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Dawnie
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| Posted: Jan 28 2008 at 10:36pm | IP Logged
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Do any of you buy books that are available through your local public library? Why? If not, why not?
We have a FANTASTIC public library system here. It has lots and lots of living books, a great art and music section, and a hold system that allows me to put as many books as I want on hold. There are some books we check out several times a year and I am wondering if it would be good to make room in our budget to buy some of these books for our family library. But then I ask myself, "Oh, do I REALLY need to spend money on a book I could borrow from the library?" What do y'all think?
Dawn
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ann@home
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If it's a reference book or something I know will be re-read then I will often look to buy it. However, that means being on the bargain hunt. I rarely ever buy new.
I've found many of the things I'm looking for at thrift stores or used hs supply boards. I'll often keep index cards with me with book lists for different subjects.
For example, my DD loves arts and crafts so I'll often buy those since she refers back to them so often.
I also buy classics and holiday classics that I know we'll reread each year.
I bought the Holling books for geography since I figured I'd use them over and over again.
I have found that having a great library system has saved me tons of money....on the other hand I've been able to preview things and then think I must buy it 
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Paula in MN
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Pretty much what Ann said.
I am able to get a majority of books through our library and the ILL system, but I don't always get the book I want WHEN I want it.
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 Paula
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guitarnan
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I buy the books I know we will use again. I buy, in particular, children's literature. It goes out of print if we don't buy it. I went on a long search for my girlhood favorites (it took years) and found out of print copies of nearly all of them, and they're treasured possessions now.
Also, libraries discard books that don't get checked out, so I occasionally check out books I own, just so they stay on the shelves.
If I think I'll only use the book once, or it's a literature "classic," then I tend to use the library copy only.
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SusanJ
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We buy very readily from library book sales and yard sales where books usually cost 25 cents to one dollar. We buy less readily--but still pretty often--from used book stores where books usually cost a few dollars. We are very reluctant to buy a book new so we have to have a good reason.
We have a lot of books--maybe 1500 or so in a very tiny apartment and we're not even officially homeschooling, yet. We struggle with the wish to simplify and declutter all the time and we do week our library a few times each year but we always come back to the desire to have a lots of quality books on hand for everyone in the family.
Susan
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Ruth
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I have bought all the Catholic Mosaic books listed on my sidebar. I know we'll be reading those for many years to come. I buy a month's worth at a time.
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Donna
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Well...our library is currently adding a new edition, which I feel we have personally funded  . Our late fees have caused me to rethink using our library consistently. I can often purchase the books from Amazon at a cheaper rate than what I'll owe when I finally get the books back to the library  . We can't seem to get it together when it comes to book returns.
Seriously, we purchase the books that are well loved and read over and over. Books that we are not familiar with are often checked out from the library first, and if we really like it, we buy it.
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Sarah M
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We borrow everything. I work p/t at the library, and so don't have to pay late fees (and this has saved me oodles!), but even before I worked there, I borrowed everything. I love love love to support my libraries.
I also keep a running list of books that I'd like to own (FIAR books or Catholic Mosaic books, mostly), and then when it comes to a child's birthday or a holiday, I give the lists to my family members when they ask for gift ideas. I also bring the list with me to Library book sales, garage sales and Half Price Books. If it's a good deal, i have no problem whatsoever buying it.
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LisaR
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I'm a borrower. We had WAAAYYY too many books, and with our great library system (bookmobile will drop off my requests at the door, too! ) I have changed my attitude from buyer to borrower. I find that for myself, I tend to "use" the library books more too, in a way they are more precious to us, kwim? when I bought for my older two, I would think, well, we OWN this, so I'll get around to it later, etc...
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SimplyMom
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We use the library for a lot of our books. Purchases are usually something that I can't checkout or something that I know we will be using in a less safe environment like field guides. But we also buy a lot of books. Some books we find that we want to keep and add to our collection.
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JuliaT
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If a book resonates with our family or if it is going to be used over and over, then I buy. Also, I buy classics.
Julia
mom of 3 (8,7,5)
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Dawnie
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| Posted: Jan 30 2008 at 9:51am | IP Logged
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LisaR wrote:
| with our great library system (bookmobile will drop off my requests at the door, too! ) I have changed my attitude from buyer to borrower. |
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A bookmobile is the ONLY thing that would make our library system better! I have to admit, I'm a little jealous, Lisa!
