I’m with you. I would walk to the local library when I was in late elementary years and middle school. 10’s if not hundreds of times. My daughter got her own card a few months ago at 5 years old, which made her feel very grown up. She’s developed an interest in Egyptian history and we’ve checked out maybe 10 books on Egypt so far. No way we would have bought that many for her; 1 a week, week after week. And Benjamin Franklin I think started the public libraries in the US . . . can’t have a better pedigree than that.
I just read a book on Ben Franklin—from the library of course! It was a book recommended on Beck’s website. Not a bad read.
My daughter just got her first card too last year, when she turned five (she just turned 6 last week, she is sure to let everyone know, LOL). She is enrolled in the summer reading program-she’s read 15 books since the beginning of the month. Or I should say, she’s read some of them and I’ve read some to her. She set a goal of 25 books for the summer—I think she’ll have it cleared by the 4th!
My three oldest love to read (child #4 turns 3 in a few months). My oldest—12—does an activity called Battle of the Books at school. They read a list of about 14 books over the school year. The students are formed into teams of 5-6 kids and they answer questions about the books. In the spring, all the Catholic schools in Arkansas send their best team to the state finals in Conway. Our kids’ school had 11 teams last year—the most in Arkansas! They have placed in the top five 2 of the 4 years the competition has existed. It’s a great program and has my daughter reading a great mix of classic books and more contemporary stuff. Her brother wants to do it when he hits fourth grade in another year.