alison Donald and Rea Zhai, Whoosh! Lonnie Johnson's Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions by Chris Barton, and Pizza! A Slice of History by Greg Pizzoli There are lots of picture book stories about the first person to make something, do something, or discover something, and all of these can be motivating to student inventors and researchers. The text features, like pop-ups, maps, timelines, inset boxes, cutaway diagrams, and speech bubble captions are frequently appealing ways to present new information, and exposure to these kinds of books might inspire students to tell their own stories about under-appreciated inventions and fun facts. This kind of activity celebrates kids' expertise and gives them a vehicle to share it, while conducting research to fill in knowledge gaps and pursue answers to questions. Books like these inevitably illustrate the concept that success rarely strikes the first time, so persistence and effort - not simply luck or unique talents - are worthwhile behaviors to cultivate, in any field. Growth Mindset and Persistence books There are a lot of picture books that refer to growth mindset and persistence, which factor heavily into the engineering design process and maker mindsets. Here are a few: The Knight Who Might by Lou Treleaven - an amusing story about a character who is not a quitter, even if nothing goes according to plan. A Thousand Nos by D. J. Corchin - Feedback can be daunting, and "no" can be crushing, but if you frame it as a "not yet," persisting might be a little easier until you work to reach a "yes." The Little Red Fort by Brenda Maier - This take on the Little Red Hen story might initially seem like Ruby doesn't have any help with the construction process - but a look at the illustrations shows a lot of family support. Yes (spoiler), the brothers come around eventually, but it's a good reminder that even if the people around you aren't interested in your idea, there are probably other people out there willing to offer guidance as you learn and work toward your goal. The Thing Lou Couldn't Do by Ashley Spires - Readers can easily identify the problem and the solution for Lou - but it's a lot harder to face our own fears and keep trying ourselves. This book can provoke some useful discussions about obstacles, particularly fear. The Questioneers Books by Andrea Beaty This still-growing series of picture books (and now, short novels) features a cast of characters with various maker interests. Rosie Revere, Engineer is a good example of the design process and running trials to make something work (and it includes a historical nod to women who built aircraft in WWII). David Roberts' illustrations are fantastically detailed, and all those who work on projects "just because" will be happy to see themselves - and those who don't yet might be inspired to start. Aaron Slater, Illustrator touches on the fact that some skills are perceived as more valuable, especially in school environments, than others. It's a useful reminder that people who might struggle with some things may also have superior skills in other areas. Other books in this series deal with leadership skills, experimenting, generating questions, using unconventional materials, and other concepts that support maker mindsets. Although the rhyming nature of the books might pull the text toward younger audiences, older readers can still appreciate and discuss the messages in these books in meaningful ways. The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds The quintessential book about celebrating the maker movement, this title is more than just an opportunity for students to dress up in circles or gather dots in a hallway. The messaging about "make your mark" and seeing where it takes you is powerful, even for adults and cynical older student audiences. This book would be a great introduction to any hands-on activity where participants might feel overwhelmed about getting started. Permission to try without knowing where it will go is a crucial aspect of creative thinking. The Dot is part of a Creatrilogy set which includes Ish, and Sky Color. My Pencil and Me by Sara Varon This story walks through the writing and publishing process, with an adorable fourth-wall-breaking reveal at the end. Press Here by Herve Tullet Readers can press "buttons," tilt, and shake the book as the story progresses. I Am Bat by Morag Hood If you wouldn't let the Pigeon drive the bus, you'd be similarly protective of Bat's cherries, which mysteriously disappear during this story. Also an Octopus by Maggie Tokuda-Hall Coming up with story event ideas can be challenging, so why wouldn't readers be called upon to contribute to the cause? High Five by Adam Rubin Just how prepared are you for the upcoming High Five contest? Have no fear - some interactive stylistic coaching will do the trick. There's a Monster at the End of This Book by Jon Stone One of the earliest examples of meta-fiction in picture books, this classic is still entertaining for kids and the adults who read with them. Please do not turn the page! The Scariest Book in the Whole Entire World by Joey Acker Never mind - this book is probably way too scary. If you decide to try it, just remember - the rock tried to warn you. Escargot by Dashka Slater The titular protagonist tries to convince readers to see the charm in snails, and to claim him as "your favorite animal." It's adorable. Chapter Two is Missing by Josh Lieb It's a mystery, it's an exploration of text conventions, and it's hilarious. Now, hurry and start helping, because the narrator is in crisis. Find Fergus by Mike Boldt Spoiler: Fergus is really hopeless at Hide and Seek. However, this makes for high entertainment with young readers, who can easily spot this would-be sneaky bear from page to page. Frankencrayon by Michael Hall Disaster! Just as the story was ready to unfold, we discover that someone has scribbled across the page. Positively shocking, of course (and, perhaps, an opportune time to reiterate book care with students). Readers get a glimpse "back stage" to see the preparation, the disaster, and the solution. This Book Will Get You to Sleep by Jory John Are you asleep yet? How about now? No dulcet tones or calming lullabies here - more like raucous sheep playing electric guitars as fireworks explode behind them. Unsurprisingly, the text is not calming - but it is a good time. The Book with No Pictures by B. J. Novak
