Why Every Child Should have their own Little Library

I recently completed my first full year of volunteer reading at my local elementary school. I am working with a Pre-K class with children ranging from 3 to 5 years old.

One thing that really stood out to me this year is that each child has their own unique preferences for which books they like. I guess this shouldn’t surprise me because obviously adults have their preferences, but I was a little surprised to learn that even very young children have preferences too.

During my last day of reading with the children, I asked each student about their plans for the summer and whether they planned to read any books. All of the kids I asked were ambivalent about reading this summer. None of them felt confident that they would read or go to the library or bookstore. They felt that their folks were too busy or wouldn’t want to bring them. And that made me sad because all the kids would have liked to read.

When I asked them about the books they had at home, they each only had 2 or 3 books, (and one of the books was the one I just gave them). When the kids told me about their books at home, none seemed that excited. I suspect it was because the books they have at home were given to them, not books that they themselves chose.

All of these kids have favorite books… as I’ve mentioned before. I wish they each had a small library of their own with their favorite books in it. It is my strong conviction that if each of these kids had a small library of their own, that they would read these books. And they would want to collect more books for their library.

One of my students, Anaya, is a perfect example of someone who I believe would thrive with a small library of her own. Anaya loves to feel competent and books do that for her. I could easily imagine her reading her books daily, and I could see her ‘reading’ to her friends and family to impress them (like she did at school).

Helping a child to curate their own personal library of books could be a life altering enhancement to them. Not only would the children gain all the benefits of reading, but they would also be nurturing their own appetite and appreciation for books.

Think of the value of having your own personal library of books that grows with you throughout life. The library doesn’t need to be large, and it would grow and change as you do. There is so much power in seeking books for yourself and surrounding yourself with books that make you feel good and accomplished and empowered.

I suggest that we take this idea of children having their own personal library and normalize it… Instead of giving baby books to new parents, I suggest we give the books to the infants themselves, making it clear that we are contributing to the child’s personal library of books. Be that friend or relative that gives books to kids and/or brings them to the library or bookstore. A day out with Auntie means a trip to the bookstore!