10 reasons you should love the Library

A small sample of one trip to the library

We love the library. I'm a huge reader and I hope I'm getting my girls to be the same. We go to the library every week. Yep... every week.  I'll give you ten  good reasons why you need to go to the library today if not tomorrow.

1. Books are never old or tired of.
We check out at least 20 books for them every time we go. Sometimes they will pick out ones we have read before but for the most part , they are always new. I ask K what she wants to read about, look it up and bam, there we go.  They do have their own books that we own and love getting new ones but we could never keep up with how much they like new books.

2. It's Free
To me, it's the thrill of getting new things for free! Where else can you do this? Uh...no where. Ok... maybe your mom's house but it's not nice to always take her stuff. You don't live there anymore remember?

3. 1000s of DVDs
The DVD collection for the kids is reason enough to go. There are hundreds, if not thousands of kids movies and shows on DVD and we can watch them all.  When they get sick of one, we go get another one. We canceled our mail-to -home DVD service and this has been so much better. They may not have the newest stuff but that's what Redbox , Netflix or Best buy is for.

4. It's a place to go
You just have to get out of the house because...it's been raining/it's too hot/you've been sick/ the kids are driving you crazy.... just pick a reason. My other stay at home mommies can relate. I pack up the kids and we drive over to the library for 30-45 minutes. It take about that long before S starting singing loudly or rearranging the book shelves in a not so nice kinda way. It's time away from home and  a break for mommy. We even go to other branches  that I call "  New  libraries" K thinks it's pretty cool when we go to a " new library" Like, how did you find this, mom?

5. The CDs
You may have to wait a while but you can listen to a whole brand new cd and decide if you even like it enough to buy it. It has seriously saved me tons. Again, for free.

6. Summer Reading Club
 ah... the summer reading club. You have a certain number of books to read and then you get a prize. Last year we got a bag, a bouncy ball, a book, and some food coupons.  When we were little it was a pizza card from Pizza Hut. You got your own personal pan pizza!!!! Oh, the sheer kid bliss of it all. That was reason enough for me. In a house of three kids, nothing was ever your own. But this little pizza was mine, all mine.

7. You can donate your old books/magazines
Yes, they will take your new and gently used books and even magazines and sell them to benefit the library. There is usually a table or box right when you are walking in the doors. (This is true for the Saint Louis county branches. I'm not sure about others.)

8. Your family tree could be there
I'm a family tree junkie ( you just haven't witnessed it...yet) I love learning new things about old relatives and sharing it with my family. At the Main Saint Louis County and  Main Saint Louis City Branch, they have a whole section/ wing/ level dedicated to genealogy. It's completely fascinating.

9. Activities for kids
There are craft days, read out loud days, and movie days. A lot of this is for kids older than mine but I can't wait to take them when they can both enjoy it.

10. E-Books

Now you can get on your kindle, nook or IPad some really great books that you don't have pay for. There is still a limit on how long you can keep them but you can just re-request it and there you go. I plan on taking out a few for our upcoming vacation.

K reading one of my horse books in her pjs.

I'm sure I could think of more but that will have to be part two.  For my Saint Louis peeps....here are some links to get you started:

Saint Louis County Library
Saint Louis City Library
Jefferson County Library
Kirkwood Library
Saint Charles City-County Library

And if you want to boggle your mind... The Library of Congress. I would love to go there some day.