This picture book without pictures is so entertaining that readers will be giggling uncontrollably - and, quite possibly - at you. But probably also with you. Why not genrefy the picture books? It seemed like an obvious move in an elementary school library with over 800 students. The collection was large, new, and up to date, but a fair number of students were not yet reading on grade level. Classroom teachers would regularly request that I pull books for them around a certain theme or topic - especially read-aloud picture books that were appropriate for various grade levels (our campus served PK - 5) - but the books in the Everybody section were alphabetized by author's last name. If a teacher stopped by during lunch and tried to grab a few books on the fly, they would need to know exactly what they needed, or refer to the digital Virtual Book Rooms I created - but never had time to update with the latest titles. When our youngest students visited the library, I made sure to pull some books face up on tables to increase browsability and minimize choice fatigue (it helped the older ones, too). I had multiple displays, including a semi-permanent superheroes area and a semi-permanent fairies, unicorns, and princesses area, and these were hugely popular. I experimented with bins and colored dots and an early reader graphic novel section. And after almost four years of students coming in and asking "Where are the funny books?" or "Where are the scary books?" and explaining that we didn't shelve them that way, I started wondering why we didn't. Genrefication in the Picture Book Sections I designed a complete genrefication system for my elementary library, and I was ready to deploy it, but I switched jobs before I got to implement it. I know every campus is unique, but I really wish I had been able to see that genrefied system in action, because I think it would have increased student independence, connected more students to books they wanted to read, and it would have been a friendlier set-up for teachers trying to find read-aloud mentor texts. Instead, I joined a middle school campus with a much smaller collection of picture books and completely different needs. One hiccup was that in that in my former district, we did not use Destiny, so we could not use local campus-based sub-locations. Since it's necessary to have the catalog location reflect where each book really "lives" on the shelves (see some of my other guidelines for making genrefication work in your school library), and since no other elementary schools in the district were ready to genrefy their picture book sections yet, there was an implementation pause. Our district library leaders wanted to ensure we weren't cluttering the catalog with huge numbers of dropdown options, and decided to develop committees to have uniform sub-location names. That way, campus libraries that chose to genrefy would have sub-location name options with some standardization (which made sense, given that many of our students moved frequently from one district school to another). However, since I already did all the work of determining the categories and figured out a system for setting it up, I wanted to share what I developed in case it helps other librarians and schools. You can read about my very detailed process for genrefying nonfiction books in this blog post, but I actually built that experience on the process I followed to genrefy the everybody section in my former library. TL;DR - Steps to Genrefy Picture Books The shortest description of the whole process was:
Genrefication Categories for Picture Books First, I recognized that I would need to sort the books into categories and have a sense of where they would go before I just started moving everything around. I also knew I wanted to use one-inch spine labels above the traditional existing one-inch spine labels, because that was the same method we used in our genrefied fiction section. But before I was ready to put stickers on books, I needed to decide what categories we needed. And to do that, I had to look at the books. I was lucky that I'd been at that school for four years. I knew the students' needs, the teachers' needs, and I knew the collection and the elementary curriculum pretty well, so I came up with a list of several large categories and assigned colors to them. I wasn't sure if I wanted to use colorful dots or colored spine labels at first, but I realized that I would probably want more sub-categories than I would be able to distinguish with different colors. So instead of assigning each sub-category an individual color, I came up with larger "neighborhood" categories, like books about the arts, or adventure books. Ultimately, I decided to use Craftzilla masking tape to color-code each picture book according to its genre, or neighborhood category. I worried that students might pick at the tape and remove it, undoing hours of sorting work - but that never happened, even though many of my taped books were checked out during the process. I spent several hours on weekends and after school with a general list of neighborhood categories and a color code. I didn't try to tape every single book (unlike my nonfiction genrefication project), but I worked through several different sections of the everybody shelves to establish what a reasonable percentage of each genre might be. This would give me a good idea about how many shelves I would need to devote to each section before I moved any of the books. Although my collection was fairly new and up to date, this color-coding process was also an opportunity to weed some books - particularly duplicate copies and books that had low circulation since the campus opened. My genre categories for the Everybody books, with examples: You & Me Essentially, this was a social studies category. Subcategories in this "neighborhood" of books included:
Within the Feelings section, there was a Tough Stuff subset of books, mostly about dealing with loss - helpful to have on hand when a parent, student, or staff member needed a specific topic, even if most students might not actively browse that area on a regular basis Example: Where Lily Isn't, by Julie Paschkis
This was by the far the most challenging neighborhood to sub-divide and name. You might be thinking that there would be tons of overlap between School and Getting Along categories, or Feelings and Getting Along, or Identity (Family) and Be Your Best Self, for example. There was overlap, particularly in this section, but I made a guideline for myself not to over-think it, and made the best decision based on knowing the book and how my students looked for books. It was surprising how the books actually slotted pretty neatly into these categories; there are a lot of elementary books about You and Me topics! The Feelings and Tough Stuff books, as a section, would more likely be used by counselors for lessons or individual sessions, while the Getting Along books might be a classroom teacher's read-aloud approach to re-setting class expectations. Of course any student could encounter them and check them out, too, but being grouped together would make it much easier to access these kinds of books to share with student groups at point of need. The next neighborhood was science - adjacent to the Maker Mindset books from the You & Me neighborhood. These topics included:
The next neighborhood was math I moved the nonfiction math books to the everybody section because they were never circulated from their location in nonfiction. I included traditional picture books mixed in with nonfiction math books, and I sorted these into two categories:
The next neighborhood was humor There is a lot of overlap in the Getting Along and Adventure books with humor, but if it mainly exists to be silly instead of meet some other goal, it would fit here. Think Llama Destroys the World by Jonathan Stutzman. I knew kids would rush to this section. The next neighborhood was adventure Here, I included
The next neighborhood was Reading and Writing Many of these excellent books were purchased as read-aloud mentor texts for teachers, but because our collection was so extensive, it was hard for individual teachers to find them for specific purposes. Categories included:
Tap, Tap, Boom, Boom by Elizabeth Bluemle - note: this could go under weather, but when there was a conflict, I tried to choose the thing it was the best example of. So while it could be a fun story about rain approaching for young children studying weather types, I read it as a more powerful example of onomatopoeia in action.
