Library Frustration

[Haiku]

I used to love the library. We used to go every week, like clockwork, and sometimes twice a week. I viewed the library as this ginormous font of free resources and entertainment.

 

That was before my kids learned to read.

 

Honestly, now that they are reading independently, I don't even like taking them there anymore. Finding a quality book to read is like finding the proverbial needle in the haystack. For every rare gem to be had, there are huge mountains of complete trash. My dd picked up a book the other day and said, "Oh, dragons!" I opened to book to find that one of the characters was named SnotLot (or something equally disgusting). I don't like having to veto the majority of what my kids pick up, and I haven't found a good way to explain why I do a lot of the vetoing. My kids have been raised with the idea that books are magical and precious, so it's hard for me to help them understand that some books are just trash.

 

I have never been one to buy books, because I've always felt like "Why buy when the library has them for free?", but more and more I am finding that the library doesn't carry the type of books I want my kids reading.

 

Can people help me out with two things:

 

1) Good chapter books for soon-to-be second and third graders

 

and

 

2) Places to find/buy quality books (I'm thinking along the lines of yesterdaysclassics.com)

 

Thanks!

 

Tara

[Orthodox6]

I could have written your same post, only exchanged the word "bookstore" for the word "library." We find next-to-nothing in the children's and young adults' sections which we care to read.

 

I'm in a hurry, but will post one fully reliable source for excellent books: http://www.bethlehembooks.com/

 

Although this has shifted markedly over recent years, books from a rural, or older (less well-endowed with $) public library used to shift in quality far less than now, and less than in large city libraries, which in their desperation to attract readers of any kind, stock whatever publishers want to push.

[Snickerdoodle]

I know what you are talking about. I let the kids come home one time with a Horrible Henry book and what a mistake that was. Garbage in turned into garbage out.

 

Fortunately for me, they almost always choose non-fiction books from the library. For the fiction they read, I either just purchase these books outright or I request from ILL the books I'd like them to read.

 

Am I a control freak? Maybe. But my kids are still very young and I don't think it's wrong at this point to control what they read.

[2cents]

I understand your frustration. However, having been down this road before I know that there can be a thin line between fostering a love of reading and making it a frustrating event. It sounds like you've had to do a significant amount of vetoing. I wonder if maybe it might be time to let a few of the less than stellar choices go through for the purpose of getting you all back to finding the library a fun experience. You might also do some co-reading of the classics like Treasure Island or Black Beauty etc. I used to do that a lot. I would read a page and the child reads a page. That way they aren't getting tired and you keep the interest level up. Good luck and I hope this helps!

[Free Indeed]

This is the reason we do not go into the library much anymore. I search out good quality books at home, put them on hold, and pick them up at the front desk. Quality, free books to read. It does take time, and I would rather my kids have the joy of going to the library like I did, but when so much is just JUNK, it's easier this way.

[OhioMom66]

This is the reason we do not go into the library much anymore. I search out good quality books at home, put them on hold, and pick them up at the front desk. Quality, free books to read. It does take time, and I would rather my kids have the joy of going to the library like I did, but when so much is just JUNK, it's easier this way.

 

This is exactly what I was going to suggest. If you can come up with a list of books they would like to read, then you can look them up on your library website. What I particularly like about this, is I don't waste time looking for a book when I'm at the library, to find they don't have it at my branch and I have to order it anyway. Just look them up, put them on hold, and go pick them up when they are ready.

 

Another suggestion is your children can search an author they have enjoyed and see what other books are available by that author. :)

[Lori in MS]

This is the reason we do not go into the library much anymore. I search out good quality books at home, put them on hold, and pick them up at the front desk. Quality, free books to read. It does take time, and I would rather my kids have the joy of going to the library like I did, but when so much is just JUNK, it's easier this way.

 

:iagree:

 

I do this too. When I walk through the door with the new library books, they are excited to see what I brought them.

[mommy4ever]

We use the online catalog extensively, research books, and most times only one of us(I have pre and teens) runs in with all the cards and signs them all out.

 

There is a ton of good books out there, but they are harder to find among all the other books out there.

