How to organize a bookshelf?

[Spryte]

Can you help me organize our main school bookshelf? We are swimming in books, and I am looking for a better system, at least for that one area.

 

We have books on shelves, books in baskets, books in crates. I'm pondering rain gutter type bookshelves for the little one (but have some time there, since she's only 3 mos old, for now, she's doing okay with me choosing the books to read aloud). Every room has a bookcase, and some hallways have built ins. In general, we all know which type of books are in each area. We have an area for our current curriculum. And a large bookshelf which generally holds a lot of reference books pertaining to that year's studies, plus any books we already own that we will be reading that year (I try to pull them all together while planning the year). Library books go in a basket.

 

It is the large bookshelf, the one that holds curriculum and our yearly books, plus often-used reference books that has me stumped as to organizing. There are too many books to put them all in crates or magazine holders, really. I think. :) But I would like my 7 year old to be able to walk to the shelf, and know that *this* area holds science books, *this* area hold math readers, this one history... and so on. He needs something visual.

 

I looked at library dividers, because I thought that would be ideal. Thought I could print a label for each section, and be done with it. I was hoping to find upright dividers, the kind that attach to bookends rather than horizontal dividers that dangle from the shelf. But everything I'm finding clips to the shelf, and that won't work on our bookshelf as the shelves themselves are too thick. Here's our bookshelf, if that helps to visualize: http://www.lafuente.com/Mexican-Furniture/Rustic-Pine-Furniture/Bookcases/48/

 

Can you think of any way to visually separate the groups? I am just stumped. But I think we need to do something. The kiddo was looking for the Math Curse today, and I told him it was with his math readers on the shelf, and apparently he'd never even realized there were sections! Not that I can blame him. :)

 

How do you organized your shelves? Any secrets out there? Has anyone tried the color coded dots on the spine method? Did that work?

 

Thanks!

[MtnTeaching]

I had a big bookcase similar to yours for a while and know what you are talking about. I wound up just using the bookcase for our research, reading, and extra books. I put each kid's current curriculum in milk crates with rollers and a heavy metal divider that held the books and workbooks upright. That way they could roll them to other rooms if they needed to.

 

The bookcase was divided by topic/course and in between each topic I put a cloth "box" in a different color that symbolized that topic. The box held paperbacks and smaller books that that had a hard time on the shelves anyway. I had planned on using the round colored dots on the spines, but just never got around to it.

 

Science - green

History- yellow

Math- blue

English & Literature- purple

Art, craft, etc. - red

Research/ dictionaries/etc. - black

 

(We have continued to use this color scheme all through our schooling with notebooks, file folders, and scheduling.)

 

Now the kids are older and I bought a large Ikea bookshelf that is sectioned out into big squares. Each kid has a row across and they put their courses in the appropriate squares. Research and extra books are on the lower shelves in sections. This works great now that they are older and we have a lot less of the smaller paperbacks and are moving more into the massive, backbreaking high school books.

 

Good luck with whatever system you wind up with!

[Qcaller]

(not my original idea) I've heard of using paint stir sticks to mark sections in your personal library. You can even decorate them with cute graphics if you are into that sort of thing. Otherwise, just label with a Sharpie.

 

Another idea is to label sticks for each child. They mark the spot where they remove a book from the shelves making it easier to return it to the correct spot and maintain your organization.

 

Best of luck. I'm all ears if you get any other great suggestions.

[Denisemomof4]

I had a big bookcase similar to yours for a while and know what you are talking about. I wound up just using the bookcase for our research, reading, and extra books. I put each kid's current curriculum in milk crates with rollers and a heavy metal divider that held the books and workbooks upright. That way they could roll them to other rooms if they needed to.

 

The bookcase was divided by topic/course and in between each topic I put a cloth "box" in a different color that symbolized that topic. The box held paperbacks and smaller books that that had a hard time on the shelves anyway. I had planned on using the round colored dots on the spines, but just never got around to it.

 

Science - green

History- yellow

Math- blue

English & Literature- purple

Art, craft, etc. - red

Research/ dictionaries/etc. - black

 

(We have continued to use this color scheme all through our schooling with notebooks, file folders, and scheduling.)

 

Now the kids are older and I bought a large Ikea bookshelf that is sectioned out into big squares. Each kid has a row across and they put their courses in the appropriate squares. Research and extra books are on the lower shelves in sections. This works great now that they are older and we have a lot less of the smaller paperbacks and are moving more into the massive, backbreaking high school books.

 

Good luck with whatever system you wind up with!

 

(not my original idea) I've heard of using paint stir sticks to mark sections in your personal library. You can even decorate them with cute graphics if you are into that sort of thing. Otherwise, just label with a Sharpie.

 

Another idea is to label sticks for each child. They mark the spot where they remove a book from the shelves making it easier to return it to the correct spot and maintain your organization.

 

Best of luck. I'm all ears if you get any other great suggestions.

 

these both are TERRIFIC ideas!