The last neighborhood was The Arts Sub-sections included:
The Arts neighborhood was closest to the nonfiction crafts and nonfiction sports sections, which tend to be popular with readers who like to browse for books in the Everybody section. Various animal shelves (also popular with young readers) were along the next layer of nonfiction from the Everybody area. Although I bounced these ideas off some people who thought this organization might not appeal to kids, I really disagreed. I think pulling some of the early nonfiction books like thematic alphabet books and math books into the Everybody section is a much better way of getting those books into kids' hands. I think genrefying funny, family, and adventure books in categories instantly makes kids more independent and capable of finding books they already know they will enjoy. I also think that the more teachers read aloud to kids, the better, and since our curriculum is divided into disciplines, a nod to that makes it easier for classroom teachers and specialists to find read-alouds that tie to every curricular area, for every curricular unit. After all, there are some books that are fairly sophisticated, and librarians often purchase these expecting other teachers to use as read-alouds to spark discussions. Further, we do kids a disservice when we think they can't access topics according to categories. Kids are fantastic at making connections, and why shouldn't kids love perusing books about author's craft, or science, or maps for their own reading pleasure? I used Canva to design spine label stickers for each of these categories, and planned to design large signage and activities to introduce the new organization to students and staff. In retrospect, it's good I didn't end up using these, since the text on the labels is not standardized, but I've considered the wording on those categories for a while and I'm still pretty good with those decisions. I had an idea about backing the shelves in each assigned color code mural paper, or maybe covering the shelf ends and tops in that color-coded mural paper to help make each neighborhood a little clearer for users than signage alone. For example, the You & Me section was royal blue, and the Science neighborhood was green, and the Humor section was yellow. I am still not sure it's necessary to emphasize the neighborhood distinctions, though; it's possible the sub-category stickers already establish a vibe. Logical adjacent sub-categories allow users to browse topics of related interest and discover new things, and it also invites activity possibilities for students to start browsing in their comfort zone and then partner up with a classmate to "show off" a particular shelf area and what they like about it. As you can see from my nonfiction genrefication project, the masking tape step to establish initial book numbers for categories is helpful. I actually loved that time I could put hands on individual books and discover - or re-discover possibilities with each title. The work led to a lot of read-aloud lesson ideas (so keep your notes ready if you attempt this process). It took time to finalize the sub-categories and design each sticker to clearly, accurately, and respectfully represent ideas, and it would have taken more time to apply all the stickers, physically move all the books, and update their sub-locations in the catalog before familiarizing the school community with the new arrangement. It would have been worth it. I'm going to walk through the steps of genrefying my middle school library, so if I can help anyone else through this process, I'm happy to share my ideas! I don't claim to have perfect solutions or to have the most efficient mechanism for the change, but you can take a look at why I wanted to ditch Dewey for genrefication in this post. Before I get into the details, I'll clarify that I inherited a genrefied nonfiction section at the elementary library in my first school library role, so all credit to the librarian who preceded me at that school - Vanessa Stenulson - for her decision-making and championing the system. I also want to say that I'm not afraid of complexity, so although I always keep simplification for the user at the forefront, I considered a lot of details through the process. If you want the shortest path, I might not be your best bet. The TL;DR version is: Weed, Categorize, Tape/Refine Categories, Sticker, Move/Signage, Catalog Additionally, I came to see that genrefication was really a good solution for the picture book section of my elementary library, too, and I designed a detailed system for that, but I changed schools before I was able to fully implement it. So when I arrived at my new middle school campus, it was about twenty years old, with a beautiful, well-lit, big space. The nonfiction books were in a corner, farthest from the entrance, and most of them were as old as the building, meaning they were published several years before the students in the school were born. (I'm well aware many people have much older libraries with far fewer resources, so I understand I'm in fortunate circumstances.) The books were definitely in need of weeding, and they were organized in Dewey (except that biography and graphic novels were in separate, grouped sections). They mostly went from the left edge of one shelf all the way to the right edge of the same shelf. If there were six baseball books that didn't fit on the top shelf, they were on the left edge of the next shelf down. There were some new Demco shelf divider signs - black with brightly colored illustrations - to indicate animals and sports, for example, but it was clear that no one really looked at the nonfiction section. Students didn't browse there, and the circulation statistics for nonfiction were mostly attributed to teacher use for research projects. I know better than to change things right away, and I know I would advise others to get to know the collection and the student population better before making a giant change the first year, but it was immediately clear that the system in place was not inviting. The books were mostly old and unappealing, in contrast to the fiction and graphic novel sections, which were much more updated - and saw regular traffic and interest. We had a lot of online databases available for research purposes, but very few of the 1100 students saw the nonfiction section as a resource of reading for pleasure. I distributed interest surveys, interviewed student library aides and library club members, and observed checkout patterns in the first weeks, and ultimately decided to weed and genrefy nonfiction, with the goal of increasing circulation. Weeding I can't emphasize enough how important weeding is to the