You Pick Five-How We Use the Library, Part 1

My favorite bakery-style restaurant has my favorite menu option anywhere.  You Pick Two.  I don't have to decide one thing; I can have both my soup and sandwich (1/2) and not feel like a glutton.  And it is usually a pretty balanced meal.

We do the same thing with books during the summer, to prevent "over-reading" fluff.  You see, I am a lot more relaxed with my children's reading choices during the summer.  It all goes back to the summer after fourth grade.

The most vivid memory I have of summer in Florida is spending Wednesdays with my best friend Heidi.  Her mom would take us to the library-the main branch.  Each week, we would race each other sedately walk to the Nancy Drew shelf to see who would get the next book first.  We would load up our book bags, one in each hand, with all kinds of books to keep us occupied during the steamy hot jungle days of Sarasota summers.  By the time the next Wednesday rolled around, we had finished those two bags of books and were on a search for more.  Do I remember any great classics in those bags? Not really, although I'm sure they were there. 

During our school year now, we read so many great books that I know my kids are getting well fed.  Just as we probably allow a bit more junk food during the summer, I allow a bit more fluff reading during the summer.  Note this doesn't mean I allow inappropriate or crude books, so I still have to do a lot of filtering.

Back to the You Pick...option.  Several years ago, I noticed we were overloading on fluff, like eating only cotton candy for the brain.  So, I instituted the Pick 5 rule-the kids could bring home 5 books from each trip to the library.  Why five? First of all, that meant that they could carry their books, and we can fit everyone's books into the living room book basket.  With five books times five kids, that's still twenty-five books that need a place to hang out. Second, we live only 5 minutes (or a 15 minute bike ride) from our library.  If they read all five, they could easily swap out for more.  Finally,  it was easy to divide it up and remember- 1 biography, 1 book about something you are interested in, and 3 books of your own choosing (with mom having the final say).

Last summer I didn't do well keeping to this.  This summer, we're all, even mom, going back to the five book rule.  Now, sometimes I have to be a little flexible.  My older ones frequently use the library request/hold system since they have exhausted what is on the shelf in our little branch library.  So sometimes, their mix may be a little off.  But overall this system has provided me with a way to know their brains aren't completely turning to mush.