Learning About the
Library
Adapted for
West Hopkins School
Let’s learn about our
Library!
• Arrangement of the media center
• Identify specific parts of a book and
the information included in each part
Information
Your task is to identify the
different areas of our media
center and explain what is
found in each area.
You will identify the following
five parts of a book: spine,
cover, author, illustrator and
title.
West Hopkins School
Media Center
The Library at West Hopkins School is
arranged in four sections*:
– Easy (Picture Books) Fiction
– Fiction (Chapter Books)
– Non-fiction (Information Books)
– Biography
*most have a reference section too; ours is located downstairs in the
library.
Parts of a book
Each book in the library has many
parts. You will learn five parts and
words today:





spine
cover
author
illustrator
title
The spine of a book
• The spine of a book is the part that
you see when the book is on the
shelf, and other books are along side
your book.
• The spine of a book helps hold your
book together and keep it strong just
like the spine in your body does!
Here is one human spine
and four book spines
The cover of a book
• The cover is the
outside of a book.
There is usually a
front cover, a
back cover, and the
part in between
them called the
spine.
pages
s
p
i
n
e
Front
Cover
Here’s the cover of a
picture book that is very
popular.
Table of contents
This is an
example of a
table of
contents in a
book.
Other pages you know . . .
• The Table of Contents is at the beginning
of a book
• If there is an index, it is at the back of
the book
• A glossary is at the back of the book too,
and tells you what words in the book mean.
This is an index from a
book. It is a lot like a table
of contents
• The index tells
you what pages
you find each
topic or subject
on
Glossary
A glossary gives
the
definitions of
The words used
in the book
Who is the author? The
author is the person who
writes the story.
• The author writes the words of a
story. Sometimes the author
draws the pictures too – then you
say the person is the author and
illustrator. The author always
writes the words.
The author writes the
words of the story
• Marc Brown is
the author of
this Arthur
book. He
wrote the
words of the
stories.
The Illustrator draws
the pictures in a book.
The illustrator is the person that
draws the pictures in a story book.
Sometimes there are pictures on
every page, and they tell a big part
of the story.
The person that draws them is the
illustrator.
The Illustrator draws
the pictures
This book is
illustrated by
Tony DiTerlizzi
(He won an award
for the drawings!)
The title is the name of
the story.
• The title is usually on the front cover
of the book and on the spine.
• The title is on a page called The Title
Page right before the beginning of
the story.
• Authors usually choose the title for
their book, since they write the
words!
The title (name) of this book is
The Spider and the Fly
(this is a picture of the front cover)
You have learned five book
parts and words about
books!
•
•
•
•
•
The spine
The cover
The author
The illustrator
The title
Now it’s time to talk about the
parts of your library!
The library in your school is arranged
in four sections:
– Easy (Picture Books) Fiction
– Fiction (Chapter Books)
– Non-fiction (Information Books)
– Biography
Picture Book Section
• The first
section is
called Picture
Books. This
section is
fiction.
Picture Books
• Picture books use illustrations
(pictures) to tell lots of the story.
• The illustrations in picture books
sometimes tell different parts of the
story than the words do.
• Illustrations are very, very important in
picture books. Sometimes they are
even more important than the words!
• Picture books are ‘made-up’ stories
from
the authors’ imagination.
Picture book example
• This is a made-up
story with lots of
pictures. The
pictures are a very
important part of
the story.
Chapter Book Section
• Another
section is
called Chapter
Books. This
section is
fiction.
Chapter Books
• Chapter Books usually have more words
than picture books, and fewer pictures.
• In chapter books, the words are more
important for the story than the pictures
are.
• Chapter books usually have more words on
each page than picture books do, and the
story is long.
• Chapter books are ‘made-up’ stories
(fiction).
Non-fiction
(Information) Section
• The third
section is
Non-Fiction
Books (also
called
Information
Books)
Non-Fiction /
Information Books
• Non-Fiction (Information) books are
stories that tell about things that are
real.
• Non-Fiction books have real places and
real things in them.
• Non-Fiction can be about people, about
places, about things – they can be
history, or geography, crafts, sports,
weather, science fair projects, even
dinosaurs . . .
Read this to practice
• Non-Fiction (Information) books are
stories that tell about things that are real.
• Non-Fiction can be about people, about
places, about things – they can be history,
or geography, crafts, sports, weather,
science fair projects, even dinosaurs . . .
Biography Section
• The fourth
section is called
Biographies.
Biographies are
a kind of nonfiction.
Biographies
• Biographies are about real people.
• Biographies tell about the life of a
person that lived in the past or
even one that lives now.
• Biographies are true, and they are
about real people, not made-up
characters.
Biography example
• This is a
biography
about a real
person.
(Michael Jordon)
You have learned about:
The arrangement of the library and
the books in each section: picture
books (fiction), chapter books
(fiction), non-fiction, and biographies
• Title, Spine, Cover, and Author, and
Illustrator
Keep up the good work!
• When you come to the
library next time,
you’ll know where to
look for each type of
book.
• You’ll be able to find
the books you want
too, by knowing where
to look!
Congratulations!
• You have completed this lesson!
•
Information obtained from PowerPoint created by Claudette Curl. Retrieved from
www.libraryinstruction.com on June 20, 2006.