I Love to Read

I love to read and I love going to the library. Today Amaya and I went to two libraries today. We have two different library systems near us (city and county) and each system has numerous libraries in it. One thing I love is that I can go online and request a book and it doesn't matter where the book is, it will end up at the closest library so I can go get it. I request books all the time, even kids books. Sometimes there will be books I want to read to my kids, I go on the library website and see that it is checked in, then when I get to the library I can't find it. I suspect it's because it may be checked in but not on the shelves yet, or a child pulled it off the shelf to look at it and put it back in the wrong place, or someone managed to check it out before I got there. It's much easier just to request it and let the library employees do the work of tracking it down.

I really wish it was possible to read every book that is in existent that I think I would like. There are just too many books. I wish I could read every children's book to my kids. We always have the maximum amount of books that are allowed on our library cards. I need to get Carson his own card so we can get more books. I love having our own little library of books from the library to choose from.

Luckily my kids love to read, too. Carson loves to read and is really into dinosaur books and chapter books like the Harry Potter series and The Chronicles of Narnia series. Hayden loves to read and he wants to read anything and everything he comes across, which gets a little annoying sometimes. He will be sitting at the breakfast table eating breakfast while reading the cereal box, and if someone wants some cereal he totally freaks out if they move the box. Amaya can't read yet, and she is totally aware of that fact. When my boys were that age (or in Hayden's case younger) I would say, "Go read a book while I make dinner." I knew they couldn't really read the book, but they could look at the book. They were satisfied to go look at a book even if they couldn't read it. Amaya is not satisfied to just look at a book. It makes her mad if I tell her to go read a book. She'll say, "But I CAN'T read." It reminds me of the time my cousin was very young and couldn't read yet. She asked her dad, "How come I have so many books but I can't read yet?" Amaya is starting to know the sounds of the letters, so I know she's getting close to reading. I just need to start working more on it with her.

I have a good system in place to make sure we get our library books back on time so we can avoid fines. I have a special basket that is just for library books. Library books are supposed to be kept in the basket unless they are being read. I have set up a spreadsheet on my computer with three columns: the date the book is due, the title of the book, and the specific library the book goes to. I have taken books to the wrong library system before, but I'm sure that happens often and I'm sure they have a system in place to get the books back to the other library. Whenever we take books back I delete them from the list, and whenever we get new books I add them to the list and then sort it so the ones that are due back first are at the top. I have to really keep track of when they're due back, because right now out of all the books we have checked out there are six different due dates for all of them. One of our library systems sends me an e-mail a few days before books are due, so that is a helpful reminder, too.

I think that loving to read is one of the best things a person can do. It is great entertainment and you gain a lot of knowledge from reading. My dad was one of the smartest people I've ever known and he got most of his knowledge from reading. He would read four or five books a week (he had a lot of down time on his job), and whenever I would need a question answered on any subject I would call him and he would always know it. It always makes me a little bit sad when I hear kids say they hate to read. I think everyone can find something to read that will interest them.

So everybody get out there and read, and try to get your kids to love reading, too. It's one of the best things you can do for yourself and your kids.