Building an At-Home Library

Surrounding kids with various books and making them easily accessible this the best way to get them to read. Here are three ways to build an at-home library for your kids. 

Shop Local

I am so fortunate to live in a town with a fantastic downtown, rich with restaurants, shops, and once upon a time, an amazing bookstore. I am, and will forever be, a book reader. Although my Kindle comes in handy at times, I love reading actual books. So, needless to say, there were so many times that the main focus of walking to our downtown was to visit Anderson Bookstore for either a birthday present or to pick out the latest and greatest bestseller. I was heartbroken the day I found out that Anderson Bookstore was closing in downtown La Grange. During my last visit, I was fortunate to have one of the owners help pick out some amazing gems, including The House with Chicken Legs by Sophie Anderson and Other Words from Home by Jasmine Warga. Luckily, in our digital world, we can still support Anderson’s with a click of a button in this digital world. https://www.andersonsbookshop.com/ 

Scholastic Book Orders

Now, you know your children are excited about reading when the first thing they say when they come home from school is, “We got our book order sheet.” I love seeing them peruse through the flyer, circling and initialing the books they want. 

But this hasn’t always been the case. When the girls first started to bring home the Scholastic flyers, I would typically pin the flyer to our kitchen’s corkboard and then forget about it. It wasn’t until I checked out all the books on the website that my obsessive ordering began. I think the flyers are great and a wonderful way to get kids excited about reading, but the website allows parents to filter in order to find the best books. The website’s filters make picking out the best books remarkably easy. First, I start by filtering by grade level. I tend to go up a grade level to account for fast-growing kids and nighttime read-aloud. Then, within each grade level, I’m able to check out books according to “Top Trending,” “Celebrating Diversity,” and “Books $10 and Under”. And, if you find a favorite book series or author, filtering by “Value Pack” is a great bargain! https://clubs.scholastic.com

Public Library

Now, we all know that books can be costly, so public libraries are a great resource. Our local library does such a great job offering programs and resources for kids throughout the whole year. Like many others, our schedule can be quite busy, so spending time at the library isn’t always possible. Our visits usually consist of either a solo trip or one that is accompanied by only one daughter. And, each visit is relatively quick. Typically, I have specific book requests, but other times, I head straight to the bestseller shelves and grab whatever’s available. Without a doubt, we’re walking out of there with a backpack full of at least 10 books. 

I wholeheartedly believe one of the main reasons my daughters are avid readers is because of all the continually changing books at hand. Me, Frida, and the Secret of the Peacock by Angela Cervantes and Marvin Redpost: A Magic Crystal by Louis Sachar were the most recent books my girls have devoured. But remember, make sure to keep your books readily available. Although an organized bookshelf is aesthetically pleasing, accessibility is the key to building lifelong readers.