genrefication process. Of course every campus collection and needs are different, and some librarians find it difficult to remove books "just in case" someone might need them. I definitely felt that concern, but I talked a lot to the students who spent the most time in the library, and I checked the circulation statistics, publication date, and information for every book I weeded. The first round of weeding was pretty easy. A lot of middle school students think anything that happened a year ago was a long time ago, so most of our nonfiction books didn't have a lot of appeal due to outdated photographs and subject matter. Weeding, cont. We removed lots of outdated books, and gradually, the shelves started to have room for front-facing books. It helped a little. But it was still really easy to find more books that were not appealing, or that had old information. There were also duplicate copies of some information, like five books about Ireland, each published in 2002 or 2003. Students were helpful in giving opinions about which ones were more appealing to keep, and they started getting interested in some of the titles they hadn't been able to see before. Overall, though, I was still too tentative and should have removed even more books at this first stage, before I started the next step. Neighborhood Categories My original plan was to keep a few main "neighborhood" categories for nonfiction so I wouldn't have too many sublocations cluttering the catalog. The fiction section in my middle school library was already genrefied, with these categories: Fantasy Science Fiction Realistic Fiction Humor Sports Adventure Historical Fiction Romance Mystery Horror and graphic novels were in their own section in the fiction area. So I thought that about 10 nonfiction categories would be a good balance. My original nonfiction neighborhood categories were: Recreation - there was already a Sports genre for fiction, so to avoid confusion, in nonfiction this would include sports, optical illusions, and games The Arts - performing and visual arts, including film and photography, but excluding writing Health - physical, emotional, mental health, diseases, self-awareness, goal-setting, safety Community - social topics, geography, culture Then & Now - history topics (I kept this name from the genrefying librarian at my previous school, Vanessa Stenulson) STEM - science, technology, engineering, and math topics Language - poetry, world languages Myths - fairy tales, legends, world myths, the unexplained I arrived at these broad categories from spending time examining the collection and seeing what was left after extensive weeding. Generally, I was happy with how those categories worked out, although Community and STEM were considerably larger than everything else. Animals could have been its own section, outside of STEM (and, minor point - my math sub-category was very small and I ended up putting those books with finance and business in the community section). I chose to move the Myths books over to the fiction area, near fantasy, because it seemed logical to have dragon and magic-user myth books in that area. It also gave me a little extra room to make space in the nonfiction section for clear-cut categories. Selecting Sub-Categories This was absolutely a messy stage. I could run reports to see call numbers, but for me, putting my hands on the books and really looking each title made all the difference in determining whether we had enough books to make sub-categories within each neighborhood. I couldn't leave several hundred books in "Recreation" and call it done - I needed to figure out which topics within each neighborhood section - like basketball or soccer - would qualify as a sticker-worthy sub-categories. The Spine Labels I opted to leave the traditional spine label and add one more to indicate the genres. Since my fiction section already had Demco genre labels immediately above the one-inch traditional spine label, I opted to do the same thing in nonfiction. So every book would now have the traditional spine label with the Dewey number and the first three digits of the author's last name, and immediately above that, there would be a one-inch nonfiction genre label. It would be relatively uncluttered on the spine and clearly communicate where the book should "live" on the shelf, and if anyone needed the traditional Dewey number, it would still be visible. However, since Demco (or any other company) doesn't sell nonfiction genre labels that match my needs, I would have to create, print, and apply my own. How Many Sub-Categories Are Too Many? For me, this is the trickiest decision making of all. The more sub-categories, the easier it is for patrons to find what they're looking for. For example, having hundreds of books in a general "sports" sub-category, even if they were alphabetized by author, would be harder to comb through, but having separate sub-categories - and stickers - for gymnastics, basketball, soccer, baseball, volleyball, swimming, and so forth would make it faster to find those topics. The more categories there are, the more likely the need to change some. As the collection evolves, it makes sense that some sub-categories would collapse as you weed and expand as you add more titles. Having more sub-categories also requires more sticker designs and more signage. Most critically, having hundreds of sub-categories starts to become so specific that more books go into the maybe pile, because they could reasonably belong to multiple different categories, so that could be confusing for patrons to navigate, and the goal is improved browsability. I ended up deciding that about 75% of a shelf length was a good size for a category. If I had fewer titles than that, they could be combined with others. I won't pretend that I came up with a perfect sub-category solution - or even that one exists - but I established a working draft, which definitely changed as I worked through the next step. (See my sub-categories list later in this post.) Tape I started this process toward the beginning of the school year, so students and teachers were checking out books during the whole process. Fortunately (but also unfortunately, for obvious reasons), so few students visited the nonfiction section of the library that the work really didn't intrude on patrons that much, and there wasn't a lot of worry that their checkouts would disrupt sorting in progress. Still, I didn't want to have to sort books into piles and then inevitably have some get moved and have to re-sort and decide again, and I didn't want to move everything to its new spot without any marking or sense of where it was located during the re-organization phase. Since the traditional spine label