 

Make a list of books, and have the kids look them up at a book website, and decide if they want to read them. Then start putting books on hold. Each week, for our kids, is like a treasure hunt, and they never know what they'll get when we go!

[rafgaf4]

I also get frustrated with the lack of great books available to us at the library. I just cannot understand how they can only have one or two books covering Christopher Columbus, The Boston Tea party or the signing of the Declaration of Independance, but have 20 book of Pokemon, Dora, Spongebob or Star Wars. It is so frustrating to spend all my time at home instilling the love of good books and then have my kids go to the library and not be able to find one. To find a classic in the children's section is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. For the most part, I put a hold on all the books we are looking for and just pick them up at the front desk. I allow each of my kids to pick out one or two "fluff" books, but they are not allowed to read them during our literature time. We used to spend at least two hours at the library looking for books and reading. Now that we pick up the books and only check out a couple additional ones, we take that extra time and go to the park on libary day. We all agree it is time well spent!:001_smile:

[Haiku]

I understand your frustration. However, having been down this road before I know that there can be a thin line between fostering a love of reading and making it a frustrating event.

 

You're right. I'm not as strict as I would like to be, mainly because I don't want to crush the joy of reading. My kids certainly read Magic Tree House, and my dd has read The Fairy Chronicles, and their great-grandmother just sent them fifteen (15!!!) Puppy Club books for Easter. I don't mind these so much as an occasional snack (ok, I DO mind, but I deal ;) ), but it's frustrating to go to the library and find that MOST of the choices are like this, or worse. I think that, as they become even more proficient readers, it will be a bit easier because we can stick to the Newberry wall or read some of the older, more classic sci-fi and fantasy books (very popular in our home). My dd just read her first long chapter book (252 pages!) the other day, so we're ready to make the leap to more challenging material.

 

Thanks for the suggestions and commiseration everyone!

 

Tara

[Donna T.]

Have you gotten to know the children's Librarian? I am blessed to be near a library that has a Librarian who wants to hear from home-schoolers and who considers things that I (we) want. Everytime we go to the library, I make a point to find her and just be friendly with her. Both she and the last Children's Librarian told me that they want input and they spend their limited funds on what they think people want. They keep track of what is going out of the Library and they make purchases based on what is being checked-out.

 

That's my only advise. I see the logic in just staying away and reserving the books to pick up. But, if you keep going, be sure to keep checking out what is good and letting the Librarian know you want more of the same. I have even taken catalogs to our Librarian and shown her what we like.

[Haiku]

We were very good friends with the two previous children's librarians, both of whom were promoted elsewhere. Unfortunately, I can't stand the current children's librarian and don't consider her a role model for my kids.

 

Tara

[Kfamily]

We used to go to the library regularly, but I noticed that for all the books we checked out that the girls really didn't even read most of them. As time went by I stopped going as often. What I noticed was that my girls, when looking for a book to read, had to resort to the books we had at home (since we weren't going to the library). I had a lot that I picked up at library book sales, used book stores, Goodwill, etc. and they began reading ones I liked a lot better (since I had picked them out myself anyway:D). I think the girls thought picking out books was half the fun of going to the library and then when they got home to read them they suddenly realized they weren't that interesting. Now we only go when we really need a certain book.

[KS_]

I used to love the library. We used to go every week, like clockwork, and sometimes twice a week. I viewed the library as this ginormous font of free resources and entertainment.

 

That was before my kids learned to read.

 

Honestly, now that they are reading independently, I don't even like taking them there anymore. Finding a quality book to read is like finding the proverbial needle in the haystack. For every rare gem to be had, there are huge mountains of complete trash. My dd picked up a book the other day and said, "Oh, dragons!" I opened to book to find that one of the characters was named SnotLot (or something equally disgusting). I don't like having to veto the majority of what my kids pick up, and I haven't found a good way to explain why I do a lot of the vetoing. My kids have been raised with the idea that books are magical and precious, so it's hard for me to help them understand that some books are just trash.

 

I have never been one to buy books, because I've always felt like "Why buy when the library has them for free?", but more and more I am finding that the library doesn't carry the type of books I want my kids reading.

