Each reader in Reading Workshop has his or her own book box. (You can also use gallon-size bags for this purpose.) Readers are asked to keep enough books in their box to last them for at least a week of independent reading time. Without Book Boxes, my students would spend more time browsing the classroom library than they would engaged in text.

You can either have designated "shopping days" where four to five readers are allowed to switch out the books for new books in their book boxes, or you can just have readers visit the library when necessary. I always make sure that readers visit the library in the morning (if necessary) rather than during the independent reading block of our reading workshop. Selecting books should not take away from important time spent engaged in text. The book boxes are kept on a special bookshelf in the classroom library.