Family Library

As PARENTS and as Modern Day Jedi, Parents mainly in this section, DOES A LIBRARY MATTER? Does having a physical library at your home, within walking distance and assessable one way or another important to US as Modern Day Jedi Parents and why?

What sections are important to you as a Modern Day Jedi parent, please share because I really wanna know. I got a physical library myself and am always looking for new titles and new books to stow and read and archive.
From talking directly with people, I have noticed a trend if anything about "archives" in the local scene aka SERVERS FOR THE HOUSE and for Familys and friends, what's your thought on that as well? Thats a library - a digital one...
Are LIBRARYS important to the Jedi parent? Feel free to share

A house without books is poor, even if beautiful carpets cover the floors and precious wallpaper and pictures cover the walls.
Hermann Hesse

I think books are important. It doesn't have to be a library or a book room. A shelf with books that have
accompanied the family for a while is usually sufficient.

In my opinion, it's not about having certain books or owning the classics. Is the Bible Important? Hermann Hesse?
For one, yes, for another, not.
Books show a family history, a development. What were the parents interested in? The grandparents maybe?
There are always books that are passed through the generations, books that always have a certain relevance for every age.

It's like music. Or photos. Being able to play a musical instrument is different from just listening to a stream. I prefer to look
at a photo in a frame or photo album than on the iPad.
Physical things give such works a value.

Maybe I'm just old-fashioned, so here's another approach. We (my family) stream music. When we think something
is really good, we buy the record, preferably on vinyl.
It is the same with books. We use the eBook reader to consume books. If a book convinces us, we buy it on paper.

So over the years we have built up a book and music room to which we like to withdraw.
My daughter occasionally wanders around the bookshelves and rummages through our old books. It's exciting how she reads
and understands the stories. That often engages us in good conversation over dinner.

So I would agree with old Hermann Hesse, but at least add one more point: Music.

So it doesn't have to be a library, but I think a good, personal collection of books is important.

We have a big library .... constantly trying to filter and rehome books that we no longer need.

As I am hoping to become a grandparent in the next year, I am looking at the topic of parenting again. I raised my daughter as a Unitarian Universalist, and we definitely worked in some of the Jedi viewpoint along the way ...

But what books would you recommend to parents who want to raise children with the foundational values and skills?

Hi, i do too have a pile of books for kids, i find that it is not so much the books but what you do with them, the kids always will have a favorite story especially if you practice some story telling. It s a brilliant way to bring books alive and the story is in you "hands" it s you who can tell it to bring your child or children attention to the message. I own as well a daycare on top of being a dad, i work there too so if you want to i m always up for a discussion.
may the force be with you

Oh, you bring up a good point. There are books (and other media) to share with children. But also books on the theory of raising kids.

I let my daughter read the Jedi Apprentice series, but she was not interested in the animated Clone Wars or SW Rebels.

Are there books that you would recommend above others?

Just like my kids they are not into star was, same as me i love the movies but i m not crazy about them. It would be difficult to give you names of books as i live in Indonesia so books might be very different where you live. I bought whole collections of books for children, all different stories bilanguages and national geographic kids Faunapedia . I do have books too that are focused on child behavior but that doesnt interest the kids very much. Dont worry too much about exactly what book , a good way probably is to go to a second hand bookshop, older books are just so much better than what on the market this days. Have a easy access library available for the kids. Personally i didnt read any books about how to raise my kids, i went by the feeling and based my self on my own education meditating on the good and the bad part of it. We can not do exactly what our parents did just because they did, of course some old school are just best and some other must be changed.
May the force be with you

This is the booklist I am putting together: https://jeditemplelibrary.wordpress.com/library/recommended-books/

So far, it is definitely aimed at adults or teens. I am always looking for more suggestions!!

Ok this is a good list but be ready, because we are all different. When i was teen i would not have agreed to read to half of those books, i liked to read novel of ancient France , second war time, novel of mountain climbers, or even Agatha Christy do you see what i mean? if you think too much and set your mind on what your grand kids are gonna read already you might come around some resistance and frustration. Nearly all books have something to learn from, for example those books on ancient France late 19 c i still remember things like what it took for someone to build a house, it was not like now a days, one spent many years preparing , like sinking logs in a fast stream to harden the wood for the carpentry, fondation were laid and left to set for a long time, walls were build meter per meter and again laid to rest for a long time. Those house were built to last, for the next and the next generation. Same for the garden, one would plant trees, not for him self but for his children and grand children.
So you see i did not read special philosophical books that may or may not be what your kids would want to read , but i learn things that stayed in my head and all my life. Life is a journey where everyone needs to find his way. Of course it helps to be shown the way.

