Last week I wanted to read a certain book, but I didn’t want to spend $30 to purchase it since it’s one of those books you flip through a few times and then never open again. Since Barnes & Noble was out of the question, I realized it was time to go to the library.
But first I had to find the library.
(By the way, moving to a new city–even one that’s only 15 minutes away from where you used to live–is a struggle for geographically-challenged people like me. I was just barely feeling confident about getting around Tempe when we moved and I had to start all over again! My life is so hard.)
Some quick internet searching told me two things. 1) The closest branch of our city’s library is only a couple miles away. 2) They have story time with Nick the Guitar Guy every Tuesday and Thursday morning. That settled it. Mila and I would head over to downtown Chandler, pick up the book I wanted (assuming it was available, which is was), and stay for some stories and singing.
And that’s exactly what we did. And it was fantastic. And I got to cross yet another item off my list.
Library card: acquired. Bam.
We went back on Tuesday for another round of toddler dancing and silly stories. (He read The Hiccupotomus and I’m pretty sure I need to buy a copy because it was darling.) We also paid a whopping $2.50 for a small stack of gently used children’s books to add to our (pitiful but growing!) collection. Secondhand purchases FTW.
This isn’t news to anyone–myself included–but seriously: public libraries are awesome. I’m still kicking myself for not going there sooner.
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| Forgive the blur. She had just gotten herself a coloring page and was marching purposefully back to show me. So cute, but too quick for me to focus properly. |
We may go back every Tuesday and Thursday for the foreseeable future, because who loves free entertainment and an excuse to get out of the house? This Jen, that’s who.
I've decided that when we buy a house, I want to try and get it as close to a library as possible (not that it seems one has much choice when buying a house…) but being able to walk to the library has been so great. Mama Bosen took us to the library every week for as long as I remember, and it was a favorite.
We took weekly trips to the library as well and I always loved it. I'm so glad I can do that with my little family now. Having one within walking distance would be incredible, but I'll take a short drive over no library at all.