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I only received 3 responses to my question, but they were very helpful.  Here
they are:

Perhaps it would help to put the chairs in a circle around you.

I agree...the carpet squares don't work. They also don't stay still. I have
tried reading to students seated at tables, and that doesn't work either. You
can't get close enough to anybody. I have a big open area for my library, and
it is distracting in a different way...people walking by all the time. What I
have done is to get a 5x8 rug.... mine is an oriental rug I got on sale at
Lowe's (a magic carpet!) but there are many kinds of rugs available in the
catalogs. You might want the next size up for a 1st grade class. The rug defines the
story area. My kindergarten classes can sit in 3 rows of 6 or 7 on it. I have
them face me, backs to traffic, "close but not touching," as we say.

When I began, the previous librarian had five 5ft-round tables with 4 kids
per. I thought the tables took up too much room, and was able to do with 3
tables of 6 students. This year we are a bit more crowded and may have to go to 7
per table. But if they are only there 20 min, and part of the time are up
choosing books, it's not so bad, and well worth it to have the extra floor space.

I've seen a great looking rug that has colorful squares (or shapes) in a
catalog such as Lakeshore. Each child could sit on a different colored square. The
one I have in mind is pie shaped, but it also comes in a rectangle. For the
pie-shaped one, you could invert the rug and have the greatest number of
students seated in front of you.

Wendy Carroll
Library Media Specialist
Ridgefield Park, NJ
Grant School (K-6) T-Th
Lincoln School (K-6) M-W-F
wendyscarr@aol.com

My original posting:

I need some help with my kindergarten and first grade storytime area.  In one
school I'm in, I have stairs that the students sit on for storytime and this
works out very well.  However, at the other school, the library is in a very
small room in the basement with five tables that the students sit at.

Last year, a local store donated carpet squares to me for the students to sit
on during storytime.  It was somewhat problematic:

       1.  The kids wanted certain colors
       2.  It was time consuming pushing the tables aside, giving each
student a carpet square, then having them returned, then pushing the tables back in
place again.

       However, having them stay at the tables just doesn't have a cozy feel
to it, and the kids seem to get antsy and I have to stand and walk around to
show the pictures and share the story because if I sit in a chair I'm at the
same height as them.

       I would appreciate if anyone would have any suggestions about how I
can make this work better.  I see both classes once a week for 30 minutes.  The
story is about 10 minutes and 20 minutes of checkout and an activity.

       Thank you in advance for any advise you can offer me.

Wendy Carroll
Library Media Specialist
Ridgefield Park, NJ
Grant School (K-6) T-Th
Lincoln School (K-6) M-W-F
wendyscarr@aol.com


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