The Value of Your Library ($14,000 per year/infinite value)

After reading the biography of Elion Musk (billionaire cofounder of EBay, Tesla, and Space X), I made one pretty important conclusion. People who love books should have access to as many books as they can get their hands on. It was said of Musk, that after he finished reading every book in the house, he would turn to the dictionaries and the encyclopedias, and just start reading line by line. I felt bad for the young soon-to-be billionaire. Poor billionaire…If only there were a place with hundreds of free books…

Here is a photo from my library.

I have a person in my family who reads like Elion Musk, and it’s definitely not me. My oldest daughter, Natalia, reads everything she can get her hands on. It’s inspiring to see. My middle daughter, who is now beginning to read, reads like most people. She reads with great interest, but only those things which interest her (and throwing in a few pictures never hurt anybody). If only there were a place…

Enter the Public Library

I am always on the search for small actions or habits that translate into big change. So when I started thinking about our weekly trips to the library, I was encouraged. I found that I could enable my daughters to explore and grow their vocabulary at least and every aspect of their lives at most. I even found that I could play a role in educating young women, which has implications beyond what I could possibly image (peacefully defeat the Taliban, anyone?).

If only…

MOST importantly, I found that I could make all these lasting changes for free. Daddy likely..

In fact, our last haul from the library included 12 (at the store, $17 each avg) picture books, 10-20 easy chapter books (at the store, $7 each avg), and an audio book ($20). All of these books will be devoured by next week. On a side note, I have found that reading the picture books to my children is quite fun, especially ones about cavemen and samurai swords. The lessons are timeless and good.

Given a LOW estimate, my family will consume about $14,000 of educational material, per year, for free.

Some times for the library.

·         Capitalize on strengths, make weaknesses irrelevant. If one child loves to read, let the child go nuts and don’t restrict them. If one doesn’t, let them play with computers or toys. No harm done. Don’t force it.

·         Use the library website to request books from across the entire library system for free. The newest version of Fancy Nancy is $7.99 at Barnes and Noble? It’s free at the library. (Side note; I’ve bought many books at this price, only to watch my daughter devour them faster than a happy meal. Waiting a week or two for the library to get it in is a great investment).

·         Visit the library habitually. Once a week is good. Try to make three weeks out of the month, and you are all set. Book check outs are for three weeks, so that’s plenty of time to forget something and still have time to bring it back next week.

·         Don’t spend a whole lot of time in the actually library. It’s full of wierdos. Get the good haul of books in under an hour, and bring them home to enjoy.