 

I've been wanting to get all my books back on my shelves since January. It's been SO overwhelming to me that I stopped at about a halfway point. I feel like I can do it now. Thanks!

 

FWIW, I have a large set of bookshelves upstairs and another set in the basement. I will leave future curriculum on the shelves downstairs. I have stuff I used with my boys years ago that I will use with my girls one day, and I also have too many books of all types, including those for dh and I, to bring them all upstairs.

[Spryte]

Great ideas! Thank you!

 

I think the box idea is perfect - will corral some of the smaller books that tend to get lost on the shelf, and those will make perfect dividers. I'll put the labels on the box. And add the colored stickers, too.

 

And the paint stick to mark the place where the book goes... genius! We will still likely end up with books everywhere, but it's worth a shot.

 

Love it!

 

Many thanks.

[HoneyFernDotOrg]

We have about 1,000 books, and they are divided into fiction and non, then alphabetized and the non-fiction is in categories (memoir, history, travelogues, etc). Also plays, poetry and short stories have their own section, and textbooks are on a totally different shelf, with magazines.

 

I debated organizing with Dewey, but that went way farther than I was prepared to go, for sanity's sake. :)

[merry gardens]

...I had planned on using the round colored dots on the spines, but just never got around to it.

 

Science - green

History- yellow

Math- blue

English & Literature- purple

Art, craft, etc. - red

Research/ dictionaries/etc. - black

...

I want something like this with the stickers on the binding! I feel like I'm constantly re-organizing books. Between a toddler that delights in pulling books off bookshelves and all my other kids who put books back in the wrong spot or not at all, my organized bookshelves don't last long. It helped for a while to blockade bookshelves against the toddler, but then the kids can't get to their book and the books fall behind the blockade in a big mess. Maybe color coded stickers on the books would help make sorting them easier for my children--not just for finding but for putting them away!

[Berta]

I use magazine holders. I got them at Walmart ...

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Bankers-Box-Corrugated-Cardboard-Magazine-File-Letter-White-12-Carton/15074386

 

I use one holder for each subject. I write the name of the subject right on the front. Takes all the guess work out of flipping through piles of books. Here is a picture of my shelves with the magazine holders organizing my books.

 

[kalanamak]

I have a main storage area in the dining room, grouped by subject. Every few months I wander through it to see what I have. (I got most of them at very, very good prices back when kiddo was little and I had time to trawl through used bookstores.)

 

In my school room I have a 4 tall shelves about 6 foot long. In one area I have the texts I intend to use in the next few months. In others I have subjects: art, science, math, history, and reference, for all the books that are appropriate to kiddo's current level of ability.

[Lily_Grace]

We have about 1,000 books, and they are divided into fiction and non, then alphabetized and the non-fiction is in categories (memoir, history, travelogues, etc). Also plays, poetry and short stories have their own section, and textbooks are on a totally different shelf, with magazines.

 

I debated organizing with Dewey, but that went way farther than I was prepared to go, for sanity's sake. :)

 

:lol: Someone after my own heart!

 

We eventually split into several smaller bookcases and a book basket. Each bookcase holds one subject - books, toys, manipulatives, everything - so that we can find exactly what we need when we want it. There's no going to get the Marvels of Nature book and then crossing the room to dig out a microscope and slides. It's all right in one place.

[amydavis]

I have three large bookcases for science and four for history. We seem to accumulate a lot of books for those subjects. Each shelf is for a subcategory from that field.

 

So, in science we have a shelf for dinosaurs, the human body, animals, solar system, chemistry, physics, science encyclopedias, science experiments, plants, weather, earth science, etc... I also have a math bookcase in the same section.

 

In history the shelves are broken down by ancients, middle ages, etc. Then there are other shelves for specific things, such as Egyptians, Romans, Greeks, Vikings, Famous People, Famous places, wars, etc.

 

I have all the classics shelved together, one bookcase for adult and one for youth. There is another bookcase that holds what I consider fun reads.

 

I have a large bookcase with a shelves for grammar, poetry, plays, foreign languages, art, music, short stories, fables, etc.

 

Another large bookcase has shelves for crafts, humor, business/economics, self-help, etc. Basically for the things that don't fit in anywhere else.

 

I store anything related on the shelves also, like puzzles, games, and manipulatives. I store all text books on a shelf near my desk, including things that are for future use. The kids keep their current books in a desk apprentice.

 

Hope that helps!

[Sara R]

There's always the Pottery Barn method of organizing books: :tongue_smilie:

 

[HoneyFernDotOrg]

:lol: Someone after my own heart!

 

We eventually split into several smaller bookcases and a book basket. Each bookcase holds one subject - books, toys, manipulatives, everything - so that we can find exactly what we need when we want it. There's no going to get the Marvels of Nature book and then crossing the room to dig out a microscope and slides. It's all right in one place.

 

I like that (separate bookshelves for each subject!), but then we'd have a lot of uncategorized stuff.

 

I also just bought a little cart with wheels/drawers for all of the science stuff. When we are doing labs or need stuff, we just wheel it wherever we're doing it. I am inordinately proud of that....