English is my second language. I learned ABC’s when I was almost 10, a few months after immigrating to the states. Two weeks after admitting to the school, I was introduced to this room with dark walnut stain doors and antique brass door knobs. Once opened I was mesmerized by these colorful books with colorful pictures of flowers, plants, animals, and everything that you could ever imagine. It was a room that opened my eyes to new worlds, new possibilities. This room, which I later learned was called ” library”, was where I learned how to read one word at a time and also got lost in; taking different journeys to different parts of the world. I think that’s what sparked my interest in my love for travel.
Sadly, I stopped going to the library once I started working after college. I was too busy with my career and by then some of the information was readily available on the internet. Today we live in a technology world where information is easily accessible and convenient, not to mention instantaneous. The need to go to a library, a place once considered a social experience, has diminished significantly.
Now that I’m a mom I look at most things differently, things that can help my kids succeed inwardly and outwardly, and visiting a library is one of them. Both G and I truly believe that regular library visits inevitably lead to more reading. Reading is one of the best activities to provide the foundational language and literacy skills our kids need to succeed. According to the Children’s Literacy Foundation, using a library can improve your children’s reading ability. And an Oxford University study shows that reading books improves your chances in life.
We are lucky to live in a neighborhood where libraries are still available in close proximity to our home. This makes the commute time shorter and more enjoyable, especially living in a traffic congested city like Los Angeles. While I work during the day G would take the boys to visit the library at least once a week and I join them whenever I have time off. The visits started with the twins at 2 playing toys to playing educational games on the computers. Most recently, the twins love story time at the library. The twins always get excited about going to the library every week because in addition to playing their favorite toys they also get to choose books for their bedtime story. Every night they get to enjoy different adventures before going to bed.
Although I rely heavily on Google these days but I will never forget it was the library that assisted me in improving my English. Now I visit libraries with my kids to seek different adventures, information that I couldn’t locate online. Visiting a library is now one of our favorite pastimes.
Disclosure: Thank you Kimberly-Clark for sponsoring this post. As always, all opinions are my own.
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