How to Have a Smooth Back to School Experience in the Library

Do you want to have a smooth back to school experience in the library? Do you want your students to come into the library calmly, take their assigned seats, listen attentively to your lesson and check out books efficiently? Are you saying, “Dream on,” right now? It’s possible, I promise you!

Back to School: Start with the Basics

Start with the basics. Don’t assume your students know anything about being in a library (some kindergartners have never even been in school. My parents had nine children and with little money, we went regularly to the public library to borrow books, which were like precious treasures. Imagine my horror my first year of teaching when the littles grasped the pages by the middle and crumpled them, as they turned the pages! Do you mean they don’t even know how to turn pages in a book? Some children may have very few books in their houses. Others may have books, but only the parents turn the pages. So, yes, they don’t even know how to turn pages. Show them!

Do’s and Don’ts

Go over the procedures for taking care of books:

Read with clean hands
Keep snacks away from books
Keep books away from babies and pets
Do not write or draw in a library book
Keep them in your backpack, when not reading them
Return your books on time

You may be interested in this PowerPoint slide show about book care. It also comes with an interactive Google Slides deck, asking students if the different scenarios are examples of proper book care.

Buy HERE on TpT

Give Out Bookmarks

Now, you may think that bookmarks are not essential, but there are many bookmarks that give tips for book care. Others have the day of the week on them (so kids know which day they have library). Demonstrate what bookmarks are for. Yes, I have given out fun bookmarks only to have children who ask, “But what is it”? I use a blank piece of paper to show them what a “dog-eared page” looks like (you can even draw a dog’s face on it). They think that is the funniest description in the world. If I tell them not to bend down the page to keep their place, inevitably someone says, “But my Daddy does that.” I respond, “That’s okay if Daddy owns the book, but we share these books with everyone.” These bookmarks indicate which library day a student has.

Buy HERE on TpT

Have Seating Charts

Don’t play musical chairs in the library. I create a seating chart for each library class. When students know where to sit, there is no mad scramble to grab a seat, sometimes knocking over chairs. After the first week, students come in calmly and sit down quickly. Our student management system even allows for students’ photos to be included. This is great for getting to know students’ names. It also helps if you get a substitute when you are out (lucky you).

Run Student Bar Codes

You may or may not use library cards but have some efficient system for checking out books. I don’t want kids to risk losing their library card, so I just run out a list of bar codes with the student’s name and ID number. I put them in a binder at the desk, with tabs for each grade. Because the system was so simple, many teachers even helped check out books (I know, right?). And again…easy peasy for substitutes. One newbie librarian I know did not “bother” running bar codes. She had to search the whole database for each student and then complained that book checkout was taking forever! Get out of your own way, people.

Make a Back-up Plan

During my first year of teaching, I was shocked to learn that I would have Kindergarten for one hour! We had overlapping morning and afternoon sessions and the kinders would go to a special over the teacher’s lunch. On my first day, I had a book to read aloud, some coloring sheets and puzzles. Nothing else. The school had purchased a brand-new TV just for the library. So, I put a DVD on after the story. The TV went “POOF” and burned out after 3 seconds. Twenty-two sad little faces looked at me, chanting, “Fix it, fix it.” Why, oh why didn’t I become an electrician instead of a librarian? The crying you heard from the library that day did not come from the five year olds. The moral: have a back-up plan. Gather more books, activities, and worksheets than you think you will need. Just in case!

Take a Tour

Take the kids on a tour of the library. Besides Kinders, you will have many other students who are new entrants. Do not assume they know fiction vs. nonfiction or where these books are shelved. When kids ask me where a certain type of book is, I always review the location as I help them find it. “Football? Let’s head over to the sports section in the 700s.”

Here are more ideas for an orderly library experience:

8 Procedures for Efficient Library Classes

Use Technology to Teach

Try out some fun, interactive activities that also teach library skills. Think PowerPoint, Google Slides and BOOM Cards. Have you used BOOM Cards? They are self-correcting digital task cards hosted on the BOOM Learning website. You can get a free account. Read more about it:

Getting Started with BOOM Cards

You might be interested in these fun activities. Click on the captions for more information.