The Benefits of Library Day

Libraries can be some of the best places to take your kids! They’re free, full of educational material, usually hold community events, and more. Our local library is fantastic. It holds story times and play groups for infants and toddlers, book clubs for parents, activity groups for kids and adults of all ages, and even has interactive displays in the children’s section like a giant Lite Brite and a magnetic ball drop wall. (Side note, we’re also in a very conservative town, so we don’t have any controversial guest speakers like some places do.)

Why Library Day?

We call our visits to the library “Library Day” so that the kids have something to look forward to. We don’t go every single week or on the same day each time, but we try to go as often as we can! Usually I just let the kids know the night before that “tomorrow we’ll have Library Day” and they get hyped! They know it’ll be a day to return the books they checked out, pick out new books, and explore and play with other kids their age.

Things to do at the library

Read books

Obviously you can read books at the library lol. This is a great way to explore and find new books you enjoy that you may not have in your own home! I’ve even found some books that our kids love so much, I may eventually buy my own copies on ThriftBooks* so we don’t have to wonder if the library still has it on their shelves. But until then, we can read them for free at the library!

*new to ThriftBooks? Sign up today with my link and we’ll both get a FREE book credit when you spend $30! #ShareBookLove

Learn

The library is a great place for education. Many libraries have not only books, but also videos, games, hands-on activities, and more. Our library has computer stations with educational interactive games that kids can use for learning. This is especially great for homeschoolers or kids who want some extra learning opportunities! Last week there were two homeschooled girls who were learning about the skeletal system, and they were able to play a game on the computer that taught about each part of the body. My 1yo even tried to join in haha.

Play

This varies by library, but we are blessed to have one that has a separate section just for kids books and activities. There’s even a play space with busy boards, jumbo board games, fidget toys, and legos. There are felt boards, touch-screen tables with digital coloring pages, as well as a giant Lite Brite and a ball drop wall. Our kids love to play with all of these features, especially since they’re so young and learn best through play!

Socialize

If you have younger kids, the library is a great place to socialize. Lots of parents and grandparents of young children go to the library to play in the day, and our kids love getting to play with others! Our library’s designated story times are also a great way for the kids to play and do organized activities and games together.

Other benefits to the library

It’s inside

Another great thing about the library is that it’s indoors! That means–outside of the library’s closures for holidays or weather–you can go year round! It’s a great free place to go with your kids when you need to get out of the house, but the weather isn’t so nice. I especially love this because I’m not a huge fan of hot weather, and my kids don’t enjoy being bundled up for cold weather haha.

Teaches good etiquette

The library can be a good place to teach your little ones proper etiquette when it comes to being in a public setting. They can learn when it’s appropriate to be loud or quiet, how to clean up after themselves, and how to take good care of the books and other things they borrow. I’ve been working with my kids on the concept of taking good care of things, and they’re much better at it when we’re at the library because it’s special and they know the stuff doesn’t belong to them. We also emphasize leaving things better than we found them.

Supporting our community

Making regular trips to the library is a great way to show the people in charge that this outlet is a necessity for the community. Having a place that provides free resources that are accessible to anyone and everyone is extremely important.

Here is one of our favorite videos about the library.

Caitie’s Classroom is one of our kids’ favorite shows, and she does a great job of showing kids how different places work like the library, doctor, restaurants, etc. This video got my kids so excited to go to the library for the first time when they were younger!

What are some other reasons you like the library?

Let me know in the comments!

God bless,

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