Library Strategy: OR and Post-Op

I try to segregate the library books at home from our own collection, but they usually get mixed together anyways. We have a "find library books game" on library trip mornings and pile them all on the coffee table. We look under the couch, under beds, under the bed sheets, in the van and inside backpacks. I check my online library account to see how many books I have checked out and then I count all the books on the coffee table. We are usually within 5, and then we start looking for specific titles. The missing are usually Claire's, and she knows where they are. This is our system. I don't know how it works. I rarely lose books, and even if we can not find 1 or 2 books, I am on the librarian's good side (chocolate!) and she graciously extends the due dates.

Getting everyone and all the books in the van is always a chore. I have to time it just right after breakfast but before lunch and naps, while avoiding the times I know that the local public and private schools takes trips to the library.

When we arrive the kids pretty much run free in the children's section. Claire and Lily immediately immerse themselves in yucky books like Barbie easy readers and Disney picture books. Isabel likes to play with all of the germ infested toys and Gus runs around like a mad-man pulling books off the shelves and leaving a general wake of destruction in his path. I QUICKLY:

(1) Browse the book displays - Browsing the displays seems so obvious, but the librarians are clever ladies. They often pull out books I would have never otherwise looked at. They put out a thoughtful selection for every imaginable event: Olympics, Dr. Seuss's birthday, Black History Month, Valentine's Day, etc.

(2) Look for books in the non-fiction section - I get an assortment from different rotating topics - weather, zoology, human body/ senses, astronomy, poetry, history, world cultures, etc. I try to ask the kids what they would like to learn about on the way to the library and pull things off the shelves accordingly.

(3) Look for picture books - Using a trick I learned from my sister-in-law, I choose books from a different section on each trip. I start in the A's and gradually work my way through to Jane Yolen and Gene Zion. It is easy for me and easy for the librarians to reshelve our books.

(4) Get a book on CD (or three) - We really, really love books on CD. I try to get at least one book every time we go to the library. I have found that many of the actors or actresses that read the books have amazing voices and bring the stories to life in a way I can't. The girls will sit and listen for hours if I let them. We just found a series of CD's we really like called Rabbit Ears.

I give the kids a two minute warning and pick up Gus's mess. Checking out is always fun. "How many books today? Wow. You guys must like to read." (Rolling my eyes.) The trip home is eerily quiet. The afternoon is relaxing and the true joy of homeschooling, snuggling on the couch reading books to my children.

Back

After another long break, I'm back. My computer had another virus and I had a lazy bug.

Library Strategy: Pre-Op

I try to go to the library every week. It gets me out of the house for an hour or two. The kids love going to put together puzzles, read the trashy fiction I forbid them to check out (anything Barbie, Disney, etc.) and in Gus's case, run around wildly pulling random books off the shelves. I love that my children enjoy books as much as I do. From any given trip we come home with a XL LL Bean canvas bag of 50 - 60 books!

Our local library is very small. They have a fantastic core collection, but because of space and budgets that don't have everything. Luckily our library is part of a two county cooperative library system! This system has almost every book I have ever wanted to read. The Internet makes requesting these books SO easy by simply accessing the online card catalog, typing in my account number and clicking a request button. The books arrive within in a day or two. I usually have a stack of 10-15 interlibrary loan books waiting for me behind the counter every week I go in.

I have found the proactive effort of requesting books to be time consuming, but highly beneficial. The following are the sources I mainly draw from:

(1) Sonlight - They have lists upon lists of great books to read. I know with confidence that any title (aside from the theology) is a good read.

(2) Barnes and Noble website - I LOVE the search features that this website offers, particularly the "Customers who bought this also bought" feature. Amazon is also nice, but I find my way around the BN website better. I like the B&N Recommends feature to find grown-up books for myself.

(3) Story of the World Activity Book - After every chapter we read several of the books suggested from both the fiction and non-fiction lists they have compiled. I usually enjoy reading these books more than the SOTW text itself.

(4) Friend recommendations - Anyone? Anyone?

I know that our family makes a lot of work for the librarians because of the extent to which we use interlibrary loan. Three or four times a year I bring the library ladies homemade cookies, a pound of coffee or a big bag of m&m's. It helps to be on their good sides. I believe that my library account has eluded many fines because of chocolate.

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