Library Revamp - Summer Sorting & Cataloguing

 

Some of the elementary fiction books are sorted into genres.

Hello and greetings from the Murray Library Revamp Team.

Today we launched our summer cleaning program. We waited until the summer so that we could spread out books and materials for sorting without disrupting Ms. Perry's classes. Plus, after a long school year of homework, after-school clubs, and in my case - leading our PAC and assisting our PTO - we're all understandably a little burned out and in need of a break.

Still, the work continues, and the summer sorting and organizing phase of our project has begun.

What to know if you plan to join

I will be in the library every Wednesday and Friday from 9-2 and every other Saturday from 10 - 1. Please join me if you have the chance. Send an email to browngi85@gmail.com, and I will respond with my phone number so that you can text me when you arrive. Right At School is using the building during break. The staff understandably do not want the responsibility of letting people in and out of the building, and it is their job to protect the safety of the children in their care. So, if you plan to join me, let me know so I can add you to the list!

All about the work

The goal for the summer is to fully sort, organize, and catalogue every book in the library so that we can assist both teachers and students in accessing books during the school year. I've decided to organize the books loosely based on the Library of Congress's title management strategy. We will refine the system once we have a better understanding of the titles available.

To start, I've organized the books into two groups: Elementary/Young Readers and Middle School/YA readers. 

From there, I sort the books (for now) into two main categories: Fiction and Nonfiction.

Within the fiction and nonfiction designations, we further categorise the books by topic or genre. For instance, Fiction-Humanities vs Nonfiction-Biography. The difference is that the fiction stories tell unique cultural perspectives based on true events or people, while the nonfiction stories teach the children about actual events and people.

Throughout the sorting process, we noticed some categories for refinement. For example, the category "fiction - humanities" had a number of poetry books. There were also a lot of stories from diverse cultures, giving us a "cultural exchange" subcategory. So far, we're thinking African Diaspora, Asian, Latin American, Indigenous, and European. Similarly, the category "fiction - stories/early readers" had a ton of fairytales from different regions, which might be worth its own category.

We don't have a library management system (LMS) just yet, so we're going to go old school with spreadsheets. If you have any suggestions or ideas on an LMS, please reach out!

Today's accomplishments

Today, we focused on sorting all elementary/young reader fiction books. My sister Lily joined me for the first round, and I think we got a lot done for the first day.

Seriously, when was the last time you saw the top of any shelf in that library?

Today was day one, but I will update this blog on Friday of each week. I'll keep you posted about our progress, fundraisers, and opportunities to get involved. 

Our goal is to have a functioning library by the end of the school year 2026-2027, and it's going to take a village to make that happen.

Thank you to all of you who have joined and supported this effort since Fall 2025. You have helped us get this far, and we will go even further together.