How often do your kids visit the local library?

I strive to take my little one to the library weekly; he loves exploring the local library's story time tower that has fun books and toys.

We Love the library and go to multiple ones each week. Great events, books, DVD rentals, museum passes and games/toys to play with. It is also great for after school in the Winter when it's too cold to play outside and too many hours to just go right home from school.

Our library is a little dated (small town!), but my kids adore it, and they love it when they can use their own library cards to visit with their favorite storybook characters.

We love our local libraries! They are great places to spend an afternoon. There are books, of course, but my kids love using the jigsaw puzzles that they keep behind the desk while we are there. The last time that we were there, I even read a whole chapter in a book while my two older kiddos were happily doing giant floor puzzles. (My one-year old may have been rearranging the entire kids' section of books during this time, but that's neither here nor there. ;) )

We spend a fair bit of time at our local library and checking out libraries farther afield. They're so much more than books, especially for kids.

So many fun things to do at the local library. Check out the events they have there. My kids love them!

Having lived in a few different places with kids I’ve noticed a significant difference in the quality of children’s sections at our local libraries, not always corresponding to the quality of the library overall. The libraries that have really drawn our family in week after week (rather than once a month or less) are those that recognize the importance of interactive, engaging activities for kids aside from books, offering things like puppet theatres, building toys, pretend kitchens and other imaginative, open-ended toys for kids to play with alongside the books. Oh, and outward facing shelves for the picture books! I’ve been surprised by how many libraries make it so hard for very young kids to browse their picture book selections by “hiding” them in regular shelves that require you to read the side binding of the book (or pull it out), and are often too tall for kids to reach all the way.