I just found a new, very good, history textbook for my oldest two children. We picked it up used, which works just fine, as I think it cost a whole dollar!

We really like to keep a pretty well-rounded library available for the kids. Finding books used is really an excellent way to do that. One disadvantage to the library, is that with a lot of kids, the chances of damaging a book are much higher than with just one or two. And lugging 3 books per child back and forth to the library might not seem like much - but when you have 6 kids under the age of 10 (which I had), then you know that lugging 6 KIDS back and forth to the library is daunting in itself. Add to that, 18 books you REALLY don't want to lose, and it's just too much trouble!

But when you've got your own library in your home, the kids pass down their favorite books to their younger siblings. When they're researching something, chances are you've got info on it right there. Plus they never feel a loss of reading material. There is always something interesting which they haven't read yet!

We converted one closet in our house to a kids' library. We just put in a bunch of shelves. The bottom shelf was tall, for those really large children's books. The top shelf was very narrow, to fit perfectly for the small paperbacks of the older kids.

We divided the shelves up by age, mostly, but keep one area for science books, one for history books, one for art books, etc.

This has worked really well. And it's big enough, that we felt we could add to our little library without having to find a place for more bookshelves.

Mom and Dad's books have kept their spot in the living room, although we keep "books to read before bed" next to our bed in a smaller shelf, and also computer books by the computer.

If children have lots of reading material at home, and if the parents put importance on reading, as long as the kids CAN read, I think most of them WILL.

Volunteer Ministers - Literacy Programs.