Buying books?

[lovinmyboys]

We have lots of board games and building toys, but very few books. We have lived several different places, but have always had access to a good library. Our library here is still mostly closed-you can pick up holds and return books, but the books aren’t due so it is hard to get things sometimes.

I am really tempted to buy some books, but we are supposed to be saving money this year. I bought a few things at a local bookstore to get us through the library’s actual closure. I am now really tempted by the amazon and target sales and also some on book outlet. 
 

Do you think there is value in owning books if one has access to a good library? How do you decide what is worth buying?
 

We have so many games we will probably never play them all (or play them all more than once), but I kind of like having the collection. I’m starting to feel that way about books too, but I am wondering if I should squash that feeling. 

[ScoutTN]

We are heavy library users, but still have many books. If we have them, my kids will read them. I mostly buy books that are excellent literature and/or will be read over and over again, leaving fluffier things for library use. 

Series that are fun but likely won't get reread after middle school, like Percy Jackson or 100 Cupboards, I  buy the first volume, then we get the rest from the library. Series that I love and/or are classic, I buy. Little House, LOTR, Narnia, Chronicles of Prydain, HP. 

I usually buy books from a used book shop or thrift store. I got 6 of the books for my Dd's American lit class for $7.50. Unmarked paperbacks in good condition. We give our kids nice hardback editions of books for birthdays or Christmas. 

My kids are 15 and 13  and we still have many shelves full of classic picture books and middle grade readers. I love that my kids will reread old favorites to relax. 

Edited June 20, 2020 by ScoutTN

[klmama]

If you are supposed to be saving money this year, then go ahead and save the money while you also make a list of books you want to buy later.  When you get a chance to buy those specific books super cheap, do it, but don't stock up on fluff. You can get that from the library anytime.  

ETA:  As for how to decide a book is worth owning, I often chose to purchase when we checked it out multiple times, and not for school.  My dc generally don't reread fiction, so when they did, it caught my attention. 

Edited June 20, 2020 by klmama

[KungFuPanda]

59 minutes ago, lovinmyboys said:

We have lots of board games and building toys, but very few books. We have lived several different places, but have always had access to a good library. Our library here is still mostly closed-you can pick up holds and return books, but the books aren’t due so it is hard to get things sometimes.

I am really tempted to buy some books, but we are supposed to be saving money this year. I bought a few things at a local bookstore to get us through the library’s actual closure. I am now really tempted by the amazon and target sales and also some on book outlet. 
 

Do you think there is value in owning books if one has access to a good library? How do you decide what is worth buying?
 

We have so many games we will probably never play them all (or play them all more than once), but I kind of like having the collection. I’m starting to feel that way about books too, but I am wondering if I should squash that feeling. 

Have you checked out you library’s electronic resources? I’ve been downloading tons of library books during this pandemic. I used to just buy them from amazon and now I’m getting them free from amazon. 
 

When my kids were little I would wait and purchase the books that they checked out multiple times but not the ones they only read once. Our home library was still huge, but I definitely saved money. 

[alisoncooks]

1 hour ago, lovinmyboys said:

Do you think there is value in owning books if one has access to a good library? How do you decide what is worth buying?

Are you rereaders? If so, then there is ABSOLUTELY value in owning. We have access to a great library, but sometimes we click with a  book or author want to add it to our permanent collection. We like reading favorites over and over. Since the SIP orders (mid-March), I've bought 25-30 books, mostly used (half of those were in a "lot" on eBay).  Usually we just buy books for gifts (bday, Christmas, Easter) but this has been a special circumstance. 

I also have a well-stocked Kindle. Some people get manicures or new vehicles...we buy books. 

[marbel]

Having well-stocked bookshelves at home promotes reading. When people are bored, they will often scan the bookcases looking for something interesting. So, I still buy books on topics of long-held interest even if no one is going to read them right away.  So we have a lot of books about birds, history books, other "natural science" type books that I am confident will be read at some point.  And, for fiction, we buy classics mostly, though each kid has a few fiction authors whose books they will buy because they know they'll be read and reread.  (ETA, classics mostly due to budget concerns, not because nothing else is woth reading. Also, my kids are college age so have kinda figured out their general reading preferences.)

That said, we don't have a lot of money to spend on unnecessary items right now, so we are using Overdrive to borrow electronic books from the library now.  But, if you have very young kids, I think real books are better. There was a time I had a more, uh, liberal book budget, and we bought a lot of books that in retrospect, may not have been worth it.  However, we also have a lot of kids' books packed away; they are cherished and my kids won't think of getting rid of them.  In general, I think spending money on books is rarely wasted. 

