Managing Your Book Collections!

A successful book club needs books! I've been slowly growing my book stash over the past 9 years. I've made trips to the library and sent emails asking for extra copies of books from teacher friends but finally, my collections has grown enough for students to check out books from my secret stash of books.

Here's a peek into my secret book club stash...

So how do I keep all these books organized?

To be honest, at first I wasn't so organized with all my book club collections. But, I'm trying to be much more intentional about my books and organization. First, I started off by putting all the books for the same book club in the same cabinet. That was an easy step to help me stay organized! Then I started making a collection roster to put in my "Reading Teacher Binder." I can instantly check how many books I have for each book club topic. I also created a wishlist this year for books that need replaced or books to meet levels of my current students.

My Organizational Sheets

You can download them {here} from my Google Drive.

Jotting down how many books you have keeps your from purchasing books you already have. I've also found that jotting down how many students you have in certain reading level ranges helps for knowing what books you may need to purchase in the future. The wishlist is also a great bring along to book stores and department meetings. When I hear a great book that may fit into one of my book clubs, I jot it down so that I can look up the reading level and more about the book! I often bring my book club lists with me to Half Price so I know what I have and what I need... It's a simple way to keep track of your "stash" and manage your collection. 

How you do you manage your "collections" of books?