LisaR wrote:
I find that for myself, I tend to "use" the library books more too, in a way they are more precious to us, kwim? when I bought for my older two, I would think, well, we OWN this, so I'll get around to it later, etc... |
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The same thing happens here, although I didn't notice it until I read your post. I am more quick to pick up a library book out of the floor. I think we take better care of them.
I can't tell you how many books I've bought (or asked for as gifts) that I haven't used! For the same reason that you stated, Lisa..."oh, I can do this any old time!"
It is very nice to be able to preview books before I buy them. I can get almost anything through ILL.
I just checked out a bunch of books by Jim Arnosky from our library and I LOVE them! I was thinking that they would be so great to have around all year for nature study...but do I really need to buy them? I'm starting to notice that I don't use purchased curriculums and textbooks nearly as much as the living books I've bought (or borrowed  ). Our science curriculum this year is just The Kids' Nature Book supplemented with library books and nature walks. It's the most I've EVER used a science "curriculum". My kids are still pretty young, too, though.
I could probably use library books for most of our subjects and buy minimal books and curriculum...but if I buy less curriculum, I would also have MORE money to spend on books. Maybe I should just save it.
Can you tell it's homeschool planning time?
Dawn
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cathhomeschool
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We use the library a LOT. I only buy books that our library doesn't carry or that the kids read and re-read (and even some of those, I don't buy). When I do decide to buy a book (or the kids specifically request that we buy a favorite book), I try to find it used or get it as Christmas/birthday presents for the kids. That being said, we still manage to buy a lot of new books from Amazon or Barnes and Noble when it's not birthday or Christmas time (because I need/want the book *now* for a unit study or whatever).
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SimplyMom
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One thing that makes the library super easy for us to use is the "hold" system. I can go online select the books I want from any of the city's locations and they will be sent to my home location and placed on a separate shelf. Then I can pick them up. I can renew online which generally takes care of late fees. Our library also has a lot of tapes and DVDs to check out. We don't have a book mobile, but that would be so neat.
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LisaR
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the funny thing is that I am 4 miles from one branch library, and 6 miles from "main". but I'm not complaining about the bookmobile, that is my tax money at work, right??
We also can reserve, renew, etc online. very nice. I have tried to train myself to "play around" on the library website instead of Amazon, LOL!
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Tina P.
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I have a very pointed opinion about whether I buy or borrow.
Now, in my defense, the libraries out here are less than stellar. I also have a list (OK, a LOOOONG list ) of want-them-now books, a list of I-can-wait-for-these, and a list of nice-to-have-if-we-find-them-at-library-sales. Sometimes I find treasures I'd never seen before at library sales. And some books are just better bought new (for instance, Audrey Wood books at library sales are usually pretty well worn).
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ami*
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I buy the main books we use (the backbone of each unit study). I know they will get used, reused, read, and reread. However, I try to depend on the library for go-alongs and rabbit trail books.
Oh, and I also buy reference books (like Usborne First Encyclopedias, a Children's Atlas, Animal Encyclopedias, etc.) to have on hand...just in case!
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Servant2theKing
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Libraries are such a godsend...one of the few tax-funded benefits available to homeschoolers! We actually preview many books by borrowing them from the library first, and we utilize the online hold sytem heavily. Very often I am able to discern that a book borrowed from the library just isn't worthy of purchase, saving us MUCH money over blindly purchasing online or from catalogues. The main exception is Catholic books that are usually unavailable through our library. One example is the Navarre Bible, which we purchased sight unseen, volume by volume, over a period of a few years...we have never regretted it, even though it was a considerable purchase for us given our fairly limited homeschool budget!
Praying to St. Anthony when making book purchases has been helpful for me...he has been very faithful in guiding me toward resources that will truly fit our family and our budget. His intercession is especially valuable when visiting used book sales where finding worthy books can be like looking for the veritable needle in a haystack! Good St. Anthony, please guide all homeschooling mothers to those books and materials that will best suit their family's needs.
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EmilyC
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I try to borrow from the library as much as I can, but our library is very small, and not very well funded. I try to only buy used, or library sales so I can save money, but I much prefer to own books. I have a bit of an obsession with buying and owning books. Some might even call it an addiction.
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JenniferS
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Our small library has very few books that we actually use. I try to borrow what they have, but I am like Donna about returning books. We always have late fees because I am so bad at keeping track of the weeks. It's easier to purchase the books, when we can.
Jen
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Buy or Borrow?