 

Can people help me out with two things:

 

1) Good chapter books for soon-to-be second and third graders

 

and

 

2) Places to find/buy quality books (I'm thinking along the lines of yesterdaysclassics.com)

 

Thanks!

 

Tara

 

We've had the same issue (along with not being allowed to get a free library card when we first moved here), which is why I started on building our own library. I use Ambleside booklists and the 1000 Good Books list to help find quality books:

http://www.amblesideonline.org/BooklistTitle.shtml

 

http://www.classical-homeschooling.org/celoop/1000.html

 

And I've been able to get a number of books through Paperbackswap and Bookmooch.

[stripe]

I hear you, Tara. I also request books from the library and either have them on hold or go hunt out a list. Even then I have to preread; when I don't, I am often unhappy with something in there. Unfortunately this holds for gifts, which it seems that most givers don't actually read or even look at before giving my kids, as several of them have been really off-color. I try to find things that my kids have enjoyed and look for something similar, which gives them a voice in the process. However, your kids are older than mine, so I understand this might not work well for an older child.

 

To make matters worse, I find some of the suggestions on some websites to be not appealing as well. Several of the Yesterday's Classics books are rather too backward (for my perspective) in their outlook.

[alpidarkomama]

Totally agree. I gave up just going into the library and getting a pile of books. Now I research what books we want to read, request them online, then go pick them up at the library when they come in. That was after DD6 brought home a children's book about a naked cowboy (???!!!!!???). Good grief. There sure is a lot of drek out there.

 

We just left a city with a wonderful children's librarian, and a library that pretty much had everything we wanted to read. No children's libarian in our new city, and half the things I look up aren't there. On the other hand, we have lower taxes so I can use that money to buy books! :)

[Shelly in the Country]

We've had the same issue (along with not being allowed to get a free library card when we first moved here), which is why I started on building our own library. I use Ambleside booklists and the 1000 Good Books list to help find quality books:

http://www.amblesideonline.org/BooklistTitle.shtml

 

http://www.classical-homeschooling.org/celoop/1000.html

 

And I've been able to get a number of books through Paperbackswap and Bookmooch.

 

Thank you for this reminder. I have these bookmarked but I always forget to look when I'm ordering books.

[happyhomemaker25]

I like the idea of having the kids pick out non fiction books. I might go with that and one or two books from the other area.

I still let my youngest have a Thomas book or two. My middle two enjoy the picture books still. The older girls though have discovered Disney comics. UGH! I have started allowing one Disney comic book to come home. ONE. The books all go in the common book bin for everyone to read. I have to require my 10 year old to pick out chapter books for some of her selections. Not a big reader that one, though she loves to read the picture books to her brothers and sister.

[Harriet Vane]

I feel your pain. This has been my frustrating experience as well.

 

I have an agreement with my kids about what is acceptable to read and what is not. We talked (and continue to talk about) what specific things are unhealthy for our minds and souls. We also talk about the shades of differences--for example, I do not forbid violence in books outright. I do forbid filling our minds with gratuitous or excessive violence. Another example would be that it is okay for my kids to read a book with a love story, but not one that gives excessive physical descriptions of physical acts.

 

The agreement with my children is that they will stop reading a book if it contains those things that we have discussed. I monitor ds' book choices much more heavily partially because he is younger and needs that hands-on coaching, and partially because of personality differences between him and dd. Dd, on the other hand, has proven my trust in her repeatedly in the way she chooses to discuss books with me and in her specific choices over the years to stop reading one or two books that contained questionable content.

 

Aside from that ongoing conversation, I also rely on a few booklists for suggestions. I really like the book Honey For a Child's Heart. It contains a wonderful booklist. The author does approach the question from a faith perspective, but I find that her booklist, while wonderfully wholesome, is not overly conservative. (For example, she does include Harry Potter in her recommendations.)

