Ah! A snapshot view of bookcases in my life! :)

An "ariel" view of most of my classroom library. (Yes, I was standing on a desk after school. ;) I couldn't fit all of it in a frame and it doesn't show the chapter book nook or my teacher shelves that are double stacked (in the front and in the back of the shelves.) I pull from my teacher shelves during the year for read alouds,
thematic SOL units of study related non-fiction, and for special books like author signed additions. My mom has taught me how to be quite the scavenger, and between garage sales, discarded shelves from friends, family, old store displays, and even the curb, I have accumulated quite a hodge podge of shelving and display units! You can also see the social studies center counter, which is currently displaying China related objects along with non-fiction resources and related fiction literature trade books. :) My newest acquisition are the two tall cream color bookcases (you can see one of them, with the animals on top.) They came from a store that went out of business and once upon a time they housed Ty Beanie Babies. However, they are sturdy and go up, up, up! When you can't go out, go up! Good thing I have a tall ceiling! (Hmm...maybe we need one of those cool library rolling ladders? A girl can dream!) My good friend and team mate has her class right below me, and we have joked more than once about how we wish we could expand our classrooms where the courtyard lays outside of our windows. Then we would make a "world class" classroom library with lofts, welcoming seating, a twirly staircase in the middle to go from her room to mine, and how we would need a computerized library checkout system. I know, we have creative imaginations! However, in reality, it is important to keep a real classroom library at a size where it is not overwhelming to help students make "just right" choices from a quality collection of fiction and nonfiction genres of trade books. It is also important to explicitly model how to use the library effectively and effeciently, and it must be well organized. I feel strongly that it's important for students to feel that they have a responsibility to care for the books and to love using the library to its greatest potential. It's all rooted in the desire to create an enriching atmosphere and tone for our students while in our classrooms!