In real life, I am not a reader. In real life, my wife is. The mix of the two created our family library. That's the idea.
This book list is what's in our own library. I'm sitting in it with the kids asking them for their list.
The J.K. Rowling series is always available for them. My wife has her version in the library from when she was a girl.(Original copies and such) There is a section actually for the series and the additions of Muggle world stuff. It's got a place. All the new and old together.
Here are the staples in our family library
J.R.R. Tolkien:
Which includes"The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship; The Two Towers; The Return of the King". AGAIN, we have different editions available. The wife's high school editions are there as well and the fancy pretty ones too. It has a section in our library. Now, I will say this, Tolkien has other things I am fond of and frequent much more than Middle earth. Among these, we have "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl and Sir Orfeo" in the same edition.We have a few neat copies of that one, and we keep extra copies we find at the resale shops for friends and to gift. More on that later...

Tolkien has a version of "Beowulf" that's worth reading. Seamus Heaney's version that's read aloud worthy. We keep them handy for those long nights of needed read to sleep.That "deep deep sleep sleep" as we call it .Smiley face
The idea of keeping them together has helped our kids keep a good eye out for things in the library way. It's good bread. We use this idea with the section of C.S. Lewis. You will find the road or way to Narnia there in many different forms. Narnia is my high school story I actually read and liked. There is a version of the Narnia stories in a box the way ... I hate to admit it but I did steal it from the high school library. Luckily, the librarian knew me personally, had a spare copy and said we were even. Apparently it happened all the time with that book in our library enough some one kept them on the shelf. Never did quite figure that one out.
C.S. also has an adventure series in space. Its a trilogy as well and it begins with "Out of the Silent Planet", "Perelandra", and "The Hideous Strength". His spiritual writings are there as well next to copies of his sketches and such.
L.Frank Baum dwells here as well in many forms for the kids. There are so many editions to things nowadays that I cannot express enough the ways that you can tailor your library to your own family. There are versions of the Series of Oz that we have made it a fun thing we do. If we find one we don't have, we collect it. In the old versions, we have have the old illustrations. Some of them are worthy of find.

In my Asimov section there is a neat copy of "I, Robot". My children know of a robot named Robbie.
In our library there are large print versions of the classics. I can not stress how wonderfully...powerful this is. When this is applied to our choices, we can emphasize importance and value in a library.
We have the "Teddy G"and "Uncle Shel" together. Shel Silverstein and Dr. Suess stay at access level for them. We have collected what is the entire collection of Dr Suess to include his drawings, sketches, and war stuff; and not kids stuff... you get the idea.The kids books ARE separate from his other stuff. Shel as well. The children have a section as well in the library. There they keep the fodder or fluff as they see fit. 2 sections only. They have other places but I can pass the importance of letting them in with respect and purpose, NOT to play or hide.
Michael Bond has the Paddington series worth finding the old versions for and matching sets.
Now, I am a collector of Myth and cultures as well. I find books on things I like. Nothing can be more boring to my kids than those books. For this I give other parents this... Kids versions...comic books and movies. Make them different. I have a copy of the book "the Giver" as well as many classic reads which ARE made into movies and such. What we often do is read the story before we watch it. In some cases, my kids are salivating over movies like "The Green Knight" due to the fact that they are frequent with it. We often read the books right with the movie, case in point, reading Christopher Paolini and watching the movie after made my kid ask... what happens next. That's the idea.

Gerald McDermott has a SLEW of good story style books on First Nation stories worth collecting. We have a few and are in the process of finding more. "Raven" and "Arrow to the Sun".
"Rainbow Crow" retold by Nancy Van Laan
"The Turquoise Boy" by Terri Cohlene
"The Mud Pony and The Dancing Drum" retold by Caron L Cohen
"Ten Little Rabbits" by Virginia Grossman and Sylvia Long
These are kids style stories with bright pictures and neat stories.
What I follow 'em up with is... the rest of the stroy as they say. The First Nation stories and books are kept together as well. These are not the only ones here. You will find those in the same section as the "Lakota Dictionary" and many volumes of different Nations Myths and cultures.
"Spider Spins a Story" edited by Jill Max, and "The Girl Who Helped Thunder" is a go to when we go to ...places. Retold by James Brucha and Joseph Brucha
"The Series of Unfortunate Events" is located in a old open explosive ordnance box together in the corner near the door.
Now on to the classics...collected works.
Like I said, you can find almost any version of anything out there. Sir Aurthur Conan Doyle can tell my children of Sherlock in two volumes.
Douglas Adams and His Hitchhiker stuff.
P.L. Travers has a series as well worth reading to kids.
Judy Blume- several "coming of age stories"
Roald Dahl- "The Twits"; "The Enormous Crocodile"; "George's Marvelous Medicine"; "James and the Giant Peach"; "The Giraffe, the Pelly and Me"; "The Magic Finger"; "Going solo"; "Danny the Champion of the World; "Charlie and the Choclate Factory"; "The Vicar of Nibblewiche"; "The Esiotrot"; "The BFG"; "Matilda".
Lynne Reid Banks has a series note worthy as well. "Indian in the Cupboard"
Llyod Alexander has a series too thats note worthy. "The Chronicals of Prydain"
A A Milne has the "Winnie-the-Pooh" series
Lewis Carol and his "Wonderland" series. There is a version of Alice in Wonderland that Dali did the artwork for. Neat to read, for some reason there are stories that they wanna know more of, for this there are versions of Norton's critical editions worth having. "Alice in Wonderland" is one of those as well as books similar...."Boy" written by Roald Dahl is the story of him by him when he was a boy. My 8 year old loves knowing these type of things. A Norton Critical edition can be found about anything... I keep a few on certain subjects as well as for the kids.
We have books for read and some for school. We do homeschool our children so things you will also find are dictionarys and things like that acsessable and ready.
Case in point
"A Wrinkle in Time"
"To Kill a Mockingbird"
Robert Louis Stevenson
Jules Verne
You can find a reading list of scholastic value anywhere
I would love to read what others have as well.