 

Another, far more conservative (and religious) list I can recommend is from Trivium Pursuit (the Bluedorns). I do not agree with many of the things they espouse, BUT I do appreciate their booklists. There are two that can be ordered: Hand That Rocks the Cradle, and Lives in Print. The lists contain a short description of the work and rates each work for difficulty. I like having a wholesome list of classic literature at my fingertips.

 

http://www.triviumpursuit.com/

[Medieval Mom]

I hear you! We just moved from a small town with an EXCELLENT library to a city with an abysmal system. The library system is MUCH larger, and I thought it would have a terrific selection (with a dozen libraries in the system, surely this will be fantastic, right?). The good news is that I can request books from any of the libraries and they are reserved for me to pick up at my local library. The bad news is that they just DON'T CARRY THE CLASSICS or even many quality modern books. Our plan for using SOTW I was frustrated by the plain fact that most weeks, NONE of the additional books were available. I request what I can, order others through Interlibrary Loan, and buy what I can from used bookstores.

 

I still don't have a good solution. Ds often reads a book a day. That's too many books to BUY. But when he's a Thornton W. Burgess fan (and the library carries ONE book), what are we to do? I'm still not sure.:confused1:

 

Frankly, I'm considering buying a Kindle for ds so I can load it with classics he likes to read. I never thought I'd say that. :svengo:

 

I'm not much help, but I do sympathize. We *loved* our former library, and lived within walking distance to it. Sigh. We used to walk there together all the time. Now I drive to our library by myself and pick up what we've requested. It's definitely not the magical, warm, cuddly feeling we had with our last library. (The librarians at the former library were helpful, courteous, and friendly. They knew us all by name. These librarians are stiff, frowning, and unhelpful. I make it my goal to illicit a smile from them on every visit in an effort to lighten them up a little! :laugh:Could it be that they are frustrated by the dross they deal with every day, too? Maybe I should ask (in nicer terms, of course).

 

I've also requested many books through the library's "Suggestions for Purchase" program, but the have only purchased one or two of these suggestions. :001_huh:

 

Geesh! Now I know what Charlotte Mason meant by twaddle!!:banghead:

[cjbeach]

This is the reason we do not go into the library much anymore. I search out good quality books at home, put them on hold, and pick them up at the front desk. Quality, free books to read. It does take time, and I would rather my kids have the joy of going to the library like I did, but when so much is just JUNK, it's easier this way.

I spend a lot of time doing this.....it's usually my Sunday night thing. I use the SL and AO and Angelicum Academy's lists then I use our "Surfcat" system online.. find out if it's in my library and jot down any #s I need on my list. If it's something i really want I'll put it on reserve and my library calls me when it's in. It does take time but we've read some wonderful, lovely books this year, this way.

[Cleopatra]

Tara,

 

I cannot say how much I agree with you!!!!! This has been my problem ever since I started homeschooling! Suddenly I realized that libraries are no longer places that foster education but places to get cheap entertainment. Our library has all the DVDs you could ask for but try to find a Sonlight recommended book ......? They had only about 8 of the 200 or so books recommended in the Sonlight catalogue. For the recommendations in the SOTW they usually only have 30% of the books listed. It is beyond frustrating!!! They also cater to special interest groups so you often find in their 'new purchases' very strange titles like "Sailing Without Water" or "How To Teach Your Dog to Bake Cookies" (yes, I'm exaggerating, but not much!:001_smile:) And it gets worse every year. I'm sure there are still some excellent libraries out there but not where we live.

 

I second (or third ...???) KH's recommendations of the 1000 Good Books & Ambleside. We also used the Sonlight catalogue and the Veritas Press catalogue. Baldwin's Online Literature for Children can give you some ideas too. Alfred J. Church is an author we enjoy and I notice his books are coming back into print; he specializes in the Ancients and Middle Ages, periods that can sometimes be difficult to find books for. His books are for a older children but they can always be used as read-alouds. Lamplighter has great books too. Librvox has excellent audiobooks. I still haven't found how to separate the children's from the adult's but we've gotten ideas from there and then searched for a book or author to find a hard copy. I always have my booklist and target used bookstores, thrift stores, etc. Slowly but surely we've built up a home library. I catalogue my books using Bookpedia (I have a MAC) and then I try to lend them out to 'library-disillusioned' people like myself (us).:001_smile:

 

HTH

[Haiku]

Ds often reads a book a day. That's too many books to BUY.

