If you were to ask my oldest son what he likes to do with his free time he would most exuberantly say READ! Yes, my son is a reader and I am so very proud of this. Now here is the problem… we go through an incredible amount of books in a short period of time! He can easily read a 300 page book in two days, if I let him sit there that long. If we don’t have new books available he will re-read books he already has, but that will only hold him off for so long.
Since we read so many books in this house we are most definitely frequenters of the local library. So much so, that once my son read and re-read most of his favorites at the local library we went to the next county and got a card there too. It cost us $50 but we have access to all the books in Nashville! We are more likely to find the books we are looking for and it only costs us the price of 4 of his favorite paperbacks per year.
To keep our experience organized at the library we start by having our son keep a list of books he wants to read. (You can download your own Library Wish List printable below!) Then we use the online system at the library to find out where the books are available and have them delivered to our local branch. Now that we have the books we really want on hold, we pick them up and browse for extra books we want for all of the kids. This makes the time spent at the library much less hectic, otherwise the little kids pick out their books rather quickly then they have to wait for big brother to find what he is looking for. The little ones are a lot less patient than he is!
Since we usually have a large amount of library books in the home I have a system set up to keep things in order. First of all we have a “library cabinet” where all borrowed books are supposed to live. For the most part this works but when they become bedtime stories we have to remember to get them back to the cabinet. I keep the receipt/list of books form the library in my planner so it doesn’t get lost. If the list does get lost this information can be looked up online very easily. Before we leave for the library I have my son check off the list and make sure everything is there. We have a library bag that we always use to tote the books to and from so we keep our library cards with the bag in the library cabinet.
I was going to make cute library bags for each child but guess who would be left carrying three bags through the library? You got it, me. So I am sticking with one big bag!
How do you keep your library books organized at home?
I created a FREE Library Book Wish List printable to help you get organized before your next library trip! Click here to Download.
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I am all about all-in-ones and my iPhone is my current reading material, my internet(which includes everything from directions, phone books, maps, news), my phone, my TV, my social network, and my radio.
Nothing replaces a book in your hand, especially for kids. But I discovered this app called OverDrive. You use the app to check out local library books that are digital! The benefits include: Its free just like the library (and you need a library card); you can check out 5 books at the same time and have 5 books in your waiting list; you get the book for 14 days and then it automatically ‘returns’ and becomes available for the next person; lots of the books are audio versions; when you want a book and someone else has it, you put it on your waiting list and as soon as its available you get an email letting you know you have 3 days to download it.
There are some drawbacks obviously, not all books are available, it is digital, what kind of device or computer you have can make a difference. But for those adult technological and library lovers out there, I recommend this app!
What a great way to keep things organized. And how great is it that you have a family of such avid readers? :)
I would think a great way for kids to keep library books organized would be to let each of them decorate and paint a wooden crate (you can pick them up at Hobby Lobby or something), and then keep those in one area. Simple – and you can turn it into an organization art project. :)
We use that exact same bag for our library books! We must have gotten them at the same conference. :) Except ours is a lot dirtier. I try very hard to just have them return the books to the bag, but right now there is one that I don’t know where it is. [hanging head] I have to scour the house for it.
This is so helpful and I had problem of missing library for a long time. I am going to try your idea right away.
We keep the library books in rolling carts we get from office supply stores. They’re like milk crates on wheels. Each person has a designated spot to park their cart in their bedroom.
Great idea KerryAnn! I like that they can easily take their books to their own reading spots.
Ugh…this is a huge problem for us, since I have 5-6 books out at any one time. Right now, they just sort of live on any flat surface in the house (or in my trunk, at times).
But your post has inspired me to find a home for these guys.
There are three of us in the family so we have a narrow 4 shelf bookshelf…each of us gets a shelf for our library books and when we’re finished with a book it goes on the bottom shelf (I also keep a couple of totes there). I homeschool so we also have a shelf with our school books dedicated to library books that we are using with our lessons.