We will buy used books (thriftbooks.com is good; Powells Books also deals in used); when possible I like buying new books and am trying to support independent booksellers more than relying on the speed and discounts offered by Amazon.

 

Edited June 20, 2020 by marbel

[Ali in OR]

I think kids should grow up in a home with lots of books. During this pandemic, my college kid is enjoying old favorites. It's nice to have them available right now, as our library has been closed since March. I would try to see what you can pick up for free or low cost. There are often families culling their libraries and looking to get rid of books their kids are done with. Around here, I would post something on our local "free economy" FB group to see if anyone had books they were getting rid of. Our used bookstore is open--that would be my second choice. Or buying used books online. For myself, I try to use the library as much as possible because I have plenty of books to own and the stuff I read I usually only read once. But during the pandemic, I have allowed myself to buy some books since the library is closed (I can now get holds delivered, but circulation is still really slow since people don't have to turn books in right now).

[katilac]

15 minutes ago, marbel said:

Having well-stocked bookshelves at home promotes reading.  

I agree. 

Definitely browse Book Outlet. I used to get stacks of books for my $35, lol. 

Honestly, I didn't worry overmuch about what was 'worth' buying. We read lots of worthy stuff together and had lots of worthy stuff in our collection, but I was fine with twaddle in their free time. And fine with them reading below level and rereading, because both of those build fluency. You never know what will strike someone's fancy, so I just aimed for cheap and varied. 

You might also check your local Buy Nothing group (or other giveaway groups) and keep an eye on social media in general. 

Edited June 20, 2020 by katilac

[alisoncooks]

9 minutes ago, katilac said:

Honestly, I didn't worry overmuch about what was 'worth' buying. We read lots of worthy stuff together and had lots of worthy stuff in our collection, but I was fine with twaddle in their free time. And fine with them reading below level and rereading, because both of those build fluency. You never know what will strike someone's fancy, so I just aimed for cheap and varied.

Yes, this. My youngest has only read graphic novels up to now. Flat out refused "regular" novels (despite being read to and the plenitude of books available in the house). In the past week, something lit her up to read the Percy Jackson books (I believe it was a YouTube comment). Lucky us! We have that series on oldest DD's bookshelf. Yay for having books!

[marbel]

Lol, we have and read our share of "twaddle", believe me. But if $$ are a concern, I'd rather get that from the library or as cheaply as possible.  

One thing I forgot to mention: what we call "browsing books."  Children's encyclopedias, Usborne and DK Eyewitness books..  one of my kids loved those and learned a ton before they were confidently reading...which came relatively late to this child.

Edited June 20, 2020 by marbel

[Tap]

I like for my kids to have an age appropriate library at home. Where they can walk over when they are bored and find something to read. It doesn't have to be a vast collection, but maybe 10 or so books in their current reading level and interests.  

[Innisfree]

57 minutes ago, marbel said:

Having well-stocked bookshelves at home promotes reading. When people are bored, they will often scan the bookcases looking for something interesting.

This

43 minutes ago, Ali in OR said:

I think kids should grow up in a home with lots of books.

and this

are our philosophy.

In addition, I've found that books go in and out of fashion in a way that's unrelated to their worth or my enjoyment of them. So, for example, there was a period of decades when I had a really hard time finding the Rosemary Sutcliff books, which have always been among my favorites for older kids. The libraries had gotten rid of them, and this was before the internet made finding out-of-print books easier. Now they're coming back in print at last, but I've been grateful to have copies of my own. My motto is not to depend on a library for any book I really care about.

(Why yes, our bookshelves are...erm...overly full 😉)

[mommyoffive]

Thanks for the book outlet tip, much cheaper than Amazon.  I like the library and ours is open, but for me the stress of 7 people having materials out is just to much.  I will normally only do in summer.  Then I don't want them to take them places.  It is just better for us to buy.  My kids reread books lots of times and then pass them to the next kid.  I am currently getting rid of baby books and buying young adult books.  Ok back on to shopping Book Outlet. 

[Sallie Mae]

I had to chuckle when I saw this thread. I'm in the middle of organizing our home library today. If someone asked me if I have a hobby, I’d be tempted to say, “Keeping our home library organized.” 