 

Yep. Dd8 read The Trumpet of the Swan, 252 pages long, in less than 24 hours ...

 

Tara

[skissugar]

I havent read all the replies but I got a book from Nothing New Press.. it is "all through the ages" it is a history through literature guide (it lists tons of books).. and while im not sure this will be much help it is divided up in several ways.. 1. chronological history, 2. Geographical History and a few others.. and ontop of that.. it tells you the grades the books are good for :) It might help someone out there so i thought i would offer it up :)

 

You could give your kids a print out of books you agree too and let them highlight (one color per child) books they want to read from that list.. then you check them out from the library..

[Jennefer@SSA]

Tara, a few thoughts came to mind from old threads I remembered reading. I mentally filed some of these ideas away but have yet to put them in practice as I am currently doing what others have mentioned by putting books on hold and just dropping by to pick them up. :tongue_smilie:

 

A mom shared that she had a checklist for her kiddos each time they went in the library. I don't remember exactly what her list entailed but it was something like:

 

 

• one book of poetry
  
• one non-fiction book - history related
  
• one non-fiction book - science related
  
• one non-fiction book - free choice
  
• one biography
  
• one book - free choice
  

 

 

She talked to her kids that the free choice book had to be okayed by her but it was their "brain candy". And just like in real life a little candy here and there won't kill you but too much will rot your teeth, too many brain candy books will rot your brain. You can make your own standards for what they may choose for free choice. For me it will definitely be no potty talk included as well as a few other parameters.

 

This way the library becomes like a treasure hunt to find only the good stuff and leave behind the junk! My list will definitely be longer than this for my boys but for now this is all that is coming to mind.

 

Hth

[yvonne]

Go to the library book sales. You can buy all the classics and other great, older children's lit that they're unloading to make room for multiple copies of Pokemon, super hero comic books, Disney versions of fairy tales, Captain Underpants,... not to mention getting rid of thousands of feet of shelf space in order to accommodate computers to play video games. Like kids need more of those!

 

I've got nearly complete collections of Thornton Burgess' books, Landmarks, Asimov's How Did We Find Out About..., hardback COFA books, Signature Classics biographies, and so much more, thanks to library sales. It would be much easier to just be able to check them out of the library. The saddest part is that so many parents don't have time to look for quality lit., and now their children won't even have the chance to come across them on their own in the libraries.

[pageta]

We had that problem as well, so for a long time I just didn't go. But then I discovered Honey for a Child's Heart which has good recommendations for a wide range of ages. I have yet to go wrong with any of the recommendations from that book. There is also Honey for a Teen's Heart.

 

Then I go to my favorite curriculum sites: amblesideonline.org, which somebody already mentioned. Simply Charlotte Mason has good selections. My newest favorite is Veritas Press.

 

If I stick with titles from trusted sources, we do pretty good. We generally have 70+ books checked out at a time, with no "twaddle." We go weekly and consider our library a great resource.

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

Have you thought about choosing and ordering the books beforehand? You can put the selections you desire on hold so that you can just pick them up and not browse the library;)

 

Sorry if I am being redundant:)

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

Go to the library book sales. You can buy all the classics and other great, older children's lit that they're unloading to make room for multiple copies of Pokemon, super hero comic books, Disney versions of fairy tales, Captain Underpants,... not to mention getting rid of thousands of feet of shelf space in order to accommodate computers to play video games. Like kids need more of those!

 

I've got nearly complete collections of Thornton Burgess' books, Landmarks, Asimov's How Did We Find Out About..., hardback COFA books, Signature Classics biographies, and so much more, thanks to library sales. It would be much easier to just be able to check them out of the library. The saddest part is that so many parents don't have time to look for quality lit., and now their children won't even have the chance to come across them on their own in the libraries.

