Subject Access to Picture Books


Using Bins in Barron
Thanks to Patti from Barron for this guest post:

Barron is using a hybrid approach to shelving their children's collection, with several subject bins within our picture book area.  We decided about the first of the year to do this. We purchased refrigeration bins from Amazon (about 40 @ $19 each). What we like the most is that they are clear and have handles! 

A group decision on was made abut the "subjects" needed locally. While I looked at each picture book  (almost 4000) to determine where it would be better used, a coworker printed new spine labels. This took about 3 days. We did put some books into storage like "Christmas" because we had about 6 bins of Christmas books. When needed we will take them out of storage for circulation. So far we are having fun with the whole experience!

The top shelf are books we decided to keep without a particular subject. We decided to put the bins on the bottom for children to have easier access. Our labeling of the bins includes a graphic and subject. 


Note:  For more ideas about this topic, check out the archived webinar about Bloomer's process and results, presented by Kathy Larson.