Using Bins to Organize Bookshelves

 Hello Readers. I wanted to make these bookshelves easier to use for my child. I wanted to encourage reading and also encourage keeping the books neat so we could find the books we wanted. Could I make the books organized, neat and easy to grab and read? I could. Let me show you. 

Before and after bookcase 1.

Before and after bookcase 2.

 

The books always seem to end up in piles and it is hard to see what we have. These thin little paper back books are the worst. They never seem to stay stay standing up.
 

I started by removing all the books. I needed to get them all out of the way. It was a great time to sort and remove any books were had outgrown and did not want to keep.

The shelves needed to be dusted. This was the perfect time to really clean the shelves.

I found these bins at Dollar Tree. They are not fancy but this is the book library of a 7 year old so I wanted something easy to clean. I measured my shelf and made sure I bought bins that fit well. I could fit 2-3 bins on each shelf depending how I positioned them. Measuring your shelves before buying bins is the best way to get bins that work for your particular shelves.

Small books could fit in the bins like this. The bin will keep the books from falling over on each other and making a mess. Positioning the books like this lets the child see the covers of the books. They can recognize the book and pull it out.

I could also turn the bins sideways for larger and wider books. I decided to give each bin a theme and write the theme on the bin. These labels will help us stay organized. I just picked general categories and topics. If we had a lot of a certain subject, I put all those books together.

It is easy to flip through the books like files in a filing cabinet. The books do not fall down or get unmanageable. It is easy to take one out and put it back without knocking any other books down.

This bookcase looks so much neater. I didn't use the top shelf because it is so hard for the child to reach all the way up there. 

This bookcase looks a lot better too. It is less cluttered and less chaotic. I am counting that as a win for me. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

***Year End Update- This was a good idea for me. It helps us keep track of all the kid books. I use the main character as the guide for where to file the book. Dogs, animals, vehicles, Star Wars, fairy tales,,, that is how we keep track of all the picture books.