Guest Author - Jeanette Norman

The focus of the library center isn’t teaching the children to read. The focus should be teaching children the appreciation of the written work. Children love books with colorful illustrations and like to be able to tell a story by following the pictures.

This center should be far away from noisy centers. This can be a small area. This will perhaps be the easiest center to furnish. I always liked having large overstuffed pillows, big baskets to put books in and a few shelves for books. If you are unable to purchase a large quantity of books for your center, there are a few options to check into. Ask the local librarian if they will lend you 20 to 30 books at a time. See if you can get what is called a teacher/educators card. The program at my local library allows preschool teachers to have a set of books for 2 months in stead of 21 days. The librarians may also know of a literacy program in your area. For example, these is a chain of used bookstores here in the Midwest called Half Priced Books that takes books and/or money donations from customers and donates this back into the community especially to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and local schools.

This would be a great area to set up the classroom computer. Books on tape with headphones are a good way to provide a variety for the children. One group of children I taught loved flannel board stories. After I would use a flannel board and the felt figures in story time, I would put the materials in the library center for the children to use.

Guidelines for Library Center
- Turn pages carefully

-Books are for reading not throwing, standing on or writing in.

-Put books back where they should go when you are finished.

-Bring torn pages or broken books to a teacher for repair.