Action Plan New Book Room

Laurie J. Wangerin
ljwangerin@gmail.com
Viterbo University

Author Note
Just over a month ago, our school purchased about five hundred guided reading sets.
They were scattered all over four tables in the library. No one took initiative to do
anything about it. I stepped in and sorted them by level and put them in boxes. This was
the beginning of my leadership role in establishing a new book room.
Contact: ljwangerin@gmail.com

ACTION PLAN NEW BOOK ROOM

Action Plan New Book Room

Our school is in the process of restructuring our literacy program. We have just
purchased almost five hundred guided reading packets for our teachers to use. For the
last month, they were randomly spread out over 4 tables in the library and the teachers
were having a hard time finding the levels they needed for their students. I found some
crates and boxes, separated them by levels and organized it so the teachers could have
better access to them until a permanent location/solution was decided. The schools
reading room has very old, outdated books, and has turned into a storage room of junk
since the teachers do not go in there to borrow books for their classroom.
The literacy consultant, Jody, had a vision to clear out the old reading room, and
create a new book room with the guided reading materials as well as other resources for
the teachers to access. Jody sent out an email looking for someone to take the leadership
role for this project that needed to be done immediately. It was perfect timing, because I
had a similar vision to recreate the book room and it would give me an opportunity to
show my peers what I can contribute since I am a newer staff member in the school.
Organizing a team was a challenge with the literacy consultant here for two days, end
of the quarter grades due and spring break occurring at the end of the week. The
collaborators are Jody Romans, Literacy Consultant (idea); Becky Spengler, Principal
(financial); Laurie Wangerin, Reading Interventionist (executer); Sarah Thompson,
Library Media Specialist (consultant); and Gina Kostreva, 2nd Grade Teacher (input).
Within a week, we needed to clean out the room, figure out what to do with the old
books, organize the guided reading materials, figure out labeling of the materials,
establish a temporary check out system (temporary and permanent), create teacher

ACTION PLAN NEW BOOK ROOM

resources, set up an enticing room for teachers to want to go to, and figure out an open
house to introduce the book room to the teachers.
After doing some research online, reading articles and blogs, I went to our Library
Media Specialist, Sarah, to figure out what system would be the easiest for checking out
materials. The ideal answer was to bar code the materials to be scanned in the system.
Our Principal, Becky, approved the cost to get the labels but it would take time so our
temporary checkout system would be an index card that would be put into a pocket chart
with the teachers name on it. The book sets would be put in bins, labeled and color
coded by grade level and in the future broken down by fiction and nonfiction. Gina, the
2nd Grade Teacher, felt this would work best for the teachers. She also has many teacher
resources that we were able to start a resource bin for all teachers to use and add to. We
decided the old books would be put in the staff lounge for the teachers to expand their
classroom libraries. Jody and I spent two days cleaning out the old bookroom and
preparing the new bookroom with labeling and organizing the materials in bins. Gina
shared her resources for guided reading, miscue analysis and comprehension strategies
and we created an area for teacher resources.
When the teachers come back from break, we will have an official open house with
food, drink, a make-n-take and door prizes. Work will continue in the room, updating the
check out system, adding new guided reading books, highlighting activities and ideas
within the classroom and monthly drawings encouraging the teachers to utilize the room.
The success of the room will be measured by the progress of the students learning and
growing in literacy.

ACTION PLAN NEW BOOK ROOM

4
Resources

Creating A Bookroom for All Reading Levels. (2008, January 1). Retrieved March 29,
2015, from http://www.readingfirst.virginia.edu/prof_dev/reading_
comprehension/pdfs/Bookroom_All_Read_Levels.pdf
Glasswell, K., & Ford, M. (2010, September 1). Teaching Flexibly With Leveled Texts:
More Power for Your Reading Block. Reading Teacher, P 57-60.
Kalenberg, D. (2013, March 26). Primary Punch. Retrieved March 29, 2015, from
http://primarypunch.blogspot.com/2013/03/welcome-to-common-core-bookroom.html
McFerin, J. (2012, December 19). Literacy Collaborative at The Ohio State University:
The School Book Room: An Oasis for Readers. Retrieved March 29, 2015, from
http://lcosu.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-school-book-room-oasis-for-readers.html
Noffsinger, C. (2014, August 27). Literacy Loving Gals. Retrieved March 29, 2015, from
http://literacylovinggals.blogspot.com/2014/08/project-organization-for-guidedreading.html