Growing up, we had very little access to libraries. There was one small missionary collection of books, and then when I attended my high school we had a slightly bigger selection of books (although I don’t remember reading much from that library). In college, my university had a huge library, but I don’t remember ever reading a book from that library just for fun. Unless you count the huge amount of children’s books that I had to read for my Children’s Literature class haha! I think the first time I went to a local public library was when I was taking my first child to a children’s story time. I was so bored and needed any reason to get out of the house. We went to story time at the library for YEARS! I started using the library by just checking out picture books. But somewhere along the way, I started to use the library for EVERYTHING books and beyond!!!
Some people may not know all the perks of being a member of your local library, so I just thought I would make a post pointing out some of the great benefits of it. I know that there are some who don’t appreciate the public funding and often secular minded agendas of libraries, and I can understand that. I also know that it IS still important to support authors and buy directly from them…but I still prefer to use my local public library!
Check out this receipt that I got from my library at the end of 2022. According to their records, I saved $8,386.72 by using the library in 2022. And that is just my library card! As you can see, Tera and Kiah also have library cards and each saved a couple thousand dollars as well!
We go to the library every week and I typically check out 5 or so adult fiction/nonfiction books, 10 picture books to read to my kids and TONS of picture books to use in my 1st grade classroom!
I am also a member at two different library counties- the one where we used to live and the one that we moved to. They each have very different benefits and downsides. For example, the bigger one where we used to live has almost every book I’ve ever looked for. But the small town one where we live now has a ridiculously short holds list. I got a book on release day this past summer because I was the first one on the holds list!
Here are some of my favorite benefits of using the library:
Teacher/Homeschool Card
Not all libraries do this, but my library allowed me to open up a second library card account just for teachers/homeschoolers. On this account, I can check out way more books and I get to keep them for an extended amount of time (6 weeks). The librarians will also pick picture books and curate a theme for me if I ask them with enough time in advance. This has been a game changer because I am always filling my classroom shelves with books from the library.
The holds list 🙂
If I see a super popular book has just come out or is coming out soon, I hop online and get on the holds list for that sucker. I am ok with not reading the book on the day that it releases, and I often find that even though I have to wait it’s often not too long. Of course, this depends on the library and the book. We shall see how long it takes me to get Prince Harry’s “Spare”. I’m interested to see if I find it at a thrift store before it’s available at the library haha.
Hoopla
I connected to hoopla for free through my library card. Hoopla has all kinds of great resources, but my favorite one is the audiobooks! I do frequently have to wait in line for audiobooks on hoopla, but I have almost always found the books that I’m looking for or wanting! Hoopla also has some select movies/TV shows (that have really come in handy if I’m stuck unexpectedly somewhere and need to hand my kids a screen to entertain them!). They also have music and soundtracks on hoopla that the kids especially enjoy listening to! It’s safe to say that at least one person in our family uses hoopla every single day.
Book pickup
I love being able to go online and request all the books that I might want to check out. Don’t get me wrong, I love browsing the library, but especially if I’m looking for specific books for my classroom, I just go online and request them all at once. When I pop into the library, there they are waiting for me! It’s amazing.
Puzzles, Games, Magazines and Movies
Did you know that many libraries have puzzles, movies, magazines and games? Our libraries have an amazing selection of all of these! It’s fun to be able to check them out and try them out without having to pay for a subscription or buy a puzzle or game!
Story Time/Book Club/Events
Of course, local libraries are great at offering classes and clubs and all kinds of events! I know that this has changed greatly since COVID, but things are getting more back to “normal” and I have seen our libraries offering lots of different classes. Especially in the summer keep your eye on their calendar for fun events!
Book Pages
This is just a fun little thing that I love finding at my library! They stock a free magazine called “Book Pages” that comes out monthly and lists tons and tons of fun books. Think of it as reading a bunch of blog posts, author interviews and previews for fun books that have come out recently or are recommended by librarians or different people. I honestly get a lot of my book ideas from this magazine! Our library also prints out a weekly copy of the NYT Bestsellers list in both fiction and nonfiction. It’s always fun to look at that!
