By The Book

Knowledge, they say, is power. I can't agree more.

As a kid, my companions included books such as the Famous Five and Nancy Drew series. My taste in books evolved and eventually my range included romance, fantasy, science fiction and even non-fictions like biographies and historical accounts.

And I've learnt so much because of the books that I read over the years. Not that I know everything but I do know a bit more than some people, namely people who don't read.

Unfortunately, these days, I haven't had that much time to indulge in my favourite pastime. Being a full time homemaker means I have to put reading at the bottom of my to-do list. The only luxury I have is reading news online and perhaps flipping through gossip and tabloid magazines at the newsstand.

But I know how important it is to like reading and have always wanted my kids to share my love for reading. So imagine my delight when I realised that books and other reading materials are so easily accessible to the public right here in Melbourne.

Not that there aren't any libraries back in Malaysia but the facilites there are nowhere close to what we have in Melbourne (and I suspect it's the same across Australia and any developed country). There are libraries in every city council - not just one by a few. Your membership in one library within a council automatically grants you access to all the libraries within that council. And you can borrow as many books as you want (no limit imposed) within a period of 3 weeks. The items you can borrow include books, videos and magazines. There are even toy libraries for younger children! And did I mention you can extend the borrowing period online too? The government and city councils here make it so easy for the general public to read!

Call me ignorant or whatnot but where I came from, there are no such luxuries. Books are not cheap. Chilren's books, especially those with nice hard covers, are pricey. Naturally, I was thrilled when I realised I didn't have to fork out a single cent to let my kids enjoy such books.

These days, my husband and I take our kids frequently to the library and they'd pile up the basket (provided by the library) with books of their choice for me to read to them. And of course, they enjoy their library trips because there are little corners for young kids to hang around too.

Joshua already can read some simple books, thanks to the coaching from his Prep teachers and the daily reading he has to do, and my efforts in helping him, of course. So he particularly enjoys flipping through pages of books he's never read. Joanne is still too young to read anything except alphabets (and perhaps "love", "cat" and "dog") but she too enjoys listening to my reading sessions.

Well, what can I say? Anywhere where reading is encouraged is a great place. One more reason not to have any regrets about migrating over here.