was and would remain on the book, I left the books in their Dewey organization, but started sorting them by adding color-coded masking tape to the top of the spines. As you will no doubt notice, there are only 11 colors, and I definitely had more than 11 sub-categories, so I used a color-coded system that assigned a Neighborhood Category color on top, and striped additional colors underneath. For example, all books in the STEM neighborhood had a green stripe on top, and technology books had a black stripe under the green. This was complex and might not be for everyone, but for me, this helped save time and money later - if I didn't do this rough draft stage to see what my sub-categories really looked like, I would have ended up designing and printing sticker labels that I didn't need, and several category names would have changed. So the tape was a less expensive rehearsal for the permanent sticker labels. A note: I didn't have to put tape on some of the books, because I knew that the origami books would be with crafts and the football books would be in their own section - so even if those got checked out or moved to other piles before they were formally stickered, it wouldn't be hard to identify them. This was a messy, time-consuming process. I did have student library aides and some adult volunteers help to apply the tape to books in different categories, but as long as it took me to do the majority of it, I still wish I had done all of it myself. As I put my hands on each book, it was another opportunity to weed books that really weren't worth keeping, or to lift individual books out and add them to a different category based on my own knowledge of the book and the categories. Volunteers didn't have a handle on that information the way I did. Some student volunteers just applied tape to whatever was in a given stack, even though some books clearly did not fit the category and should have been pulled out. Some student volunteers raised great questions and made recommendations, too - so it was a mixed bag to share the work load during this stage. Honestly, if I were more patient, it would have been really valuable to have it be a completely student-driven process to determine the categories and place every book. Students would have been more invested in the process and familiar with the categories when we finished. But I also know that I'm the professional who has been examining the collection and learning, reading, and thinking more about library usage, so I drove the decisions and stayed open to input. My sub-category names and topics changed a lot throughout this stage of the process, and I'm sure they will evolve over time as the collection changes, too. Finalizing the sub-categories There turned out to be another round of pretty heavy book weeding throughout the sub-category determination process. It didn't make sense to buy new stickers for old books that hadn't been circulated in ten years, even though it felt like we had already removed so many books. I wished I had been a little more severe in my earlier rounds of weeding the collection. This brings me to an important point - I can't be sure if any future circulation success can be attributed to the genrefication or the thoughtful weeding of the nonfiction area, and I will say that as we got near the end of the taping process for the last sections, more and more students seemed to be visiting the nonfiction nook, suggesting that removing the old books did a lot to increase the appeal in that area. The community (social studies topics) area of nonfiction was the most challenging section to create categories for, so I did that one last. Everything else had been assigned to a logical section before I wrestled with those groups and what to call them, although of course I had a draft in mind before I started. Here are the sub-categories, or topic genres I ended up using for this campus and this collection: Recreation - neighborhood "area" genre - not a specific sticker, just a grouping (Each topic underneath each area group gets a unique sticker label) Football & Soccer Baseball (includes softball) Basketball Skateboarding Racing - includes cars and biking Martial Arts Water & Winter Sports (swimming, hockey, diving, surfing, skiing, skating) Other Sports (volleyball, tennis, golf, gymnastics, archery, Olympics) Outdoor Adventure (fishing, camping, hunting, hiking, mountain climbing) Fun Facts (world records books) Fun (optical illusions, seek & find, magic tricks) - kept this label from Vanessa Stenulson Toys & Games Health - "area" genre category Human Body - how it works when it works as designed Physical Health - diseases (calling it diseases seemed dark, but it's about physical diseases and injuries) Social, Emotional, and Mental Health Personal Safety - includes Internet safety, decisions that enhance well-being Substances Medicine Cells & Genes - includes evolution, DNA, micro-organisms Death - I felt weird about this category, but there were a lot of books about cultural traditions, or coping with terminal diseases, or dealing with loss Survival - strategies for surviving different situations and real-life survival stories Self - I kept this label name from Vanessa Stenulson; I used it to encompass books about goal-setting, self-awareness, inspirational/aspirational advice books, and negotiating relationships with friends and family Food, Cooking, and Nutrition The Arts - area genre category Music, Musicians Visual Art, Visual Artists Crafts - how to draw books, origami, sewing, etc. Stage & Screen - dance, theatre, film, photography Fashion Media - journalism, interpreting media, advertising, etc. STEM - area genre category - Animals really stands alone as its own area category, too Animals - area category - we had far more books about animals at the elementary level than we had at this middle school, so more sub-categories would be necessary with more books General Animals - books about various animals grouped by a characteristic, for example Endangered Animals Mammals Pets & Farm Animals Fish & Sea Creatures Insects & Arachnids Reptiles & Amphibians Birds Prehistoric Planet - dinosaurs, other STEM - area category Physics Chemistry Geology Weather & Natural Disasters - includes climate, water cycle Disasters - man-made; ended up moving Survival stories from health next to these Environmentalism - activism for nature and the planet, pollution, recycling Ecosystems & Habitats - descriptions of interactions and characteristics, food chains Energy - sources and uses Plants, Farming, and Gardening - includes soil Outer Space, Space Travel Inventions & Experiments Coding & Technology Math - ended up moving this to Community with Finance & Business STEM - More to