Joseph Fielding Smith Jr. said in “Doctrines of Salvation,” Vol.3, p.206: It is within our power to guide our youth in their reading and to cultivate in their hearts a desire for good books. It is most unfortunate where a person is not possessed with the desire for good reading. The reading habit, like charity, should begin at home. It is the duty of every parent to provide in his home a library of suitable books to be at the service of the family. The library need not be large, nor the books of the most expensive binding, but there should be a well chosen variety of the most select that can be obtained.
Children should be encouraged in the home to read and be instructed in the value of good books and how to discriminate between the good and the bad in literature. It is far better for a home to be thus provided where the children can be entertained with a good, wholesome story than to more than waste their time . . . upon the streets in company of evil associates. . . .
Not one of us is so poor but that we are able to purchase a few good books for the home. A small library of the most worthy books in this day of cheap printing may be had for a trifling sum. There is scarcely a family in the land that does not spend for amusement, or in pleasure that could be dispensed with, a sum each year that would purchase a suitable course of reading.
This counsel is as true for us today as it was when it was first given. We should devote a certain amount of our storage space to books. Some of us have a lot of room, and some only have a little bit, but even taking a corner in a room and filling it with books will bless your family.
I liked the part in the quote where he talked about how books can be had for a “trifling sum.” With mass market binding and bulk quantity sales, books are now less expensive than they have ever been before. And holy cow, have you looked around on Amazon lately? Many of the books I’ve been reviewing are available there for one penny. You just pay about $3 in shipping. And some of those are hardback! True, they are used, but isn’t a book used the minute you open it? I think I can afford $3.01 once in a while to bring a quality book into my home.
You can also find books at ridiculously low prices at yard sales, thrift stores, and used bookstores. Like mentioned in the quote, they don’t have to be bound in hand tooled leather in order to be worth something to your family. My copies of “Rebecca,” “The Girl of the Limberlost,” and “Christy” are falling apart, and I love them as much as I did when I first got them.
What books would you like to have on hand for your children to read? What books would you like to read over and over again? Start making a list, and the next time you’re online or out to the store, pick up just one or two. Books can fit into almost any budget (especially when they’re a dime at a yard sale) and you’ll be bringing something of great value into your home.