Library Skills

Greetings!

Even if you have a very small library, you should be teaching library skills to your students. The good thing is that they don’t take a lot of time to teach and you are probably doing most of them anyway! Here are some library skills that students need to know.

HOW TO USE YOUR SCHOOL OR CLASSROOM LIBRARY
Your library may be organized a bit differently than other libraries and students need to know how to locate books in your school or classroom library. In my classroom I had books organized in baskets according to genre or author depending on the book. I had a basket for Berenstain Bears books, one for Magic Schoolbus books, and so forth. I labeled the baskets and students could easily return books to the correct basket. (Whether they actually DID return the books correctly is another story, but they could do it if so inclined!)

HOW TO USE A REGULAR LIBRARY
Keep in mind that students may also go to their local public library to find books and they need to know how to use the Dewey Decimal Classification System.
This year I reviewed Dewey with students in grades 3 and up and began teaching it to the first and second graders. I use a system with finger motions to help them remember the kinds of books that are found in each Dewey numbered section. I also made it into a bookmark for students to use and study. I trim construction paper to fit the copier and copy this onto construction paper. I like to use bright colors for this.

HOW TO BROWSE AND LOCATE BOOKS
Students rarely know how to replace a book on the shelf, so we teach them to use a shelf marker. The marker is put on the shelf like a place holder for the book while the student is looking through the book to see if he or she wants to check that book out.

HOW TO CHECK BOOKS OUT AND CHECK THEM BACK IN
What is your procedure for checking books out and then returning books? Make sure students know what the procedure is and have them practice if they need it. If you have students check books out themselves or check them in, make sure they know the procedure.

HOW TO USE THE CARD CATALOG OR THE LIBRARY CATALOG
Make sure students know how to use the card catalog or library catalog. If your library is automated, you need to teach them how to search the library catalog.

HOW TO CARE FOR BOOKS
Teach students to use a bookmark rather than lay an open book down on its pages. This is not good for the spine of the book and reduces the life of the book. I tell students that if they do this to their own books, that is their business, but since the library books do not belong to them, they need to use a bookmark.
Also teach students to handle books with clean hands, not to mark in them, and other ways to be careful with books.

THE PARTS OF A BOOK
The basic parts of a book are the spine, the covers, and the pages. You can go further and teach the title page, the dedication page, the publisher page, and I like to point out the end pages particularly when they are colorful and contribute to the inside of the book.

WHAT AN AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR DO
We teach students about what authors and illustrators do and students here are beginning to ask for books by a particular author and sometimes they recognize the artwork of a certain illustrator. You never know if this might encourage kids to write or illustrate books when they grow up.

HOW TO USE A DICTIONARY, ENCYCLOPEDIA, INDEX OR GLOSSARY
This is likely part of your language arts classes, but if not, it is something that students need to know how to do.

All of these library skills are life skills that will be used for the rest of their lives which makes them valuable to learn. I hope you have a great week.
Audrey