Libraries Are a Homeschooler’s Best Friend


I think as a homeschooler, it’s very easy to form a book addiction. ⠀

There are so many wonderful picture books, novels, and reference books out there calling my name, urging me to add them to our home library, but as a single income family I have to say, “No!”⠀

Most of the novels we read will only get enjoyed once, except for those few absolute favorites. Picture books will be read a few times over and over before they get stashed away and never seen again. Reference books get pulled out every so often, with some less than others. Like, why do we have 9 atlases when we only reference one regularly?⠀

In the past, I only bought books secondhand to offset the cost, but now I am even rethinking that as space is now an issue. Late last year I bought a large bookcase to harness in the chaos, and already it’s overflowing even after weeding out 6 boxes full of books that are now taking up space in our spare bedroom. Normally I’d take these books to our local used bookstore in exchange for credit, but we don’t need to buy more books! So instead I plan on selling some of them online and donating or gifting the rest.⠀

If you can’t tell, it gives me anxiety just writing about the amount of books we have amassed over the years, but what calms me is knowing that we can still read all of the books we want without having to buy a single one. ⠀

So, a big shout out to our local library! ⠀

Our librarians seem to know us pretty well now, and have been known to run out the back door to give us a book we requested without having to set up a drive-up appointment. My only qualm is that there are new books out there that I want and I have to wait to read them! ⠀

Do you have a large home library or do you rely more on the public library for your homeschooling?⠀