Schola Living Books

A great article about private libraries!

These women are keeping classic books in circulation Private lending libraries seek to preserve and share good, true, and beautiful books for children and their families.

It’s that time of year again! Our read-aloud stack is growing as homeschool ramps up! A few more like Plutarch, Plato, and Dante will be added over the next couple of weeks, but these are read-alouds that I am doing with various sets of kids, even including my 19yo graduate!
What are you reading aloud right now?
Current stack: Eggleston’s A First Book in American History, The Orthodox Church Through the Ages, The Good Master, The Children of the New Forest, The Sign of the Beaver, The Laws of Everyday Life, Shakespeare’s A Winter’s Tale, Oklahoma History

We will be open Friday from 2-3:30! It may be the last time we’ll have open hours for a while, so come on out!

We’ll be at the library for most of the day today! Come see us!

We’ll be out at the library this afternoon working on the house! Come see us from about 2-4!

We will be open today (Saturday) from about 1-3 officially. But people will likely be there most of the day, so if another time works better for you, text me and we’ll make sure someone is there. 🙂
Pictured: My beautiful finds this week all for less than one at full price! 😍

Hello friends of the Schola Lending Library! I have some big news, which is why I have been less communicative this semester.

We Are MOVING! As some of you know, my family recently moved from east of Stillwater to west of Stillwater. And soon, so will Schola! But the details of that exciting news will have to wait. Let’s just say that I think all our patrons will be super thrilled with the new library. ❤️

All the books are still at our old home and available for check-out, but we will need to alter our hours over the next month or two. You will still have plenty of time to come peruse our shelves, but just plan for those days to be on Saturdays instead of Fridays. And of course, we can still be open by appointment, or you can request books by email, FB messenger, or text and we can get them to you. Please stay tuned to this space and your email for upcoming open hours.

We want this transition to be as smooth as possible for you, our loyal patrons, so I will try to keep you updated often. If you would like to get more information, or are not yet a patron, please DM me your email address or subscribe to scholalivingbooks.com.

Last week we were dining outside in beautiful Orlando. This week we’ll be welcoming our friends into the library from 1-4!

We are open tomorrow from 1-3:30. We have to close a little earlier than normal due to out-of-town basketball games.
Oh, and please read Homer and Virgil to your kids! 😅

Books make the best gifts! Our family’s annual photo of all the books we got as gifts. 😍🤓 Merry Christmas from all of us at Schola Living Books!

One of my dear friends passed away about two months ago. During her funeral, I was thinking back on our too-short friendship and recalling one of the first points of connection we had—Books. The first time she came over, I loaned her the first Call the Midwife book.
She loved our library.
Books have a way of bringing people together. ❤️

We will be open tmrw from 1-4.

We will be open this Friday 1-4!

Come check out books to read under the covers! We’re open tmrw from 1-4. We will be closed next Friday for Thanksgiving break.

Do y’all ever get comments from people at restaurants or doctor’s offices because you and your kids are reading a book rather than being on phones? Josh and I take books with us every time we leave the house, and now our kids have adopted the same practice. Think about all those minutes here and there that add up, and next time, take a book! Facebook can wait.

We are open today from 12:30-3:30!

This painting by Francesco Maestesi took my breath away last week at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

Hi Schola friends! The library will be open in October on the following Fridays:
Fri, Oct 14: 12:30-3:30
Fri, Oct 28: 12:30-3:30
Also, by appointment.
Hope to see you out here among the stacks soon! 📚

These Step-Up Books I picked up last weekend are perfect for beginning readers! My first grader is loving the content, and the small amount of repetition of new words is increasing her fluency. They are worth a place on your shelf!

One of the things I like to do is educate my patrons about what books are worthy for a place on the shelf. Landmarks are always worth picking up! It’s rare to find a Mary Renault, a fabulous historical fiction author who writes about ancient civilizations, in the wild.
At the bottom are books by Jeanne Bendick and Margot Benary-Isbert that I’ve never heard of before, but part of the success of is becoming familiar with excellent authors and illustrators even when you don’t know the title.

