📚 LIBRARY LESSONS: Discovering Local Libraries With WorldCat

Tuesday is our regular Books & Libraries Day in the River Houses, and on the several Tuesdays of September — the first month of the new homeschool year — we (re)introduce some of the general library resources that we recommend to all homeschoolers. Last week we started our annual tour of the Dewey Decimal system; next week we’ll have the first of our Homeschool Research & News posts summarizing recent academic work available in online libraries; on Constitution Day (the 17th) we’ll invite you to visit the U.S. National Archives in Washington, D.C., the home of the Constitution itself; and on the fourth Tuesday of the month we’ll step across the Mall from the National Archives and down Independence Avenue to pay a visit to the Library of Congress.

Many homeschooling families make a tradition out of regular trips to their local library, whether weekly, or monthly, or for some (it may seem) daily! But are you sure you know all the libraries in your area that could be useful to you and your students? There may be more than you realize!

WorldCat (worldcat.org) is the online global service that provides access to the individual collection catalogs of tens of thousands of local libraries all around the world, public and private, large and small. WorldCat also has a Library Finder feature that will let you type in a location and receive a list of all the libraries in that area — why not give it a try:

• ➢ WorldCat Library Finder (worldcat.org/libraries)

For example, if you live in Boise, Idaho, choose the “Location” search option at the top of the page and enter “Boise, ID, USA” or just your zip code “83702.” In a flash the Library Finder will return the names of dozens of school, college, and specialty libraries in your area, from the Summerwind Elementary School Library, to the Brown Mackie College Library, to the Idaho State Archives, to the Meridian Idaho East Family History Center Library.

It may well be that your local town library is the only one near you, especially if you live in a remote area. But you may also discover, for example, that a local hospital has a medical library that could help a homeschool science student, or that a local courthouse has a specialty law library that would be suitable for a social studies project. There may also be small college and technical school libraries in your area that you haven’t yet explored.

Not all these specialized libraries will be open to the public or will have regular hours, of course. But the WorldCat Library Finder will generally give you a street location and contact information for each collection, and if you call and ask whether a local homeschool student could use their facilities for a special project, you might receive a pleasantly positive answer.

Give the WorldCat Library Finder a try and make a list of new libraries to explore in the homeschool year ahead.

What educational discoveries will you and your students be making in your favorite library this Cygnus Term? 😊

❡ Books in the running brooks: The sidebar on the River Houses website has links to several wonderful online library collections that we like to explore. Why not sit yourself down at a large screen for a while (rather than a phone) and give them a browse. 🖥

❡ When in doubt, go to the library: This is one of our regular Homeschool Books & Libraries posts. Add your name to our weekly mailing list and get great homeschool teaching ideas delivered right to your mailbox all through the year. 📫

❡ Homeschool calendars: We have a whole collection of free, printable, educational homeschool calendars and planners available on our main River Houses calendar page. They will help you create a light and easy structure for your homeschool year. Give them a try today! 🗓

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❡ Join us! The aim of the River Houses project is to create a network of friendly local homeschool support groups — local chapters that we call “Houses.” Our first at-large chapter, Headwaters House, is now forming and is open to homeschoolers everywhere. Find out how to become one of our founding members on the Headwaters House membership page. 🏡