[CASL-L] Lower elementary nonfiction organization

[Jud, Brian]

Hi everyone!

Question for elementary librarians (I'm at a K-6 school):
Does anybody have suggestions for how to organize lower elementary (K-2) nonfiction? At my last school library, we had full Dewey nonfiction sections for "easy" and "regular," but now at my current library, I inherited categorized bins (Jobs, Animals, Space, etc.). I'm afraid the categorized bins are too much like a classroom library and not a library proper, but I still like the idea of somewhat genrefying nonfiction for the littler kiddos to help them independently find high-interest nonfiction books as easily as possible without having to massively ramp up teaching "just right books" (which I do address) and/or Dewey (which is more a grades 3-6 focus). As you all can imagine, checking out books during class without the luxury of a library para makes it hard for me to be with students as they browse, so independence for the kids who don't necessarily know Dewey or who cannot easily recognize books that are around their reading level.

I'd love to hear how you all organize your "easy" nonfiction so that it's more than a classroom library but still a little more adaptive and transitional for the younger kids. (And yes, I will absolutely continue teaching "just right" strategies, so please don't think I'm trying to avoid that!)

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Thank you,

Mr. Brian Jud
Library Media Specialist
Spring Glen School

Current reads:
Goodreads profile: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/3978357-brian
Storygraph profile: https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/b_jud
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