As a rule, when books arrive at the house I hear moaning and groaning "…not
more books??!!!" Even books specifically brought home for one particular
child will only receive a mild welcome. BUT THEN!!! Somehow the boxes seem
to become less full and the kids' collections grow without much input from
me. My philosophy regarding owning books can be summed up in the following:
If you have it, they will read it (eventually).
Do you remember the movie Field of Dreams? If you build it, they will come?
That’s my same idea about building a library at home. It really does work
for books!!! So many times I have found the children picking up a book and
reading it that they did not consider at an earlier time.
I do love libraries, but it seems like that so many of the old books are
disappearing and being replaced with less worthy ones, where the writing is
shallow, the characters questionable and the message either obscure, found
wanting, or undesirable. Libraries also have the drawback that you can have
the book only for a limited time (you have no clue as to how much money I
used to spent on late fees...). How often have I seen it occur that where I
assigned a book, a few pages were read and the book declared boring! But
weeks, sometimes months later, the book will be devoured and declared a hit!
With a library book this experience is not possible, and so, once the book
has been rejected, the chance to come back at a later time is lost and the
experience of reading that good book is lost. I feel blessed!!!
We own some great books written by outstanding authors.
These books give us glimpses into worlds of bygone days, exotic places,
prominent figures and new ideas. Yes, our house is a fire hazard and we do
have to carry extra insurance for replacement value! But even so, the
experience the children have by growing up reading books, being exposed to
the variety of thought, is well worth the trouble of having to wait at the
(only) bathroom door, because... "I am almost finished with the chapter..."