Online Library Catalog

Like most homeschool moms, I spend a lot of time with books.  The library is one of my favorite places to visit.  Thousands of books to read for free, as long as you return them on time.  Beyond books a library may carry media, newspapers, and more.  But there are weeks when I just don’t have an hour and a half to lose myself at the library.

If I need to gather books for upcoming unit studies it may take up most of my library time, with no time left over to browse.  I have found one thing that works for me is using my library’s online catalog from home. 

Here is my most recent example.  We are planning on studying rocks and minerals soon.  We are centering our unit around a lapbook I received free from Hands of a Child called Rodney Rockhound’s Rocks and Minerals.  (You can see my copy I printed out in the picture below).  There just happens to be a handy booklist inside.  I sat down at my computer, opened my library catalog and searched for every book on the list.  My library had about half of the books sitting on their shelves ready.  The other half of the books were spread out over the branch libraries in surrounding towns.  With one simple click I requested each book.

Over the next week and a half I received emails from my library when my books arrived.  I had 10 days to come pick them up before the books would be put back out for other patrons.  So once all the books were in I made the 5 minute drive to my favorite library.  I drove right up to the drive-up window.  Yes, my library has a drive-through like McDonalds.  Don’t be too jealous, but it is wonderful.  Two minutes later I had checked out and was on my way home.  Want to see what less than 15 minutes of my day brought me? The hard part now is simply keeping the kids from reading all the books before we do our unit study!  Of course, we have another 43 books checked out from the library already, so there is plenty of new reading material at my house. 

So now you know, my online library catalog works for me!

This post is part of the Works For Me Wednesday meme at We Are THAT Family. Be sure to check this week’s edition for more great posts and to link up one of your own.