A School Library Orientation Focuses on Location, Location, Location!

The only purpose of a school library orientation is to "orient" students to various locations in the school library. This simple approach will make your students' first library visit fun and productive! Read more... | No Sweat LibraryA School Library Orientation establishes our year-long relationship with students (and teachers), so we need an engaging lesson. The typical presentation of 2-3 dozen slides, covering all aspects of library organization and rules, is NOT it! That just puts kids to sleep with details they won’t remember and wastes everyone’s valuable time.

Instead, we need to minimize information and give students a purposeful hands-on experience focused on the location of materials.

ORIENT STUDENTS TO LOCATION OF MATERIALS

The main purpose of a Library Orientation is to introduce locations so students can find a particular resource. This is very different than explaining what students will find inside those resources, which is another lesson altogether! What exactly are library “Locations”?

I name areas of our School Library according to what’s on the spine labels of the materials:

  • the “Dewey area” has Dewey-numbers on the spine labels
  • the “Fiction area” has FIC on the spine labels
  • the “Biography area” has B on the spine labels
  • the “Reference area” has REF on the labels
  • the “Magazine area” has MAG labels
  • the “Audio area” has AR labels
  • the “Video-DVD area” has VR labels
  • (the Computer area explains itself)

I tell students that our school library is organized like a grocery store.I tell students to think about a grocery store: there are areas for Produce and Frozen Foods and Meat and Dairy; you know you can locate those types of food in those locations. Likewise, in our School Library you can locate a Dewey book in the Dewey area, or a Fiction book in the Fiction area, or a Magazine in the Magazine area, a DVD in the Video area, CDs & Playaways in the Audio area, or you can search the Online Catalog in the Computer area. It’s very clear to students that you are referring to a location in the library at which to find those types of materials.

This terminology also helps students associate search results in the Online Catalog with the location of the material in the library, without having to explain what “call number” means. I just call it a “locator.” I’m also able to create special collection groups such as Careers, Multicultural America, or Fiction Subjects without confusing students—they know it’s just another location in the library for specific materials.

Students learn that, regardless of what’s inside the resource, ‘locators‘ in the online catalog and on the spine labels of materials are simply a location mechanism. Even if they visit a library that doesn’t follow our classification scheme, they can still quickly and easily find something by using the ‘locator’ to find the area with the matching spine labels.

LIMIT LIBRARY ORIENTATION TO LOCATIONS

Our English/Language Arts teachers begin the year studying narrative literature, so it makes sense to invite their classes to visit the library during the first 2 weeks of school to check out Fiction books. Since that establishes the purpose of the visit, my Library Orientations focus on reading and the Fiction area of the library. I give students a method to choose a good book and then allow them plenty of time to do so. Eliminating everything else from orientation gives students a purposeful visit, and ELA teachers have become avid supporters, returning with their classes every other week for book checkout and DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) Time!

Our School Library Is Like a Grocery store.My Fiction area is organized by Subject—mystery, fantasy, scary, adventure, science fiction, romance, realistic fiction, and historical fiction. I don’t use the word genre because ELA Standards refer to genre as types of literature—narrative, expository, poetry, and drama.

Using the term Subject to identify different kinds of stories aligns with MARC records, with Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data on the copyright page inside a book, and with our Online Catalog when students search by Subject for the kind of story they want to read. Because students already associate Subjects with school, they readily understand what I mean by “Fiction organized by Subject” and that each Subject has its own special location.

Since I carefully avoid using the term genre for books in the Fiction area, ELA teachers appreciate that I don’t confuse what they are teaching students!

Customized School Library Orientations For You! - My customized Library Orientations for 3 middle school grades are available in No Sweat Library, my TeachersPayTeachers store. Each grade is available separately or choose the 3-grade bundle to save! #NoSweatLibraryI customize a Library Orientation for each grade level so the lesson I have for lowest-grade-level students who are new to our school and library is different from lessons for returning students who just need something to rekindle their interest. I have an activity that introduces reading choices aligned with grade-level curriculum, so each grade level has a unique experience and I can use the same Library Orientation Lessons every year:

  • Newbie’ 6th graders learn the locations of Subjects in the Fiction area and how to choose a good book. During DEAR time, they learn my standardized procedure to check out their book. (Newbies get a second orientation two weeks later to learn about library policies & expectations.)
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  • 7th graders have a Scavenger Hunt to review various locations throughout the library and I introduce them to some new reading formats they may not have used the prior year.
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  • 8th graders have a Fiction Subject ‘tech integration’ lesson using smartphones to view video book trailers with a review of Subject locations in the Fiction area.

A DEWEY LOCATION ORIENTATION WITH MATH CLASSES

By limiting the initial orientation to the Fiction location, I can have 6g and 7g Math classes visit the library for Dewey Decimal Lessons that focus on Locations in the Dewey area of the library and to also give students a fun review of what they should know as they begin their Math decimal unit. Math teachers appreciate that we activate prior knowledge to prepare students for new content, and they can readily see who may need extra help to catch up. This lesson is early enough in the school year that students can then begin checking out Dewey books to go along with their ELA fiction choices.

When we focus on location, not content, students are not confused about the Dewey area. I never refer to the Dewey area as ‘non-fiction’ or ‘informational’ books—those are terms for what’s inside the container—so I never have to explain why fictional poetry or folklore are in the Dewey area.

DO CONTENT LESSON VISITS FOR WHAT’S ‘INSIDE’

Focus School Library Orientation on Location - Simplifying a School Library Orientation to focus on location of materials allows School Librarians to give other classes the content-based Library Lessons that enhance classroom activities and encourage wider use of our library collection. #NoSweatLibraryAfter library orientation for Fiction and doing Dewey with Math, I’m able to invite other subject area classes to visit the school library for lessons that focus on the content inside the library materials. Especially when students visit the library to find information for assignments, I can customize lessons exclusively for the purpose of the visit.

I use that grocery store example to relate location to content organization:

The containers on a grocery store shelf vary according to what’s inside, so the Dairy area of a grocery store has different sections for eggs or milk or cheese or butter or yogurt. Likewise, in the Dewey area we have different sections of books organized according to the information inside: poetry, folklore, cars, countries, or animals…even imaginary beings like unicorns. This also applies to the digital collection of the library, where our Virtual School Library website organizes e-books and online subscription services according to the information inside.

This content inside analogy also helps students learn to create search terms for the library catalog or online subscription services.

LOCATION ORIENTATIONS KEEP IT SIMPLE

By first introducing students to library locations as related to the ‘locators’ on spine labels and in the online catalog, students quickly understand how to find library materials regardless of the content they are looking for. This approach reduces confusion and allows later library lessons to gradually build their knowledge of the library. It also stimulates a wider use of the library collection as a valuable resource to enhance classroom activities and encourages more teachers to collaborate.

line of books laying down - indicates end of blog article

Image of middle school orientations product in NoSweat Library, my TeachersPayTeachers store.
Visit No Sweat Library on TPT to find my individual & bundled middle school orientations! Visit No Sweat Library on TPT to find my individual & bundled middle school Dewey lessons!

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