I recently came into a little windfall of money...no not my tax refund...that came months ago!  My school's fabu P.T.A.  held a fundraiser in March called the Boosterthon Fun Run.  Since the fundraiser takes a little of our classtime, ten percent of what my class fundraises comes straight back to my classroom.  This year my class fundraised enough for me to have $135.51 to play with...yippee!

So since this money was burning a hole in my pocket...and I wanted some more content area books...and I feel like I never have enough good options for boys...and I honestly have difficulty resisting Amazon's 4 for 3 Books...I spent all $135.51 on books!

And just look at how many I got!  If you don't mind, I would like to tell you about some of my favorites...

Looking for fantastic biographies...well then these are for you!  On my grade level, we call these biographies Big Head books.  I love using these during our nonfiction unit in the fall.  They tell the life stories of their subjects in a way that is interesting for my fourth graders (I can't put them down either!).  They include text boxes, maps, diagrams, and other nonfiction text features to give more information to the reader about events that occur in the subject's life.  Some of the biographies I purchased are Who Was Ben Franklin?, Who Was Jackie Robinson?, Who Is Neil Armstrong?, Who Was Steve Jobs?, and Who Was Walt Disney?.

Have you heard about the I Survived series?  These are very popular in my classroom, and they don't stay on the shelves for long!  The author Lauren Tarshis writes major events from the point of view of a child actually living through the event.  For example, I Survived Hurricane Katrina, 2005takes place during the flooding after Hurricane Katrina.

Here are two more books that haven't stayed on the shelf since they arrived.  Fourth graders love the classics!  Maybe because they have seen older siblings or parents reading them or hear them referred to or maybe because they are just that good!  I enjoy the Classic Starts series because the reading level is just perfect!

Now this next pick was for my students that were asking me about the Hunger Games.  I read the series and love them, but I did not bring them into my classroom for my students to read.  Instead I am recommending to those students the Underlander series by the same author.  Gregor The Overlander is the first in the series.  It is number one on my Summer Read list.

After a quick preview, some went to their temporary new home in the Brand New Books basket...

and some went straight into the hands of excited, happy readers.

I always love new book recommendations.  What are some of the new titles that you have added to your classroom library?

I admit it...I am addicted to books!  But really, what elementary school teacher isn’t?  I really love new children’s books most of all...a new release makes me giddy!  I can almost hear my debit card screaming when I log on to Amazon or Scholastic Book Clubs.  They should just install delivery chutes right to my front door.   I can't resist a Scholastic Warehouse sale...I'm like a kid in a candy store!

My addiction to books has caused my classroom library to grow slightly large.  Here are some pictures to give you an idea of exactly how many books I really have...

Eek!  This is over 3,000 books!  (See I really do have a problem...but I never hear the whiny words “I have NOTHING to read!”)

Now having this number of books can make organization a little time consuming.   I keep a database of all my books, but entering in all those books and leveling them seems to take forever.  And it’s hard to remember if I have a particular book in my collection when out shopping.  But I just found a tool to help save sooo much time.  It is called...

Book Source

It allows you to do so many things...

1. Create a database of your books
2. Easily check out books to students and return them 
3. Print out reports of student reading
4. Add books to your collection by either entering the ISBN number or scanning them using an iPhone or Android
5. Level your books
6. Label a location of the book in your classroom

...and much, much more!  And right now, it is free!  I’m in love!  I can't wait to get back to my room after Spring Break and scan more books.

How do you keep track of your classroom library?  Could you see yourself using a website like this?