 

:iagree::iagree:

We have found many classics at these sales for next to nothing:)

[stripe]

Go to the library book sales. You can buy all the classics and other great, older children's lit that they're unloading

That's been my experience as well. However, there's still a lot of junky stuff, but at least you can find them for cheap when you wade through it all. I've accidentally ended up with 2 copies of several books due to the glut.

 

I am not certain that it's because the library itself is unloading them, because many of the children's paperbacks have come from donations and some are old and dusty and therefore not necessarily appropriate to be put in the collection. But someone's single read is new enough for me. (And there also seems to be a great deal of Alice Walker and James Baldwin in the adult section.)

[elizabeth]

 

http://www.trelease-on-reading.com/rah-treasury-intro.html Jim Trelease is my hero as his book on the art of reading aloud to your child and the requisite lists is worth its weight in gold. The REad Aloud Handbook had no duds or twaddle .

[Haiku]

Go to the library book sales.

 

Coincidentally enough, when I was looking at the library website today I noticed that the spring library booksale is ... today (and tomorrow and Sunday)!

 

We went, spent an hour, and I got 25 books for $22.50. I got several collections of fairy tales and other famous stories, seven Newberry books that were on my "for the kids to read" list, and a bunch of books that I loved when I was a kid. I just made sure to grab anything that looked old!!

 

I gave each kid $10, and they did well, too. Two Garfield books and a Pony Club book did make it home, but the rest were good things (and I loved the Garfield books when I was a kid, too).

 

Sunday is all-you-can-carry-for-a-buck, so I'll go back.

 

:D

 

Tara

[Haiku]

http://www.trelease-on-reading.com/rah-treasury-intro.html

 

Thanks! I read that book when my first child was little, and it was very inspiring. I'd forgotten about it!

 

Tara

[i.love.lucy]

 

A mom shared that she had a checklist for her kiddos each time they went in the library. I don't remember exactly what her list entailed but it was something like:

 

 

• one book of poetry

• one non-fiction book - history related

• one non-fiction book - science related

• one non-fiction book - free choice

• one biography

• one book - free choice

 

 

Well, that's from Jessie Wise in WTM. She did this with SWB when she was little. Non-fict: science, history, art, music, practical hobby or how-to, biography, then also a classic, a poetry selection or collection, and an imaginative story or fantasy.

 

We've been trying to do this too. I can get some good stuff sometimes. Recently my dd has had a fascination with Cleopatra. In their Juvenile collections there was 1 (ONE!) biography, and 1 (JUST ONE!) historical fiction - and I have no idea if it's even appropriate. And that's it.:confused:

 

I have looked way ahead to what I might even want for late middle school and high school - especially focused on the classics - and I look for them at Half Price Books, Goodwill, PBS, etc. I'm building a pretty good home library now of lots of classics and historical fiction that can go with many time periods. It's the non-fiction I don't have much of.

[yvonne]

I am not certain that it's because the library itself is unloading them

 

Here, the older books and classics are library books. Most of the donated books are twaddle or paperbacks. I've asked librarians about how children will be able to read the old, great-but-maybe-not-technically-classic books if the libraries get rid of them? The good librarians say that it pains them, too, to have to get rid of them. The not-so-good librarians say lightly that they're just "stocking what people are reading." :( "We only have room for so many books." Limited room is a good reason to aim for quality over quantity!

 

A few libraries even have a "Please check us out or we may not be here next time you come to the library" shelf of books. Apparently, they're supposed to get rid of books if they aren't checked out much, even if they're good books that are no longer in print and difficult to find in other libraries. The librarians put books that they hope to keep on the shelf, hoping that someone will check them out. Sigh.

[Violet Crown]

Our great big university library has a massive juvenile literature collection. Because it's for the purpose of research, not popularity, the books are all (a) older and (b) mostly non-twaddle. They have all the Hentys, most all the Landmarks, shelves and shelves and shelves of wonderful books. Most people don't know it's there, or that if you have borrowing privileges at the not-great public libraries, you can get a university borrower's card.

 

I love letting my children check out whatever books they happen to pick off the shelves--unlike our local public library branch, where the sweet Carolyn Haywoods are right by the prurient Judy Blumes ... that is, they were until the library dumped all the Haywoods (and I bought them with a heavy heart).