Now to Myth;
My myth section is full. I read my children more myths from cultures than we watch TV intentionally. Therefore, we need more books on subject than movies...This will never happen!! smiley face
For the kid or children I recommend finding the complete works of things. There is a reason for that.
"The Complete Grimms Fairy Tales"; "The Arabian Nights"; "The Complete collections of Hans Christian Anderson" to name a few worth having to find those favorites! I read Kiplings Jungle books to the kids often. Worth having them in the same book, hard to find but worth it. I have them in 2 copies. Knowing where people like Disney and Warner Bros and Dreamworks gets inspiration from?? Children who know classics. Just saying....So "His Just So Stories" are great reads and worth knowing you can find those on record or in media form as well... Just saying.
We intentionally have myths from as many cultures and regions as we can afford. Every day there are new ones coming in when we find em.
"Monkey" by Wu Ch'Eng-En is a great classic for reading with "The Magical Monkey King" retold by Ji-Li Jiang or the "The Monkey King" retold by Rosie Dickens.

Being American I do have a few of my own stories as well.
"A Treasury of American Folklore" as well as western folklore is read to them often by B A Botkin. There are trail songs and such in some of the stories.
Paul Bunyan is a frequent in our reads as well so you will find him in Paul Bunyan and his Blue Ox retold by Wallace Wadsworth and Legends of Paul Bunyan by Harold W Folton.
The complete works of Shakespeare helps us to find our favs as well. Its marked. The Legends of and myths of Hawaii by his Hawaiian Majesty Kalakaua is a pretty good read for those who wanna know from someone first hand about the culture.This is our idea for our library. It is my hope that this small list can help inspire others to share and keep sharing and grow! Happy seeking friends and feel free to discuss.

PS.

We look at resale shops for books. We find them. We give books away like this. We find them for pennies on the dollar.We buy new ones too. We order them in the mail. Reading is fun for us. We make it fun and let them in...They are sentient...smiley face!
Happy Seeking!

This is not the entirety of the library contents, but it is a place to start. Any questions, PM me, or ask me here. I'm an open book (pun intended).

You have a massive library! For me here books are gold as they are so hard to come by specially in English. Even second hand books are rare. Sound like heaven to me!

Big fan of librarys myself. Librarian in school, and spent many an hour in the NSW state library in Sydney as a young man.
I taught myself how to speed read as a teenager and combined with an eidetic memory could knock over a paperback in half a day.
To be honest speed reading a good book is like wolfing down a nice meal, Its better to take your time and enjoy the process.
But ive always had a deep enjoyment of books, The demise of second hand bookstores is a sore point with me, and while the internet gets me any title i want, its not the same as the thrill of the hunt. I have one of the largest Doctor Who novel collections in the southern hemisphere, and my catalog if Sci fi books including rare 1st editions have all been accepted by the Sydney university's Sci fi library (another biggest in the southern hemisphere collection ) as a bequest when i no longer need them. All good librarys should have a suit of armour imo and mine honours the tradition



This wall is continued around the rest of the room



Vandrars Hesse quote resonates with me.

I also began collecting a british scifi comic in 1977 called 2000AD. For my last birthday my wife gave me a tablet with comic reading software preloaded with them from issue 1 to 1500.
Ive enjoyed the trip down memory lane, and the technology makes having this vast body of work easy to carry around. Its not quite the same as the paper versions, but on balance a priceless gift for the likes of me

That's such a tasteful and delightful display. Well done. I wish I had armour stands.

Big Star wars section of course



Started with these. A long time ago................

I love old books and old bookfaces. Thank you for sharing them with me and the site. It is a hobby of mine like bird watching. Go figure.

Ive been a birdwatcher since i was about 6 or 7, i remember forming a club in school.
Where i live is amazing, and ive used the local bird watching clubs to identify a number of birds that ive seen. My Village has one of the largest sulphur crested cockatoo colonys here, and we also have their larger cousins the black cockatoo. This one is taken in my front yard




And these guys, and their descendants come back to the front pond every year, im expecting this years batch any day now, Male duck is guarding the pond, and his girl is only coming in morning and evening for a feed

beautiful part of the world !! for who ever who has kids should know that silence means troubles !

Carlos.Martinez3 wrote: I love old books and old bookfaces.

I pulled these from the shelf just for you.

These were pre ESB, anything that gave us a SW fix was gold in those days, and these were wonderful to read while we waited for the next movie.