I Decided.....

So I have been going back and forth on how to organize my classroom library.  Should I organize by level or not?  I have finally decided to organize books by topic and authors.  I want my students to learn how to choose books that are the right fit for them.  I don't want students to limit their book choices based on level.  I remember substituting a class where one child wanted to choose a book that was in the level 4 bin and she was a level 2 reader.  All the students knew she was a level 2 reader and insisted that she was not to read any of the higher leveled books.  The student really wanted to read this particular book.  So I told the student to read the book to me and if she struggled with it, then she would have to choose a different book.  I'm glad I allowed her to read the book because she read it with very little help from me.  She did an awesome job!  From then on she would choose a book in the level 4 bin and ask to read a few pages to me, I would oblige.  We kept the same agreement.  On her own, she learned how to choose books that were the right fit.  So now that my mind is made up, it's now time to create labels and purchase additional book bins.