This post will deal with the never ending struggle to keep books in one piece in a child care setting. We all understand this problem far too well. Good books are not cheap, and young children would rather eat them at times more than look at them. Many of my books have been put back together so many times with duct tape they are nearly unrecognizable. I will share how I keep my library areas stocked with books and hopefully give you ideas on how to do the same.
Book Regulations Can Get Expensive
This problem is compounded for those of us that live in states with strict regulations. In my state the number of books per child according to age is dictated. The types of books required with a certain number of each type for each age group is dictated. It can get downright expensive to maintain all the different book requirements year round because the types of books that meet the requirements are not cheap. To be honest, I had certain books that I used for assessment, and they came out two weeks before assessment and were put up immediately after. Those books cost me a fortune. Two weeks gave the children enough time to get used to those books so that they weren't overly excited about them but were still new enough that they got plenty of action. Sometimes the books did not make it two weeks without significant damage. Every year I spent a small fortune preparing for assessment and quite a bit of that was book purchases. I read those books to the children year round. I just did not give them access to those books year round.
The Beauty of Board Books
The books in which the children in my child care get access are mostly very inexpensive board books. I have a mixed-age facility. I also have two different library areas. The main library area that is intended for all the children contains only board books, cloth books, and plastic books. The other area is designed for children that are 3 years old and older. This area contains the regular books. This area also has strict rules. If a child destroys a book, that child will lose access to this library area. However, I also have a great number of books that the children do not touch. These are my books that are used for reading times, and they are placed on very high shelves or closets. Most of the accessible books are from yard sales and dollar stores. I do keep a few of the children's favorite board books, but these books are duct taped back together as much as possible. That is the beauty of board books. Regular books just do not duct tape very well.
Book Handling Skills
Of course, much time and effort must be put into teaching children book handling skills. Children under the age of three, however, usually do not grasp this concept well enough to trust them with expensive regular books. That does not mean that you do not work with these children. It is important for them to already have fairly decent book handling skills by the time they are three, and this does not happen by magic. How do you teach book handling skills? First of all, you model. Children need to see you handle books on a regular basis. Exposure to books is extremely important. It just is not wise to expect them to be instantly proficient because that book cost you a fortune. When very young children mistreat books, you must treat that as a teachable moment. Talk to the children as often as the opportunity arises about how books should be treated. Children need to practice these skills with books that you do not mind being destroyed.
The Philosophy Behind the Accessibility
Before I leave this subject I want to discuss the reasons children should have access to books throughout the day. This is important because it will determine what kind of books you keep and how they are used. Many of the states that have stringent regulations of the number and kinds of books to be kept all follow the whole language philosophy of literacy instruction. I am a former homeschooler, and I have no great love for the whole language philosophy of literacy instruction. Systematic phonics instruction produces 1000 times greater results, but that is a post for another day. You need to know this because these child care experts are expecting these children to learn to read by exposure rather than learning to decode the words. Therefore, they want you to have the expensive books accessible to the children. As a teacher of systematic phonics instruction, I understand that it is not necessary for the children to have access to these expensive books. Reading the books to the children far outweighs the necessity of the children having access to them at all times. That is why my expensive books are out of reach. Children can learn book handling skills from the cheap yard sale and dollar store books just as well. I do have a few of the children's favorite books such as "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" and other very repetitive books accessible to the children because they will practice reciting the text. They are not reading (let me make that very clear), but that is a very valuable language activity. Some of my more expensive books that are accessible to the children have been put back together so many times they are unrecognizable. However, the children can find that book on the bookshelf in a heartbeat. Do not let the experts tell you the book has to be in mint condition to be of value to your children.
My Best Advice
To sum it all up, my best advice for those of you that have a mixed-age facility would be to keep inexpensive board books, cloth books, and plastic books in your library area and keep your good books out of reach. If you do have the means for a separate area for the older children, I still would keep the area stocked with inexpensive books that you do not mind being destroyed. Remember the point is to teach the children book handling skills and not reading from a whole language perspective. For those who have divided age facilities use your own judgement as to the level of book handling skills your children possess to determine what kind of books to keep. If your children are all four years old with horrible book handling skills, it is okay to keep only board books, cloth books, and plastic books until they develop decent book handling capabilities.
I hope you have enjoyed this post. Goodbye and God bless!! Check out Natalie's children's books at: https://www.amazon.com/author/nataliewade7457
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