Why A Home Library Is The Best Investment You Can Make

For years I have swooned over bookshelves and libraries: a public library, a family’s personal library, and bookshelves in random charity shops filled to the brim with books, artefacts, and personal memoirs. What is it about neatly stacked and categorised books in a bookshelf that has such an aesthetic appeal to the eyes?

If you are in the home-education journey with your children, you know the value of reading and you care a great deal about collecting books. I am certain that you have read books about the importance of reading, listened to podcasts, read the articles, and you wholeheartedly agree. You do not need to be convinced about the benefits of reading and therefore collecting books.

When you have accumulated a certain number of books, you can start thinking about creating your own home library. Building a personal curated library for your home school takes time, but it can reap many benefits. Each home library also reflects the preferences and interests of your unique family from the kinds of books you have to the bookshelves, and even the décor in your reading space – no two libraries are alike! For our home, curation means focusing on buying only the best books, whether they are classics, old favourites, or books recommended by trusted people, authors, and curriculum companies.

Once you have cast a vision for building your library, remember that the process of collecting, curating, and categorizing your books takes time. This is a long-term project spanning a lifetime that takes patience and perseverance.

Here are 3 reasons to persist in this goal

Convenience

While visiting a public library can sometimes be a fun afternoon out with the kids, having ready access to books can be so convenient during your busy homeschool day. You can just walk to your bookshelf and pick out a specific book. For example:

For your family read aloud time – The Railway Children.
For the children’s quiet reading time – A series by Enid Blyton.
For your afternoon rest time when you want to snuggle up on a sofa with a cup of tea – For the Children’s Sake or Wuthering Heights.
In response to a nagging question that needs research and knowledge from a good book – Heart of Anger
During your homeschool day when you need to refer to an atlas, Bible, timeline, geography, or history spine.

Comfort

There is something warm and comforting about a space filled with bookshelves, pleasant nooks, snuggly sofas, and cozy carpets. My library area has become a safe haven for my family and a place of restoration, pleasure, and learning. Additionally, when I look at all the books, I realise that it has turned into a treasure trove of memories.

The books themselves evoke fond memories of times I have bonded with my children through reading them together. I recall the many stories shared and the lessons learned while reading about the lives of fictional characters:

Winnie the Pooh/ Peter Rabbit/ Wishing Chair and The Faraway Tree series – these were some of the earliest books we read together when the children were small. They also serve as visual reminders of milestones and accomplishments that the children have achieved in their reading.
Roald Dahl books, The Best Christmas Pageant, Calvin and Hobbs – so much laughter.
Rikki Tikki Tavi in Jungle Book, Blue Fairy book – exciting, thought-provoking and sometimes shocking tales.
The Little Princess, The Velveteen Rabbit– building empathy towards those in trying situations,
Heidi, A Tree for Peter – inspiration when reading about those that overcame struggles and difficulties.
A Year of Miss Agnes or A Horse and His Boy – tears over stories that really moved all of us.

All these stories produced fun and lively conversations. Eventually they worked towards developing the moral imagination of their young minds, so that they are able to discern truth and know instinctively when something is true, good, and beautiful.

Confidence

Over time, we made the decision to minimise our use of public libraries or to stop going there altogether. In the past when we took the kids to the library, they would come home with several books that might be considered twaddle or worse, not suitable for them because of the language and content. I would go armed with a list of good books to find and although I would find a handful, I was mostly disappointed. I quickly realized that it was better to buy recommended books by scouring the internet. It meant expending effort trying to find these books and spending money as well, but I do believe that it is worth every penny.

You can even find a list of the 1000 great books or other similar lists and recommendations on the internet. Why not focus on acquiring these books for your home library?

It is far better to curate your own collection so that no matter what book is picked out from your bookshelves, you will have the confidence that your children are reading quality material that is beneficial in developing their minds and nurturing their souls. The children in turn realise that we are family that takes reading seriously having invested so much time and effort in building this library.

And lastly, having a home library invariably promotes reading fluency. It makes reading a habit and inevitably increases their love for learning – and what parent does not want that?