Classroom Library

    I believe having a classroom library in the art classroom would be very beneficial for the students. When I observed an elementary art classroom this past semester, I noticed the teacher used a classroom library for her students. She told me that her students mostly use the books for pleasure reading during free time or to look up specific ideas for their projects. This teacher also had a specific shelf of books strictly dedicated for her “how to draw” books which were mainly of different animals and objects. The classroom libraries seemed to be used often in her classroom throughout my time observing and the students seemed to really enjoy using outside sources like books to help with their creative projects.
    I think having a library within a classroom that is full of books about that particular class subject is very helpful for students overall. This gives students an opportunity to be exposed to that subject and possibly “fill in the gaps” where the teacher might not have explained in a way that is understanding for certain students. I love how students can have the opportunity to use other resources other then the internet. I think the library is also helpful for students to learn how to look up a topic in a book instead of just googling it online.
    In my future classroom, I would love to have a variety of art history books, important artist biographies, art museum books, and many more. I would love to have a large selection of books in my future classroom library for my students to use as much as possible. I would try to incorporate the books within lessons and projects for the students to do research.