Benefits of Local Libraries

Finding time in your life to do things that are important to you is always tricky. Reading is important to me and making time to choose books is a necessity to keep my reading life going. At the beginning of the school year I usually pick one afternoon where we don't have any other after school obligations to make our library day. Weekly visits are great because if my children choose a video or DVD to watch they are usually only given out for one week. There are many wonderful benefits to making regular visits to your local library. The savings on DVD rentals is one that we enjoy. I haven't been to video store to actually pay to rent a movie in a long time. Our public library has a wonderful and large collection of audio books that we are making our way through. As a teacher and school librarian I always check out the new books they get in their children's room. This year I also have made an effort to get to know and use my local library's website. Through that website I have signed up to receive some online newsletters where I can learn more about authors, illustrators, and what's new in children's books. In addition our library website has a number of online databases for research in many areas. While there are many benefits from regularly visiting your local library the one I enjoy most is seeing the librarians. My children know them and they know my children by name and they all seem so happy to see us all when we come walking in the door. Do you think you can make some time in your schedule?