Enjoying our Library and its Books

Last week at the Brandon Library

During my 12+ years of homeschooling, I have checked out hundreds of library books. We have relied on our public library to supplement our school with books, educational videos, magazines, software, and other resources. Once in a while though, I miss my deadline AND my one week grace period; then I have to pay the dreaded fines. It used to be that we had a $1.20 maximum fine per late item, but that has amount has almost doubled since our county made large budget cuts. Still, we love our library and continue to benefit from it. To avoid late fines, I’ve used the free daily email notices from Library Elf. This has been very helpful, though once in a while one will slip past me, like this week. Library Elf also notifies me of the status of my holds and if one is about to expire.

My children have grown up using the library, and I’m sure will continue to do so as long as they remain open to us. A visit to the library is a highlight for them, they jump at the opportunity to go. They know that not every book at the library is appropriate for them. I’ve trained them to show me the books they are interested in, so I can tell them if they may read them.

One of the resources I use to decide which books they can read is Who Should We Then Read by Jan Bloom. It is my reliable source, a goldmine, of more than 150 authors. Jan Bloom is a veteran homeschooler. She and her husband homeschooled their children into college beginning in 1988.

Considering the number of years we've been checking large numbers of books out  (sometimes up to 30+ books at time), we've had few fines and losses.  We have a couple of rules regarding library books, one is that they should always be put back on the designated library book shelf.  Looking for a book that has been placed on a regular book shelf, we've learned, can be like looking for a needle in a haystack - not something we like to do.  The other rule is that library books don't leave the house unless they are going back to the library.. Another thing I try to do is to return our books directly at the check-out desk and have the librarian give me a receipt.  We've had several instances when books were returned and did not get checked in, this has helped ease that problem.

Another thing we like to do periodically is check out the shelves in the Friends of the Library book store.  Our library has a room dedicated to selling books that are either being pulled off the shelves or have been donated to them.  I've found some great treasures on those shelves at bargain prices!

This afternoon, we'll be heading over to drop off books and pick up holds.  It's such a pretty fall day that we'll not spend much time indoors, but we'll bring home some good reads and enjoy the best benefit the library has to offer - a much richer understanding of the things we are learning about in school, gardening books with lots of ideas to improve ours with, interesting cookbooks with new recipes to explore, and much more...

I'm linking with Friday Blog Hop today!