Classroom Management for the School Library

Are you struggling with classroom management in your school library? Are you frustrated by the number of times you have to stop your lesson to correct misbehavior? Are you losing sight of your goals to create lifelong readers in the stress of just getting through the day?

You are not alone in this. Since the isolation and stress of the COVID-19 pandemic, students seem to be struggling more with social and behavioral skills, at all grade levels, in all classrooms. We can’t wait for parents or classroom teachers to fix this problem for us. We, as school librarians need to be proactive at developing and consistently implementing a classroom management plan.

Classroom Management Starts in Your Mind

Before any strategy can work, you must believe that you are the authority in your school library. You don’t have to be perfect–thank goodness that’s not a job requirement for any teacher. You do have to believe that you have the right to ask your students to behave in a certain way that promotes learning. When you expect respect and project an attitude of confidence, you will receive respect from your students and your colleagues.

Your Library Schedule

You may need to change up your library schedule to help with your classroom management. Moving book checkout to the beginning, middle, or end of the class period may have a significant impact on student behavior. Many school librarians feel like checkout at the beginning of class is less rushed than checkout at the end of class. Students can find their books and then sit down at their tables to look at them. When everyone is finished, you can call a table at a time to check out.

Your Library Environment

You can solve many classroom management problems by the way your structure your library environment. Do you have clear signage so that students can easily find the books they’re searching for? Or do students gather around you, blocking your view and requiring individual assistance? Do you tell students to “line up over here,” or do you have carpet dots to show them exactly where their feet should go? Do you expect students to remember the library rules, or do you have helpful signs posted throughout your library classroom?

Classroom Management Routines

Do you teach your library routines and procedures on the first day of class and then expect your students to remember them? Or do you review them at the start of each class? Do you provide extra review time after a long school break? Your students have a lot going on in their growing brains, and you can help them be successful with friendly reminders and practice for your library expectations.

Use Picture Books to Teach Respect and Kindness

If you’ve ever had the duty of car rider drop-off or pick-up, you’ve seen inside the family dynamic in the car, and you know that many students are not being taught respect and kindness at home. In my Classroom Management for School Libraries ebook, I’ve included a lengthy list of picture books that you can read aloud and discuss with your classes. Someone must explicitly teach students how to be kind and how to respect themselves and others. Picture books are the perfect instructional tool to model the qualities we want to see in our students, with engaging stories that keep their attention and entertain at the same time.

Music for Classroom Management

Have you discovered the magic of songs for classroom management? A clean-up song like Clean Up Vacuum Cleaner with Jack Hartmann  (for K-2) or the GoNoodle Clean Up Song (for third through fifth grade) will serve as a signal for your students to start cleaning up their tables, without you even saying a word, much less raising your voice! All you have to do is invest a few lessons in training and practice, and you’ll reap the benefits for the rest of the school year.

More Classroom Management Resources:

• Quiet Critters Help Teach Young Students to Be Quiet
• Calm Behaviors with Chapter Book Read-Alouds
• Classroom Management for School Libraries Printable Ebook

More Questions About Classroom Management?

If you’ve got more questions about classroom management, feel free to post a comment below or ask in our Learning Librarians Facebook group.

Happy reading!