All Kinds of Things: Keeping Track of Library Books

On a weekly basis, we head to the library for storytime/musictime - Since the moment Caleb was able to sit up, we started attending this local program, and he loves it! It is exciting to now see my littlest one start to enjoy the songs, stories, and activities.

The leader of our weekly program is incredibly animated, and there is literally a monthly waiting list for attending his 30-minute "show". I want to point out that the reader is a he. I absolutely love when children have male role models - especially when it comes to reading. So often, the "sport" of reading, reading instruction, etc. is feminized, and I love watching my boys fall in love with books and feel confident about it because their daddy reads to them, their grandfathers read to them, and Mr. So-and-So at the library reads to them.

Some of my favorite teaching courses have been the ones that taught me how to make language arts come alive for boys - I have learned that it requires making it action-packed and physical!

Moving on...

Oftentimes, we go to the library...simply attend our 30-minutes program...and leave. Sometimes, we arrive early and read books from the shelves without borrowing any of them for the week. However, there are some weeks when I allow Caleb to choose a handful of books to take home with him [until we return the next week].

As a former classroom teacher, we have an unbelievable amount of books at home - I rotate them by age-appropriateness, holiday/season, theme, etc. so we have plenty to choose from - all the time - and boredom is not able to sit in for very long.

However, I love for Caleb to have the experience of browsing the bookshelves, picking out reads that look interesting to him, taking care of items that do not believe to him, returning books that he has borrowed, etc.

When you check out at our local libraries, a list prints for you - showing you the titles of the books you have borrowed as well as their specific due dates. Some libraries also send reminder e-mails, texts, etc. While these are all great ideas, I have to add to that in order to stay on top of things.

1. Because I am a very visual person, I use my phone to take a quick snapshot of the books we have borrowed.

2. Because baskets make my world go 'round, all library books stay in a separate basket - located in our kitchen area. I know where they are at all times and I try to control - to some extent - how far they travel away from that basket. When my kiddos are a bit older and can take a little bit more responsibility for helping me with keeping track of library books, I will be a little more relaxed - but a separate location for borrowed books is a great idea for all ages - even for adults who utilize their local library for print reads.

What works for you? What tricks do you use for making sure your family keeps track of library books [and gets them back to the library on time]? *smile*

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April 7, 2014

Keeping Track of Library Books