Edited April 23, 2010 by Sharon in Austin
[edited for apostrophe incompetence]

[khall]

The not-so-good librarians say lightly that they're just "stocking what people are reading." :( "We only have room for so many books." Limited room is a good reason to aim for quality over quantity!

 

 

Well, as both a homeschooling mom AND our local children's librarian, maybe I can shed some light on this for you, since so many of you are saying that your libraries only have twaddle....every week we are required to print out the list of the books that have not been checked out for at least a year and we withdraw them from our shelves. We (the staff members...but there are only 4 of us) look through this pile and rescue anything we think is worthwhile by checking it out ourselves so it falls off the list of "has not been checked out". Of course this means that I usually have out about 35 books from a strange assortment of SL cores and AO years :lol:, but this is how I've managed to keep many of the good ones in the library. However, it is so frustrating to do this and then see that the books I've rescued rarely go out. It seems that 9 times out of 10 the kids come in and constantly ask for Horrible Harry, Junie B. Jones, or the most recent DVDs. The books that get checked out constantly are the ones that are in no danger of being sold at our used book sales, and the majority of our patrons are definitely NOT checking out Newberry Medal books! Unfortunately, we really do have to cater to the majority, but if you want to keep the good books on the shelves....CHECK THEM OUT!!! :D

[Giraffe]

Y'all are depressing me. I had just started turning DD (2yo) loose in the children's section of our library and say "pick anything - we'll read it." So far she has picked mostly good books - ok, "This Is The Van That Dad Cleaned" was just fluff, but it was still fun. She also picked "The Complete Works of Madeline" and "Lentil".

 

Is this really what I have to look forward to as she gets older and learns to read independently?!?! I better start building our library NOW!

[stripe]

if you want to keep the good books on the shelves....CHECK THEM OUT!!! :D

I totally agree. If the library buys books about something and no one ever touches them....what's the point? I know people who rant and complain that the library has nothing about (whatever) -- which is false -- but then they only fixate on the library purchasing the books. Having people read them is quite important too!

 

At least at my library, there are plenty of interesting books (old and new), I just need to dig a bit to make sure I know what I'm getting. And the librarians are very willing to buy what people suggest.

[meet me in paris]

My librarian heart is breaking!

 

That situation is so difficult. We all want to love the library, but clearly it isn't serving your needs. As others have suggested, selecting books online and having them held is the best option, and that's what we do generally in our house.

 

The libraries, mostly, have absolutely no money right now. If they do buy, they buy what circulates, and that tends to be junk. Spongebob trumps Thornton Burgess in terms of circulation, and that's a sad thing, but it's true. It's too bad your new children's librarian isn't open to suggestions... maybe she won't be around long.

 

When we want to browse the library, I tend to go to the main library in our system as they seem to have a better selection of good stuff. Maybe there's one branch you could visit every few weeks that has a good librarian and a decent collection.

[justamouse]

What about the UBS? Mine has a shelf of 10 for a 1$ and there were some excellent classics. My library also has a twice year bag sale where I find AMAZING books for .25.

[Medieval Mom]

What about the UBS? Mine has a shelf of 10 for a 1$ and there were some excellent classics. My library also has a twice year bag sale where I find AMAZING books for .25.

 

I live for library book sales. Okay, that may be a SLIGHT exaggeration :blushing: But I think it's fair to say that it's one of my very favorite events of the year. :001_tt1:

 

Still, having a great library is such a treasure. Recently, for example, my ds has taken a fascination with metals and rocks. The ONLY book available within our library system (of several area libraries) was too basic and dumbed down for anyone above the age of 3. "We make things out of metal." :tongue_smilie: No books in the adult section, either, besides the gem collection at the Smithsonian (now ds's favorite nighttime reading). I think I'm jaded because I used to live near such an awesome library. I'll stop complaining now. :nopity:

[mlbuchina]

I haven't read every post, so this may have been said all ready, but these are two resources that I use:

 

Honey For A Child's Heart by Gladys Hunt http://www.amazon.com/Honey-Childs-Heart-Gladys-Hunt/dp/0310242460/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272070864&sr=8-1

 

and

 

How to Get Your Child to Love Reading by Esme Raji Codell http://www.amazon.com/How-Your-Child-Love-Reading/dp/1565123085/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272071071&sr=1-1

 

Both of these have extensive book list in them.

