My homeschool library was getting out of control and it was taking too long to find the books I wanted.  So I decided it was time to organize this mess. 

This is what I did:

1. I pulled every book off the shelves and seperated them by subjects

2. Made a list of each book and put it in a word document

3. I got some colored sticker labels and each subject was assigned a color

4. Then each book in a certain color was assigned a number I recorded this information in my word doc. also.

5. I then printed the list off and put it in my teacher notebook

Now when I make up my lesson plans for the week I just put the color and book number in the lesson.  This has been so beneficial, I'm asking myself why I didn't do this years ago.  Now I also have an easy reference list of my books that I already own before I buy anymore.  This way I know what I already have so I don't buy duplicates.  I can also see what I still need to get.

Sometimes I could just kick myself for not thinking of things earlier.  Especially when I realized I bought a copy of a book I already own.  I found 2 books that I had copies of when I did this.  Will live and learn.