Explore - a few strays that didn't fit anywhere else Community - area category Geography - organized alphabetically by place Maps & Explorers Spies & Crime - includes law enforcement, forensics, true crime Architecture & Landmarks Land Travel Water Travel - includes pirates and shipwrecks Air Travel (located near Outer Space and Space Travel) Finance; Math - includes brands, business, economics U.S. Military Warriors & Weaponry U.S. Presidents - includes First Ladies U.S. Voting & Government - includes elections, suffrage, U.S. patriotism Government Types and International Groups Courts - includes U.S. Supreme Court cases and justices Notable People - kept this label from Vanessa Stenulson; includes political leaders with global impact Biography - includes human stories from lesser-known people; note that athletes, artists, actors, inventors, authors, and U.S. President biographies all go with their sub-categories Celebrating People - collective biographies, books highlighting groups' contributions First Nations Peoples Faith & Philosophy Life Around the World - includes traditions, holidays, demographic comparisons Careers - these mostly fit with subject areas, but there were still some that didn't Texas - it's geography and history, but we're in Texas and it gets its own shelf Social Issues - large section, includes 3 separate shelves Social Studies - More to Explore - a few strays that didn't fit anywhere else Then & Now - area genre category; kept label name from Vanessa Stenulson Pre- Modern Civilizations 1100 - 1620 - includes Medieval knights, the Renaissance, Columbus, Mayflower 1620 - 1788 - includes Colonial America, U.S. Revolution 1789 - 1860 - includes French Revolution, U.S. Gold Rush, Oregon Trail, Trail of Tears, War of 1812 1861 - 1869 - includes U.S. Civil War & Reconstruction 1870 - 1938 - includes WWI, U.S. Great Depression, U.S. Roaring Twenties 1939 - 1945 - includes WWII; large section, includes 3 separate shelves 1946 - 1989 - includes U.S. - Korea War, U.S. - Vietnam War, Watergate, Cold War, Fall of Berlin Wall U.S. Civil Rights Movement - although this fits in the 1946 - 1989 time frame, it has enough material to have its own category 1990 - Present - includes 9/11, Persian Gulf War, U.S. War in Afghanistan, COVID-19 Language - area genre category Authors World Languages (Spanish language books are in one part, everything else is in the other part) Words - books about alphabets, idioms, and so forth Poetry Plays Myths - area genre category located in fiction near the fantasy genre World Myths & Tales - fairy tales and legends from around the world, organized alphabetically by author's last name Legendary Beings - cryptids, dragons, unicorns Ghost Stories - haunted tales The Unexplained - alien sightings, crop circles, paranormal activity I struggled a lot with many of these sub-categories. I wanted the wording to be inclusive and respectful, as well as brief and accurate. I didn't want to "other" First Nations Peoples by having a separate category, because surely those same books are about Celebrating People, but I also wanted to keep them visible to patrons searching specifically for those books. I thought a lot about extracting specific social issues, like education, and whether to name historical events instead of using date ranges - I didn't want to be overly U.S.-centric, but I needed to acknowledge the location of our campus and local interests and assumptions in terms of searching for topics related to government and war. I could apologize for problematic areas for paragraphs, but ultimately I looked at the collection, grouped them as logically as I could for the students on my campus, and then I fit each book into a sub-category. I tried not to over-think it (because it is intellectually interesting to see how many connections a given book might have), and just quickly make a decision - where would the student be most likely to look for this information? When I really couldn't commit, I would ask a few of my student aides to give me feedback. Eventually, I was able to categorize almost all of the books, and when I encountered really tricky ones, I put them in an I Don't Know Yet pile (pictured above). You may have noticed that I did end up with More to Explore in Social Studies and More to Explore in STEM categories, because there were a few outliers (a book about roadkill, a book about exploring different mysteries in science, and so forth) that defied the existing categories. Eventually, every book belonged to a category, but none of them were stickered yet. Let's Talk Labels I spent the most time going back and forth about which sub-categories would exist, but I spent the second most amount of time trying to find the most durable, most clear, least expensive, least time-consuming solution to creating, adding, and maintaining nonfiction genre stickers. Before I created any designs, I spent a long time pricing various label packages and sizes, and I also looked at printing options. I wanted to know the price per page and amount of labels per printed page, because that would also inform my sub-category decisions to some degree, too. I ended up selecting one-inch square Avery labels, and because it was cheaper to buy them in bulk and I wanted to have extras on hand for new book orders, I bought a big package. They came in sheets of 48 per page. Printing Labels I explored many different options for printing labels, and in the end, my school district's print services organization ended up being the most helpful and the least expensive - far less than I expected. I did end up applying clear Demco label covers on top of each sticker, too, which was an additional expense. I will also add that I also designed labels to genrefy my picture book section at my previous elementary campus library (that's a whole 'nother story), and that district's print service center was also super helpful - in fact, they were able to get whole sticker sheets and custom cut them for me - after I sent them the design in Google Docs, they even re-arranged the images for me to create one-inch squares in batches of 90 per page (legal size), so that I received pages of 90 stickers per page that were still stuck to the backing, with one-inch cuts to separate them, and no wasted borders around each sticker. I created my sticker designs using Canva, with the exception of one original student design (which I adore), and I created a master Google Doc with each individual sticker design organized by neighborhood area categories. So there was one set for all the stickers in Recreation, and another table with all the sticker designs in STEM, for example. I wanted to find perfect images to represent each category - again, I wanted