29 May 2012
Come back soon
I love this gorgous animation spoken in the delicious 'Strine' of William McInnes.
Alas I don't make much use of libraries because it seems that the kind of living books we like to read are rather out of fashion nowadays, but I do recognise the important role that libraries have and I'd hate to see them disappear. There's something about those shelves of books that makes me swoon just thinking about them.
What about you? Are you library lovers? Does your local library stock the kind of books you like to read with your kidlets? Do you even have a library near by? (We don't, which probably makes a difference.) If you're a Charlotte Mason educator like I am, how do you keep your children from making a beeline straight for the twaddle shelves? These books are often far more enticing and attractive, after all. Have you perhaps stopped visiting your library recently? What would make you return? Come talk libraries with me.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hi Jeanne,
ReplyDeleteWe do use our libraries a lot. Yep, we go to two.
Our local one is more modern, with a collection of books that are a real mixed bag. They like to turn over their shelves regularly, too, which I told the librarian I thought odd. "Aren't libraries meant to preserve good books?" Ah, well, not so much these days apparently.
A few years ago, I decided to drive 10mins north and join our closest country library. It's small, but they do keep their older books and have a wonderful collection that we can draw on from a range of nearby towns (interlibrary loans), which actually makes what is available quite a large collection. They seem to have more of the nostalgic items, some hard-to-find books and magazines on a broad range of crafts, which we enjoy.
Still, though, I find that we still need to buy in certain books that just aren't on the library shelves. Living books, in particular, ARE becoming a rare find. The country library has a few; the local library much fewer.
We use the library alot. Alas more for the non-fiction than fiction. for the same reason as you, much of the fiction is twaddle. However I had a good browse the other day and noticed some better choices sprinkled about. Oh and there are some good picture books.
ReplyDeleteThe most frequent way I use my library is from my computer chair, I browse and reserve online, then when an email arrives to notify me of reservations arrival (our library has five branches)I go in and collect. We use this system so frequently our family has our own basket labelled with our name under the counter. apparently the librarians enjoy seeing what new books we 'find'.
It's interesting that you've done a post on libraries. :o) I've been thinking that I should go and visit our local library. It's been seriously on my mind for the last couple of weeks. I don't know what they have there. Never actually been in. I usually buy the books we read. Rarely borrow. Anyway, yes, very curious at to what is on offer where we are. :o)
ReplyDeleteActually we didn't use the library anywhere as much as I thought we would have, being homeschoolers and all.
ReplyDeleteInstead, we spent a fortune on books! Mainly from the second hand stores. The library had masses of books but most of the appropriate age/reading level simply wasn't to our liking. However, the books that others didn't want and gave to the op shops were exactly the sort we wanted!
Like Erin, I tended to use the library when they had a particular book I needed. I'd look it up online, reserve it and then pop in to pick it up.
The other good thing about the library is the book sale they have. For .50c they sell all their old books which leaves me with mixed emotions. I'm sad to see those books no longer wanted in the library but I"m only too happy to take them off their hands.
We use the library quite a bit. Sometimes just to get some peace and quiet. I don't mind if the boys make a bee line for twaddle....being non readers I let them find SOMETHING they might enjoy! Books we need for school I can almost always get at the library and now that we have thinned out collection out A LOT, I sometimes phone a friend. You can always rely of home schoolers to have the good books!
ReplyDeleteHi Jeanne! Good to see you. We use our library quite a bit -- only we mostly use it like Erin does. I reserve books online and then go pick them up. I'm able to request books that our particular branch may not hold, but another county branch does. And then I can pick it up at my branch. Convenient!
ReplyDeleteSometimes we go in and browse around. I was there a few weeks ago looking for a good bio of George Washington Carver, which I found.
Our branch has a large children's department and offers both popular twaddle and classics. And its nonfiction section is wonderful -- great for research, discovering more on a topic, etc. And they hold on to their books. Very little purging here.
We love our local library. We are there every week, sometimes for the preschool storytime, but otherwise just to browse and borrow. My kids aren't drawn to twaddle much yet, they know their favourites and grab them if they see them. (I do love watching my 2yo finding his favourites)
ReplyDeleteLike Susan we have mixed feelings about the libraries priorities for what they keep and what they sell - once upon a time libraries were a repository of knowledge, but not so much anymore. Perhaps they are a reflection of the community they service :s
I must say though that I haven't had much of a chance to venture beyond the children's area recently, so I don't know much of what's there for adults.
Chiming back in, the current NSW library policy is to cull all books older than 10 years old!!! That is why we are finding this absolute delights at library sales. As Susan says, great for us but too sad to really contemplate. Besides I keep wondering what if a Doris Chadwick went unfound by a book lover and was binned!??
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my blog Jeanne. Your kinds words are very inspiring. About the library, yes, we use our public library a lot. We are currently contemplating a move to a place where there are NO libraries. I am planning to set aside an amount, for buying books every month.Hope that will help us.
ReplyDeletewelcome back Jeanne!
ReplyDeleteyea interesting! we visited the library after about a year just last week and guess what Rebekah went for - the picture book section, hallelujah! I've not wanted to go there because of the twaddle and rubbish that is around for the next stage! I was glad she borrowed "olivia" and some others as I'd rather her get that than head to the other stuff for her age that I wouldn't have approved of like the babysitters club etc! I don't imagine we'll go back there in a hurry after returning these books. We used to visit a lot when she was in the pre-K to K stage as I could find quite a few living books for that age and we did get some twaddle too but for her age now it's mostly just twaddle, hence we avoid it and buy books for her instead:) having the ipod and ipad has been great too as she listens to / reads books from good reading lists that I have given her to pick from:)
Hmmm ... we do visit the library, though more often I prefer to go on my own and bring home a likely selection for each person, including some decent CDs', audiobooks or DVDs. Aside from filtering twaddle, there is so much to censor! When the children come along, my son thankfully gravitates towards history and science, and my daughter likes the craft section and picture books. I like to borrow architecture, art & decorating, health and writing books. This week I happily discovered a small section on a shelf of French & English dual language books. Increasingly I find it hard to find decent books to read for my own enjoyment. I do rely upon library books to enhance our experience of science and history topics. We never get through them all, but enjoy having enough to choose from.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your sweet comment on my blog! We try to go to the library once every week. The one we use is in the next town and about 40 minutes drive from us. It is a privately funded library and will issue a library card to any person who lives in our state. It's a beautiful library with many wonderful books - lots of Charlotte Mason books, too. Our local library, on the other hand, has only about three shelves of children's books and twelve shelves in their adult section, and it is mostly pulp fiction.
ReplyDeleteI have heard before about the difficulty Australians have with their libraries purging "older" books, and that is just so bewildering for me to think about. I really sympathize with your struggle.
Oh yes, we visit the library weekly! We always come out with piles of books. I think if you instill a love of good books in your children then they will naturally lean towards those kinds of books. Or at least mine do! I always reserve the right to veto a book though. Our library has a county wide system which means that all libraries in the county are connected to one card. You can reserve a book and have it sent to your local branch. That said, if we have to recheck the book out more than twice then I buy it. Great post!
ReplyDelete