Mapping the Library at Student Orientation

The beginning of the school year stirs up a mix of feelings. To borrow a line from Dickens, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”

It’s exciting to greet returning students and staff, meet the newbies, and get the library up and rolling for another year. But in truth, it is straight-up exhausting to do all the physical work required and provide library orientation for all the classes.

To smooth the transition into a new year, I have developed a fun and engaging library mapping activity that gives students ownership in learning about or refreshing their knowledge of the layout of the library.

I have used this activity for many years with fourth graders and have found it to be highly effective. Kids love any excuse to be out of their seat and active, so this lesson is a perfect kinesthetic activity. It could also be adapted for different grade levels.

On day one, my goal is to welcome kids back into the library, give a quick refresher on expectations and sections of the library, and let them check out books. I love to get a book into their hands ASAP.

But for their second class of the year, I like to slow down and give a more thorough orientation regarding different areas of the library.

That’s when I introduce the map. I have a floor plan of our library that I project onto a screen. We discuss how to orient ourselves to the map: Where is the circulation desk? Where are the tables? Where are the doors?

Then I give each student a paper copy of the map, a clipboard, and a pencil. Next we spend some time orienting our paper maps and each student receives a half sheet of instructions. They are to follow the instructions on how to locate different areas of the library and mark them on the map. They are welcome to move around the library as they work, and I encourage students to pay close attention to library signage.

Some of the instructions include:

• Put an X by the door you come IN.
• Put a star where you return books.
• Draw an arrow by the door you go OUT.
• Write an F in the area where you can find made-up stories that are chapter books.
• Write an E in the area where you can find everybody books (picture books) and early readers.
• Circle the area where you get true books.
• Write GN in the area where you can find graphic novels and comics.
• Draw a picture of yourself in your favorite area of the library.

Students love this activity! Everyone is excited to participate. I reserve 5-10 minutes at the end of class to gather everyone back at the tables and go over the answers.

As we walk through the items one by one, I invite individual students to come up and mark the map on the interactive whiteboard. I ask everyone to self-check their papers and correct any answers they got wrong.

I love hearing students talk about their favorite area of the library. Some are fond of hearing books read aloud on the story steps, others like the STEM activities we do at the tables, and some enjoy books from a particular section of the library.

At the end of class, they take their maps and instructions with them and I encourage them to share a “tour” of their school library with someone at home.

This has become one of my favorite orientation activities and a lesson I look forward to each year.

*Source of opening quote: A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.