I like to have students have a bag of books they keep at their seats at all times. This cuts down on wasted time. Students have a selection of books they can grab at any downtime, which cuts down on constant library browsing.

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For independent book bags, I really like to use the 2.5 jumbo plastic bags. I like them because they are clear so you can see student book choices. They are also pretty sturdy and will hold about 5 books ranging in sizes.

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1.  First, I do a whole class lesson on how we care for our library books.
2.  Second, I teach students how to search for books by level, genre, or interest. I have books sorted all of these ways in my library. I don’t want students to be limited to one means of search! I also model and have students practice putting books back in the proper place.
3. After I assess each student’s reading level and confer with them, they are sent to the library, one at a time, to select about five books for their bag of books.

Students are allowed to switch out their bag of books at down times. NOT during independent reading. I reinforce that independent reading time is too precious to waste. The only exception to this is, if I am conferencing with students during independent reading and their reading level changes, I allow them to change their books then because they are usually eager to switch books.

Students usually switch books:

• before class starts, after their morning work is complete
• at the end of the day during dismissal
• other times when they are finished with work early