Why Every Classroom Needs a Library

I love books. Reading them, collecting them, even writing them. And let’s not forget staring at them all nice and organized and pretty on the shelves. We have a whole library in our house with book-lined walls, big cushy chairs, and a record player. Books bring me so much joy. 

So of course, as an English teacher, I had a massive classroom library.  

Now, I admit that my own personal preferences might be biasing my view on classroom libraries. Of course I wanted to teach surrounded by books! Of course I wanted to see all of those amazing stories in the hands of students! 

But what about other teachers? What about librarians? What do they think about classroom libraries? 

For this bit of informal research, I took to Facebook with a simple post asking for help in the form of opinions. 

I wanted to collect responses from a variety of people, so I crafted three questions: 

1. Do you think it is important for teachers (English or even other subjects) to include libraries in their classrooms? Why or why not? 

2. If you are or were a teacher, did you utilize classroom libraries? If so, how? 

3. If you are or were a librarian, do you support teachers having their own classroom libraries? Why or why not? 

Disclaimer: While one of the many hats I wear is that of a researcher, this experiment is not a proper study. I didn’t gain IRB approval, and this is not peer reviewed.  

My goal and my hope are that this will inspire you to consider your own classroom libraries and do your own informal research. See what the other teachers in your school think. Talk to your campus or district librarians.  

Basically, don’t just take my word for it that classroom libraries are amazing! 

I was pleased with the responses I received. In total, I heard from six people in my network, four from Texas (where I live now) and two from Ohio (where I lived until I was 22). I heard from teachers with elementary, middle school, and high school teaching experience, as well as a retired librarian media specialist. 

Let’s dig into those responses! 

The Importance of Classroom Libraries 

Unsurprisingly, every response was fully in support of classroom libraries. I didn’t really expect anyone in my network to disagree, but I purposefully left the questions open for opposing viewpoints. Let’s explore some of the reasons that were shared. 

Students spend a significant chunk of their daily lives inside classrooms. Barbara, a retired librarian, put it simply in her response: “It is important to have classroom libraries as well as school libraries in all schools.” When those classrooms are full of books, students are forced to look at those books every day. Jeff, a high school English teacher, said, “They see that classroom library every day, and that increases the odds that they pick one up and read it.” Shelby, a former middle school English teacher, took it even farther by listing out just a few of the potential benefits of having constant access to books: “Kids who are exposed to books and see them every day are more likely to read, and the benefits of that are innumerable: better vocabularies, more motivated learners, development of creativity, empathy, and critical thinking skills…just to name a few.”  

This constant access to books is a key component to developing a lifelong long of reading. Jenn, an elementary school teacher, said, “It helps with developing a love for books and reading, opens up students’ minds, helps promote curiosity, promotes learning, and helps you learn what your students are interested in.” Jennifer, a retired high school English teacher, agreed, adding, “I feel like a classroom library is important because it sends the message that books are important and that the teacher in the room realizes that and wants to help foster that love of books and reading.” Karina, a current middle school librarian and former English teacher, also added, “Books in classrooms are a symbol of the value a teacher places on literacy in and outside the classroom.” As a lover of books myself, this is reason enough to have classroom libraries. 

It’s not just about the simple fact of the books existing inside a classroom. The stories contained within those pages are just as crucial to developing strong, empathetic, curious students. Shelby pointed out that “having access to books, different perspectives, and exposure to experiences that may be different than their own is so powerful.” Teachers curating their own classroom libraries can be purposeful in their choices to ensure that students are given opportunities to read about characters and settings that they might not otherwise experience. Jennifer talked about this in her response: “Not all students see themselves in books, and they certainly don’t have some of those experiences outside of their own city: reading allows them to visit other places and meet new people, which opens all kinds of doors for them.” 

Jennifer also touched on an issue that I was curious if anyone would broach: the restrictions placed on certain books. She said, “I chose books that were diverse in nature, meaning my students could see themselves in the characters. I had books with LGBTQ characters, characters of Hispanic heritage, Black characters, white characters, boy-centered, girl-centered: you name it, I included it. I had some titles that our library didn’t carry, but I included them because they had important messages too.” Karina also touched on the current volatility around libraries: “With current legislation in my state affecting the books we can include on our shelves, it has ignited discussion about selection policies, age appropriateness, and relevance.” These are important conversations to have within classrooms, within schools, within districts, and within communities. 

