| Goals/Benefits | Time/Structure | Sample Lessons | Routines | Texts | Assessment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Why are classroom libraries important?
How do you organize your classroom library?
What other materials in addition to books are available for Independent Reading?
Why are classroom libraries important?
- Children read 50 to 60 percent more in classrooms with their own libraries than in those without them. (Morrow 2003, Kim 2003, Neuman 1999). – Miller, Debbie, and Barbara Moss. 2013. No More Independent Reading Without Support. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
- Children in high-income families have access to 4,000 times the number of books as children from low-income homes! (Neuman 1999 cited in Miller and Moss 2013) Therefore, well-stocked classroom libraries are essential to narrow the access gap between high and low income students.
- The quantity of books per child in a classroom library is one of the criteria of overall effectiveness of the literacy environment, and correlates with test scores. Three levels were found: inadequate (1-7 books), basic (8-19 books), and outstanding (20 or more books) by Hoffman, Sailors, Duffy, and Beretvas 2004. – Morgan, Denise N., Maryann Mraz, Nancy D. Padak, and Timothy Rasinski. 2009. Independent Reading: Practical Strategies for Grades K-3. New York: The Guilford Press.
The teachers in the South Carolina classrooms highlighted in this module have classroom libraries of 600 – 1500 books.
