It's kind of timely that I decided on this topic for Loving the Library, with the recent expansion of our home library through generous friends. As much as Loving the Library is about what's on offer at your local libraries, it's also about all those other wonderful things that encompass a home library and encouraging a love of reading and learning.
Building and expanding on your at home library is without a doubt, I believe, something you should periodically invest in but it doesn't have to cost you the earth in brand new books. We all know how young readers learn through repetion, the reading of a story over and over again gives them confidence. Therefore much loved and favoured stories and characters should be added to your shelves.
But how and where can you find books cheaply or in other cases for nothing at all? Hopefully the follow list and suggestion will give you some new ideas or means to tracking down much loved titles for your at home collections.
* Op shops are an incredible inexpensive source for books, not only have I been able to pick up next to new books, but they are a wealth of old classics as well.
* Keeping with the op shops, investigate when and if the Lifeline Bookfest comes to your area each year.
* Many councils and libraries have Friends of the Library groups, generally these groups have book stores where they sell old library books to make way for updated or new material in the local library branches.
What about some new titles for nothing?
* Try contacting a few friends and putting together a book swap morning tea. Where you bring along books you no longer want to swap for new titles to add to your at home collection.
Then there are places online:
* Brotherhood Books are based in Australia and deal with all sorts of books as well as collectible and rare books. They also take donations of unwanted books.
But what if you're looking for brand new books at great prices or you and you're family love technology?
* Why not try The Book Depository they have cheap competitive prices as well as offering free shipping worldwide.
* But if gadgets are your thing there are a wealth of options available to purchase ebooks for tablets and e-readers, long term it is an affordable way of accessing books at a fraction of the cost to brand new ones in paperback or hardback........but in my opinion (even though I love my iPad) nothing beats the feel of a book in the hands.
Wouldn't you agree?