 

HTH

[Pata]

I wish I had a library to be frustrated about! I have to buy all my books, which is really hard when dd is devouring them and you live overseas. She's read Trumpet and the Swan 5 times in the last two months because I haven't been able to keep up with her. Not that re-reading books is a bad thing, but I do feel bad that we can't check out the 20 books a week that we used to.

 

I don't know if anyone answered your question about specific titles yet, so I'll share what my dd is reading now...

 

Boxcar Children (just the first 19 than are by the original author)

Ramona (actually anything by Beverly Cleary)

Tumtum & Nutmeg (kinda like the Rescuers)

Ivy & Bean (definately not my first choice, but grandparents send them and she enjoys them)

Gooney Bird Greene (there's 4 books in this series)

Pippi Longstocking (she's working on reading through these 3 right now)

 

I've got the Fudge series by Judy Blume waiting when she finishes Pippi and I'm probably going to get the Chronicles of Narnia series next. Hope the gives you some ideas!

[robsiew]

I'm sure you've gotten many ideas for book lists. Our library does a great job of pulling "holds" so I tend to put on hold a great many of the books my kids read. We do go to the library, but it's mostly the younger two who are reading beginning readers/picture books that check out the majority of the books. The older two have so many books I've reserved for them that they rarely need to check any out on their own. I know at some point they will need to, but for now they are really okay with the variety I choose for them. Maybe you could try and teach your kids what makes a good choice for a book... you could turn it into a teaching endeavor instead of a censorship on your part.

[Jennefer@SSA]

Well, that's from Jessie Wise in WTM. She did this with SWB when she was little. Non-fict: science, history, art, music, practical hobby or how-to, biography, then also a classic, a poetry selection or collection, and an imaginative story or fantasy.

 

We've been trying to do this too. I can get some good stuff sometimes. Recently my dd has had a fascination with Cleopatra. In their Juvenile collections there was 1 (ONE!) biography, and 1 (JUST ONE!) historical fiction - and I have no idea if it's even appropriate. And that's it.:confused:

 

I have looked way ahead to what I might even want for late middle school and high school - especially focused on the classics - and I look for them at Half Price Books, Goodwill, PBS, etc. I'm building a pretty good home library now of lots of classics and historical fiction that can go with many time periods. It's the non-fiction I don't have much of.

 

:lol::lol::lol: I am cracking up that I didn't remember it was from Jessie Wise! I just remembering reading it and thinking, "What a brilliant idea!" Thanks for identifying the source!

[i.love.lucy]

:lol::lol::lol: I am cracking up that I didn't remember it was from Jessie Wise! I just remembering reading it and thinking, "What a brilliant idea!" Thanks for identifying the source!

:D

[tatertotschool]

I'm a librarian, so it's a bit different for me. Reading is reading to me. If the library checked out cereal boxes and my children wanted to check them out, I'd do it gladly and read it to them myself before bed.

[Heather in WI]

I could have written this post! I thought I was the only one who felt this way. It just gets worse as the boys get older and become stronger readers, too. My 10 year old is reading The Lord of the Rings trilogy and my soon to be 8 year old is reading The Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson. Why do libraries assume every kid wants to read garbage series books? We have rows and rows and rows of graphic novels/star wars/etc, but very few solid classic books. I have to request most books that sound interesting to/for them through inter library loan. :tongue_smilie:

[Haiku]

I'm a librarian, so it's a bit different for me. Reading is reading to me. If the library checked out cereal boxes and my children wanted to check them out, I'd do it gladly and read it to them myself before bed.

 

I know there are people who feel that way, but to me that's like saying, "Eating is eating. If the store only sells Twizzlers and Pepsi, I'll gladly buy them and feed them to my kids."

 

To me, reading is brain food, so why would I feed my kids junk?

 

Tara