Library Love

If you've read very many of my posts, you'll know how much I love the library. 

In my head right now I hear my kids saying, "Why don't you marry it?" 

How do these things get passed down?  There are so many sayings I said as a child that I've never, even once, said to my kids and yet, THEY KNOW THEM ALL!  Does it just get passed down in the womb? 

Although, if it were possible, I might just think about marrying the library.  As long as Steve (my husband) didn't mind. 

I have so many memories of walking through the library as a child.  Looking for another perfect book (thank you mom!).  It all started for me in 3rd grade.  I can still see the library shelf where I found it, I was probably there with my mom, and I remember pulling out a book titled Little Red Riding Hood.  Now this wasn't a regular Little Red Riding Hood, this was a 70 page book with only a few pictures. 

I vividly remembering the feeling of pride as I finished reading it and then wondering what other books I might like.  After that I was hooked, both on books and libraries. 

Even as a teenager, I would drive myself to the library to peruse the shelves and check out new books.

The firt thing I do when I move to a new town isn't to find the local grocery store or anything else trivial like that, I find the closest library.  Then after visiting that one, I visit every library within driving distance in my county.  You know, just to see which is better.  And because I think it's fun.

Right now I use the library more than I ever have in my life.  It's an integral part of our homeschooling life.  Once a week I sit down with my different curriculum and my library's website to find books that go along with what we're learning and then we go.  Every week, without fail.

Thank goodness for inter-library loan.  I can request books from any library in my county be sent to the library closest to me.  The whole library is literally at my fingertips. 

I regularly have 70 books checked out.  My husband thinks I'm nuts.  So do most of my friends and family.  I think I'm blessed to have access to this amazing resource.

Of those 70 books, probably somewhere around a half to one third I've checked out for school (which means we keep them for 2-3 weeks) and the rest are books that my kids pick out (which means we return and exchange them weekly...usually). 

I'm thinking about making each of my kids book bags (transportation is kind of an issue).  I know they could just use their backpacks, but for some reason, the idea of having to unzip and rezip them isn't very appealing to me.  I've found some really cute ideas on Pinterest and I'm thinking this summer I'll sit down and figure something out.  If you've done (or seen) a project like this, I'd love to hear about it!

I would also love to hear how many library books you guys check out.  Do you go once a week?  Month?  Season?  Do you give your kids a 2 book limit or let them go crazy?