Thrifty Thursday: Does Your Teen Have Access to The Library?
- They experience the passion of reading and enjoying a good book instead of one that was assigned to them.
- They learn more about themselves through their personal book choices.
- They are able to be introspective and form their own opinions about the book's issues instead of being taught what to think about them.
But there are a couple of good things about school books - one is that they are free. My thrifty tip of the day is to take your teen to the library every week, starting this week, for free books to read. Make it a habit to go, even if it is for only twenty minutes. Your teen will start picking up books and reading them when they are this accessible, plus you get some time finding a book to read too.
More: Thrifty Tips for Families
Does your teen read over the summer? What is your teen reading right now? Share your answers, advice and opinions in our comments area.
More: Keep Your Teen from Getting Bored this Summer | Beaded Bookmark Craft
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- Grandparents as Child Care Providers
- Find Children's Books at Bargain Prices
- Ways to Teach Kids About Money
- Cut Your Child Care Cost
- Create a Coupon System That Works for You
- Getting Some Textbook Cash Back
- Homemade Kids' Fitness Equipment
- Cutting the Cost of Summer Camp
- Thrifty Alternatives to the Grocery Store
- Is Foster Care Adoption More Economical?
- Free Printables for Pretend Play
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My daughter is an avid reader, but both of us love scifi books, unfortunately our library has a lame scifi collection. They can get from other libraries, but that has the delay issue attached. That is one limitation with libraries, they have books available, but in some cases its not at the library. It also means a limit on the variety of books in some cases.
I am trying to get my kid into mysteries, I think she will love them and those are more available at our library.
For us though, we read many of the same books. Also her friends read a lot of same books, so they share. This is another good resource for teens, their friend’s book shelves. Sharing the books has been very helpful and actually my duaghter has a friend who read like 4 of our books before we did, LOL (she reads faster and has more time). So you might want to remind your kids that sharing books is a good idea, but also that they must remember to return them, just like the library. Some of my duaghter’s books did a circuit of friends and who was getting it next. It also gives them a chance to create book clubs and have discussions about various books that they enjoy vs. discussions about assigned books. And kids get recommendations on books they never would have looked at till a friend said “check this out”.
When I was a teen going to the library was a chore. It was not something that I enjoyed doing. Now that I am older I still don’t go to the library but if I had to I wouldn’t look at it the same way. Many teens go to the library for access to the internet if they do not have it at home. This is a great tool and should be available to anyone.