to be inclusive and accurate, and I also wanted them to be simple, readily recognizable, and distinct from each other - so I spent a fair amount of time building images. I wish I had good graphic design skills, but that's still on my not yet list. Because the icons were not representative enough on their own, I needed to add text - after all, the Demco fiction genre labels do this, too - and it was tricky to shorten the names of my carefully-crafted sub-categories so they would fit on one-inch stickers. So I had to make decisions for that again, and then my table skills in Word and Google Docs were wanting, so an excessively generous parent volunteer formatted my images and text into one-inch pdf tables for me, in alphabetical order within each neighborhood. I used Lexend font for the labels, which was designed to be easy for people with dyslexia to read. I also knew that some library patrons were still learning English, so I hoped the symbols would be helpful indicators, even if the text wasn't useful to some users. I was able to send those pdf design files with the genre sticker icons and text (along with several back-and-forth emails) to my district print services office, and inter-office mailed the Avery labels I purchased to them (with all my directions and email references lovingly - desperately? - rubber-banded to the package). Numbers I've skipped over a step, which is that before I could send all the labels to the printer, I needed to know how many pages of each design I would need, and for that, I needed to know about how many books were in each sub-category. It was a little too complicated to make more than one design per page (and that would have created a mess later when we needed to find a single sticker from the files). I didn't want to have to place another order right away since it was time-consuming, but I didn't want a million extras of every design in case I needed to change some down the road, either. It was so helpful to have sorted and taped the books into categories already at this stage, because I had a strong handle on how many books I had per category. I was able to make pretty good decisions about how many pages of each design to order, with a comfortable (but not excessive) cache of leftover stickers for each category. Sticker Time It took about 3-5 days for the district print center to print and deliver all those genre labels, and then, because the books were already color-coded with tape, it was easy to add the genre sticker just above the traditional Dewey label for each sub-category, and cover each with a clear label protector. Sadly, a few of the traditional labels in almost every category had been applied two inches from the spine bottom long before I arrived, instead of one inch, like most of the rest of the books. In those cases, I decided to reverse the genre sticker placement, instead of going an additional inch higher up on the spine. At some point I can go back and replace both stickers on each of the affected books, but for now, it's still clear where each book belongs, and you can still read the titles on the spines (it's just not as clean looking). While I'm acknowledging missteps, I also realized early on that when I added centered text to the one-inch labels, you would not be able to read the full word - or even the beginning of the word - when the label curved around thinner books, as seen in the photo above. The icons are easy enough to recognize for users, even when the words aren't fully visible on each book, so I think it was the right decision. And Yes, There Was More Weeding I tried not to make drastic changes as we (student library aides, parent volunteers, and I) applied the genre sticker labels and clear label protectors to our sorted books. However, I did find more that I discarded from the collection, and there were a few that I re-categorized into different sub-categories as I worked. Because I was doing that decision-making, I asked volunteers to remove the color-coded masking tape after the genre stickers were added, instead of removing the tape as I went. To be completely honest, there are probably at least six more boxes of books that could be discarded and no students would miss them, but it's an ongoing process. Stickers Applied, Time to Move the Books . . . Or Is It? At this stage, the books had genre stickers and most were together on the shelves with temporary signage, but not ordered into logical adjacent sections. I could have changed their sublocations in the catalog at this stage to reflect their new positions, but I knew there might be some changes along the way, so I waited to change the sublocations until the last step. Instead, I opted to physically move the books, now that they were stickered. (Full disclosure - this was actually a messy process that happened for some books before other books were stickered - I'll explain why just below.) Location, Location, Location I had been experimenting extensively with different configurations, based on the number of sub-categories and the number of books in each sub-category, or genre. Early on, when were still applying masking tape, I used small sticky notes at the top of each shelf to brainstorm where each section would go, but at that step we were still weeding and didn't know exactly how many books would belong to each category. I also really wanted sub-categories to be logically placed so that similar things were adjacent as much as possible. After all, that was one of my main reasons for ditching Dewey, so I wanted to improve the set-up. However, it was complicated by the physical space and the possible connections. I won't give you every example, but here are just a few: I wanted plants to be near both animals and weather, and weather to be near ecosystems, and I wanted weather to be near outer space (because of earth's revolution and seasons). I wanted food and cooking to be near crafts, and I wanted inventions & experiments and coding & technology to be near crafts, too. I wanted survival (health) and outdoor adventure (recreation) to be near each other. I wanted architecture and landmarks to be near visual arts, but also near life around the world. I also wanted to have each sub-category organized - at least loosely - into the "neighborhood zones" or larger categories I established early on. Another consideration was the popularity of particular book topics with patrons and the space for traffic flow in that area; I've yet to see students crowd around the physics or medicine books with the same zeal they crowd around the sports and Minecraft books, so some categories lend themselves to narrower aisles and some need more space and good supervisory sight lines. Juggling all of those variables was