Libraries store the energy that fuels the imagination. They open up windows to the world and inspire us to explore and achieve, and contribute to improving our quality of life.
―Sidney Sheldon
Begin with Joy
I’m happy to offer an issue dedicated to school and classroom libraries. There is so much potential joy in books as they sit on the shelves and wait to be discovered.
We live in a time when there is a push for certainty and guarantees in growing readers. As we’ve learned more about the science of instruction, it is easy to jump a little too fast to the conclusion that if we just follow the perfect steps, then every child will be a reader.
The reality is that although there is a science to reading instruction, teaching readers is an art. It is best to begin with joy and a love of words, stories, and books. It’s not something we conjure by practice, but rather something that happens when we spend time in libraries, surrounded by books and people who love to read books.
This issue is filled with ideas straight from school and classroom libraries that are sure to energize you to fuel the readers you interact with this school year—plus more, as always.
Shine on,
Ruth Ayres
Editor in Chief
Leigh Anne Eck personifies her classroom library by sharing the lessons it whispers when we take the time to listen. This is a practical guide to keeping your classroom library timely and relevant.
Mandy Robek shares ways to reorganize and revamp your classroom library to energize students as readers.
Do you wish you had more time to share new books with your students? We know you don’t need fluff or pretty activities. Instead we get to the heart of what you need to thoughtfully share new books in your classroom.
NEW! Our book guides are created and vetted by in-the-field educators. They hold true to the tenets of giving students choice and voice in their reading lives, while empowering a teacher to expand the representation of books shared with students. Click here to see all of our new book guides.
How To, written and illustrated by Julie Morstad, is a collection of invitations to do a variety of things that, when paired with the illustrations, offer a unique perspective on some otherwise ordinary actions.
New members-only content is added each week to the Choice Literacy website. If you’re not yet a member, click here to explore membership options.
Gigi McAllister shares informal writing opportunities for students in the school library. Informal and engaging writing activities where students have lots of choice and encouragement make them feel empowered as writers, help them generalize the writing skills they are learning in the classroom, and create joyful writing experiences.
Christy Rush-Levine invites students into a story walk. While many of our school activities require students to sit still and be quiet, story walks with wordless books are a simple way to invite students to move and talk, with powerful outcomes.
Gretchen Schroeder intentionally leads students to “jilted genres” in her classroom library.
New members-only content is added each week to the Choice Literacy website. If you’re not yet a member, click here to explore membership options.
Matt Renwick shares about a project in the school library that builds students’ empowerment, influence, and agency. Matt gives resources and advice for you to try this in your school, too.
Julie Johnson moves from a teaching to a coaching and intervention position, and finds the move requires some rethinking about her library of books.
Quote It:
Libraries always remind me that there are good things in this world.
—Lauren Ward
That’s all for this week!
