home-school happenings
Wonderful world of the library By Nicole McKeon WNC Parent columnist
I love the library. I have since I was a little girl. I still remember, fondly, my children’s librarian, Mrs. Bishop. She opened whole new worlds to me at our tiny library in Bogota, N.J. I can still remember her hands caressing the cover of “Little Women,” by Louisa May Alcott, as she shared her memories of reading that beloved book the first time when she was 11, like me. As home-schoolers, we spend a lot of time at the library. We also have a fairly extensive home library. I am something of a book addict. I can’t help myself. When I see a copy of “Goodnight Moon” for 25 cents, I must purchase it, like a rescue operation. Since we spend so much time at libraries in the Buncombe system, I thought I knew pretty much everything about what the library had to offer. Imagine my surprise, when another home-schooling friend shared her discovery: N.C. Digital Library. Oh, what a treasure. The digital library has thousands of resources that you can download to either your computer, MP3 player, or even burn some to a disc that you can keep, depending on the source. My kids love books on tape/CD, and these can get pretty expensive. While Buncombe County Library Services has a wonderful audio collection, I was almost overwhelmed by the selection available at the N.C. Digital Library. To access these digital materials you need: a valid library card, Internet ac-
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