“The best candy shop a child can be left alone in, is the library” - Maya Angelou
I’ve always been an avid reader so I’ve always loved going to the library. I’ve had a library card in every city I’ve lived in and have utilized it at least biweekly up until about 4 years ago when I moved from NY to TX. I guess I never really got situated and almost right after I moved, I got pregnant with my princess and the rest is history (insert all of the pregnant and stressed excuses you can think off),
Recently, I joined a bookclub (Shoutout to The Lit(erary) Crew) and I started reading more, and I did what I hadn’t done in a long time but needed to be done, I took Kobe to the library and we got a library card. It was so exciting for him because it brought back all the fun bonding memories of us in NY. That day we picked books, played some games on the computer and made a note to be back every 2 weeks.
After getting accustomed to this library (Fort Bend Library Cinco Ranch) and spending some quality time with Kobe at the library, I decided it was time (well, way past time) to introduce Imani to the library and our first visit was an absolute success. As expected she was fascinated at the wealth of books, she kept bringing different books for me to read, that I practically had to drag her out of the library when it was time to go home promising that we’d be back in 2 weeks, keeping with the tradition I had set with Kobe.
Seeing the importance of the library in my home, I wanted to talk about the benefits of going to the library in this post.
Benefits of taking our kids to the library
1. It exposes your child to a wealth of knowledge. Like Aunty Maya’s quote, our kids can never get too much books. Research shows the best way to raise a reader is to consistently read to them and what better way to do that than in a place with surplus of books. Here you start to discover your child’s interest, pretty much all the books Imani brought were of unicorns and superhero’s (our current obsession) and Kobe was only interested in chapter books (apparently he’s a big boy now).
2. It is FREE and convenient. Being an avid reader, I can’t even estimate how much I’ve spent on books. The library provides a way to keep up with my love of books and that of my kids for absolutely $0. There are usually multiple copies of each book in the library and you can always reserve a particular book you want if not available.
3. You get to meet moms and dads like you at small reading groups. This is very big and I should have taken advantage of this after we moved to TX. The library usually provides reading groups with guest readers for little ones and at these reading groups, you can meet parents with kids the same age as yours. As we all know making mom friends and dad friends is very essential keeping our sanity (this parenting gig is no joke).
4. Most of all, you create a great bonding time for you and your kids. The library provides a very relaxing environment to read and spend time with your kids. We always leave the library feeling refreshed and end up talking about our time and the stories we read for weeks.
I'm super excited to start this new library tradition with Imani and continue it with Kobe. I’d love to hear from you, do you have a library card, have you taken your kids to the library or have you made mom and dad friends at the library.