My oldest just graduated from college, and he read non-stop from when he could sit up and hold a book. I decided then to have good books on hand similar to having good food in the refrigerator/pantry so he wouldn’t be hungry for good books. We’ve never spent a lot of money on vacations, eating out, or entertainment, so we’ve put our money towards books. At the time, we lived 25 minutes away from our local library, and it seemed like too much effort to get there and then keep up with library books without racking up fines. So, I set off on my journey of creating a home library. Through the years it has taken some effort, but I don’t regret the money and time I’ve spent on it.

When I started homeschooling my son in K, he would sit looking through the "browsing books" (I like that name, mabel) like Children's encyclopedias, Usborne and DK Eyewitness, and I actually had to interrupt him to do schoolwork. We had a homeschool curriculum warehouse about 45 minutes away, so about 3 times a year, I would take my son and give him $20 to spend on any books he wanted. He LOVED picking out his own books, which were usually ones I would have picked out myself, but I didn’t mind if they were light or twaddle. He has fond memories of those shopping trips.

We had been looking forward to the Lord adding to our family, so I kept all the board books in anticipation. When our daughter was born, we already had great books on hand. We read to her all the time, so it wasn't surprising that she loved to look at books when she was old enough to hold them and then eventually read them.

Though we did make those special shopping trips with my son, I now mostly buy 75% of our books from two local thrift stores in town that always have a great selection. I go through the book section, grab everything that catches my eye, then sit down and do a second go through to decide what I really want. I will say that for $10 at either store, I come home with some great finds. I go through them to wipe them down, tape repairs, etc. when I'm watching tv, which goes quickly, and then I place a couple of new books a day on my daughter’s table. I’ve actually had to hide new thrift store books, so she doesn’t read them all at once.

We now have a wonderful used curriculum store 45 minutes away that I usually visit three times a year to drop off curriculum I’m done with, to buy new curriculum and to….buy new books. I’m never disappointed. I consider those purchases as important as our curriculum purchases.

I also make purchases of her favorite library books so she can add them to her “Favorite Books” shelf from used vendors and Book Outlet. Part of her birthday and Christmas gifts are new books. 

 Just last week I went through ALL the books in my daughter’s room to ask her if she was: (1) all done with a book, (2) would like to keep it longer, (3) move it to her Favorite Books” shelf. (It was fun hearing why she made those choices.) When she is ready to move a book along, and it isn’t something I want to keep, I determine if it is good enough to sell at the used curriculum store, or if it is ready for the thrift store. Before I drop them off, I wipe them down and make any repairs I can. I like thinking there is someone else out there who will find a good find like I did.

As an aside, during our virus lock-down, our library was closed for approx. 9 weeks, and my daughter would’ve been climbing the walls without new books to read, but I was able to just keep pulling books from our home library. And she kept reading. I felt like I had stocked up my home library the way some ladies stocked up their pantry for hard times. Yeah!

Not everyone wants to put as much time and energy into building a home library, but depending on what is available where you live, you may be able to find good books at a good or reasonable price. I think it is time and money well spent.

[Kareni]

My library is offering curbside pickup of holds only. I spoke recently with the library director, and she said that they are happy to assist patrons in getting books. If the books you'd like to check out are not available, you might consider asking for, for example, ten children's picture books (easy reader or fiction books) from authors whose last name starts with A. Next week do B names. Or ask for a grab bag of ten nonfiction children's books from Dewey decimal 100s and so on.

Regards,

Kareni

[Ottakee]

Does your community have little Libraries where you could pick up some  free books?  How about garage sales listing free/cheap books?  Any friends to trade with?

I am an avid reader but most use my Kindle Paperwhite for ebooks and then my Kindle fire for audio books....free from the library.   I do have some reference books and a few classics and some kids books for when I have littles over.

If money is tight, I would be hard pressed to buy new fiction books.   

If you have. Local FB group, ask there if anyone has books to pass along.  One of my friends even has crates and crates if books on her front porch free for the taking.

[katilac]

10 hours ago, Sallie Mae said:

We had a homeschool curriculum warehouse about 45 minutes away 

 I now mostly buy 75% of our books from two local thrift stores in town that always have a great selection.

We now have a wonderful used curriculum store 45 minutes away that I usually visit three times a year to drop off curriculum I’m done with, to buy new curriculum and to….buy new books. I’m never disappointed.  

I'm wildly jealous, and I don't even homeschool anymore!

[Sallie Mae]

When I started homeschooling 17 years ago, the warehouse and used curriculum store weren't open, so when they did, I was SO HAPPY. I am very grateful for them.