Utilizing Classroom Libraries 

While we know that it’s important to have classroom libraries available for students, there’s so much more that goes into making sure they’re as beneficial as possible. 

One of my favorite responses was from Jenn, who said, “I include plenty of books in different genres, comfortable seating, reading buddies (stuffed animals) that students can read with/to, and an alphabet chart. My library is fun and inviting even though it only takes up a small space in the classroom.” I don’t know about all of you, but I now need to add reading buddies to my home library. Along similar lines, Jeff explained how his classroom library supports silent reading time: “Each class starts with 10 minutes of independent reading time and probably 85% of my kids use books from my classroom library for that.” Raise your hand if DEAR time was your favorite part of the day! It was my favorite as a student and as a teacher, and like Jeff, most of my students used books from my shelves for that Drop Everything And Read time. 

Jeff also talked about using the classroom library when he has extra class time: “I pull out books that I am familiar with and do book talks when I have down time.” Similarly, Shelby talked about using her library for student down time: “It was my go-to whenever we had down time. Finish an assessment early? Grab a book. Having a chill day in class as a reward? We all read for fun. And of course I let the kids ‘check out’ books any time they wanted.” Jennifer also discussed allowing students to check out her books, saying, “Some students don’t feel comfortable checking a book out in the library because they may need it for longer than the two weeks that they are allotted, so a kid could check a book out in my room and keep it as long as they needed to, even permanently if they wanted to do so.” I was also very lenient with checkout times from my classroom library. To me, this is a huge benefit of classroom libraries, especially being personally curated; if a book didn’t make it back to my shelf, I was okay with that. That book was exactly where it needed to be. I could replace it myself. 

A couple responses discussed some of the important skills that students gain from classroom libraries. Karina talked about the connections her students could make between the curriculum and her classroom library: “I wanted my students to know that reading went beyond the readings we did in class. My goal was to introduce my students to new genres, formats, and authors, so they could make connections to the literature we were reading in class and learn about themselves as readers by being able to identify what types of books they enjoyed to read.” Jenn brought up the format of books, saying, “I also believe it is important for children to handle real books as well as utilize digital texts.” Barbara also touched on this: “Students still need to be taught the importance of how to find and use factual information. And they need to be able to use both print and digital media to accomplish these tasks.”  

Barbara also brought up the connection to other content areas, saying, “Teachers can showcase their subject areas by including books in their classroom libraries that reflect the disciplines they teach. Teachers reinforce subject matter by modeling. Reading helps do this.” To me, this is such an important consideration because classroom libraries are not just for English teachers. All disciplines can benefit from including a library of relevant titles, and there are so many skills beyond reading that classroom libraries help students develop. Karina touched on this topic as well: “I think it’s important for teachers across all content areas to include libraries in their classroom. Doing so allows students to see literature that connects directly to their learning and how the concepts they’re learning relate to real-life scenarios.” 

What Librarians Have to Say

I could understand a concern that librarians would want students coming to the school libraries for their books instead of going to teachers. School libraries are important resources that (in my opinion) don’t get enough credit and don’t get enough resources.  

Every librarian I’ve talked to has always supported teachers’ individual classroom libraries. Barbara was clear in her response: “YES! I fully support teachers having classroom libraries. Classroom libraries are extensions of school libraries.” In fact, she told me that “besides providing reading material in my facility, I often purchased materials for teachers to use in their classrooms.” Similarly, Shelby added, “not a librarian, but know that many of our local libraries have programs to support teachers and their access to class sets of books for their classrooms!” Karina discussed how libraries should support teachers, especially in the context of controversial legislation: “Educating teachers about how to select quality materials for their classrooms has been paramount in helping our school and district sustain the use of classroom libraries while upholding values of intellectual freedom and access to information.”  

In Conclusion

I hope these thoughts and beliefs of the educators in my network provided you with something new to consider when it comes to your own classrooms. I hope that if you don’t already have one, you consider adding a bookshelf to your classroom. I hope that you and your students enjoy reading as much as I do. 

Shelby put it quite well: “I think every classroom should utilize some kind of library.”