tricky. In addition to experimenting with physically moving some books into sections and adjusting sticky notes in the space, I also created digital maps and experimented with index cards to try different configurations. Eventually, decisions were made and the books were physically moved to their sections, and I'd like to say we lived happily ever after, but the truth is, I made different decisions and moved some of the books again later. I wasn't terribly surprised that this was necessary, but I did rather wish I hadn't made semi-permanent signage before I thought of a better physical arrangement and had to re-create the signage, too. Signage is Everything I was hoping to avoid a big expense with additional display stands, so once our books were in their new locations, I tried some smaller acrylic display signs. My idea was that each stand would be located at the right edge of each shelf, with an enlarged genre icon and label that matched the sticker one each book in that section. It seemed like a really good idea, because the signage could include "See also" information that could direct visitors to explore other sections. For example, if you were looking at U.S. Government and Voting, you might "See also: U.S. Presidents," or "See also: Then and Now: 1620 - 1788 - U.S. Revolution." I bought enough of these small acrylic stands to try them on one side, and I anchored them with small sticky putty dots, but they didn't work. Maybe it's the slanted stand angle, but they are too difficult to read clearly. Also, it was clear that they would be too lightweight (if books fell over) and in the way at the end of each shelf, where I planned to display front-facing featured books for each section. While we're discussing signage, these yellow signs at the top were NF signs when I got to this library. You can see that the shelves are tall, making it tricky to read details from below. This was after an early round of weeding, so you can see it's still pretty crowded on every shelf, but we're moving toward a 75% full shelf with at least one front-facing book on each end In the end, I decided I'd need to use full page acrylic display stands at the top of each bookcase. I put the color-coded neighborhood label at the top of each sign (for example, Health, or Recreation), and then I noted what was located on the top shelf, second shelf, third shelf, and bottom shelf. I included the genre sticker icons on this sign to help users easily identify each topic. I also clarified which topics were part of a section - for example, what topics were included in the Cells & Genes sub-category, as well as related information users might find elsewhere in the library, like "See also: Health - Medicine." In my library, it is still tricky to read the signs on the tops of shelves that are 5 shelves tall, so I'm including thin strips of signage above each shelf (they include the icon, the sub-category title, and some "includes" information, but the "see also" details don't fit). Updating the Catalog I went back and forth about adding all the sub-category stickers as sub-locations in the catalog (my school uses Destiny), or whether I should use the larger area neighborhood designations. I decided that the more specific sub-location - the one that matched the sticker - would be clearer for library users. For example, if you wanted a book about Jonas Salk, you might not know if that would be found in Notable People, Inventors, or Medicine. If it just said Health in the catalog, you still might check Physical Health instead of Medicine for a book about vaccine development. Providing the specific genre sticker topic category as the sub-location in the catalog seemed like the clearest thing to do for users, so that was the next step: scanning every book and setting the sub-location to match the book's genre sticker. Shelving within Genres I originally planned to organize the books alphabetically by author's last name within each genre, since the first three letters are already on the traditional spine label, under the Dewey number. That would be familiar to student library aides and adult volunteers, since it matches the process in fiction, and it would easily allow catalog searchers to put their hands on an individual title. I haven't gotten to that step yet - mostly because my students typically browse the shelves instead of starting with catalog searches for nonfiction, but also because most of my sub-categories are only one shelf long, and those are pretty easy to scan quickly. My largest categories are WWII. Social Issues, Outer Space, Other Sports, Mammals, and Poetry, so it is a little more time-consuming to find specific books within those sections. I'm still thinking about whether alphabetizing by author is helpful to users, or whether simply grouping books together by sticker is workable for most users most of the time. That's it - the mechanics and decision-making process. As of this writing, there are still twelve more sub-categories to scan to update the catalog to the correct sub-locations. I continue to tweak signage, and I have been using different activities with students to familiarize them with the new nonfiction section. Eighth graders had nonfiction book tastings, and later they practiced discussion skills based on selected nonfiction books. Sixth and seventh graders toured the nonfiction sections in a musical-no-chairs rotation, then stopped, examined selected books, and worked to "sell" them to other students nearby. Sixth graders collaborated to create nonfiction book commercials for our library, too - and through these and other activities, we are building a new capacity for using the nonfiction nook. I hope our nonfiction circulation statistics will tell a successful story about nonfiction reading on our campus this year, but I also know that information is only part of the story. Students regularly visit and browse the nonfiction section now - and they often pick books from nonfiction shelves and sit and read them before replacing them on the shelf (usually in the correct spot, thanks to our trusty stickers). I also hope this information will help librarians with questions about how to get started with this process - even if this isn't the process that would work best for you. And because every librarian enjoys a good Adventures in Weeding picture, I'll end with a few of the treasures that came to the end of their stay in our nonfiction section this fall. |
Jamie Wright
I've had the privilege of working with hundreds of students and families in IA, CT, NC, MO, TX, and Canada. I love being a teacher-librarian! Categories
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January 2024
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