We highly recommend the Little Britches series and Purple House Press, who are reprinting high quality out-of-print books. Fill out this survey if you’re interested in purchasing the first four books as a matching set.

I need your help! I'm starting to plan out our Kickstarter for the Ralph Moody Little Britches books. The more accurately I can predict which books people are looking for, the better the price I can get for them from our printer. Please take a minute to answer a few questions in this survey about which books you want, thanks so much 💜 PLEASE SHARE FAR AND WIDE! 🙃 tinyurl.com/ykbx2vcz

A draft of cover 3 is in the comments, the art was done by the same artist (Algot Stenbery) who did the art for covers 1 and 2 in the 1950s.

We are open today! 1-4

Community. How many of you are longing for deep and meaningful community? I am hearing this from people in all corners of my world. People desire it but they don’t know how to find it.
For us, book people are our people. Hence, the library. It’s a lot of work. It’s not always fun. More money goes out than comes in. It’s often overwhelming. But it gives back in other ways. Just today we had a family stop in that are visiting the area from St. Paul, Minnesota. They are book people, our kind of people. They also are wanting to build community but aren’t sure how.
I’ve learned you have to be intentional about building community. Seek out opportunities that will put like-minded people in your path. Know that you are not alone. If you put yourself out there, others will find you…and they need you. We need each other, and we’ll need each other more in the coming days. Community. Find one. Or better yet, build one.

Come see the library and get signed up for the year! Check out the events page for more details!

We’ve added well over 400 books so far this summer! Come see what’s new! We’re open tomorrow (Friday) from 2-5. 🙌🏼🥳

Come find out what activities you can get involved in this school year at the Stillwater Homeschool Back to School Night!
I will be helping with a workshop, panel, and Q&A for new and young homeschoolers from 6-7, and then the exhibits open at 6:30. Schola will have a table. Come see us and get signed up for the year!

We’re busy preparing for the new school year! We have catalogued, labeled, mylared, and shelved over 300 books in the last week! 160 more are in the process right now. Contact me to come see what’s new!

Found this beautiful set in the wild last weekend and will be gifting it to my husband for Father’s Day! Books make the best gifts. 🖤

Books are starting to come in for the new school year! It’s like Christmas in summer! 🎉

The new Paleontology unit is out! I’m looking forward to doing this one! I wrote “The Ultimate Dinosaur Guide,” which is part of the read-aloud pack. 🦖🦕 You can flip through The Ultimate Dinosaur Guide and many of The Good and the Beautiful science units at Schola.

Paleontology Dinosaur discovery, fascinating fossils, archaeology and ancient artifacts, and more await in the Paleontology science unit! Immerse your children in hands-on activities, captivating videos and beautiful illustrations and images as they complete this exciting and easy-to-teach course. Each family wi...

As the school year begins to wind down, I wanted to let my patrons know that you are always welcome to drop by anytime, even unannounced, if you are only wanting to drop off books. I don’t promise that I will be dressed but I will shoo one of my kids out to greet you! If we are not home, feel free to put the books in my mailbox. My kids check it about 4x a day! 🤣

We are open tomorrow, Friday, from 12–4!

We are open tomorrow 12-4! We will be closed all next week in observance of Holy Week.
Pictured are a couple of books I’ve been a part of creating. 🤍🤍

Hi friends! This is a friendly reminder that while I do not charge late fees, there is still a 4 week check out period, unless you contact me to recheck. This is so that others can also have the opportunity to check them out, and, as they are my personal books, I miss them! 😊 I want to make sure they are not lost or damaged. So, please kindly return your books if you have overdue books. We will be open this Friday 2-5 or, as always, by appointment. Let me know if you need a list of the books you have checked out. Thank you!

An article I wrote was published in the latest edition of The Classical Teacher, and it’s all about Schola! I must say I am thrilled that it is alongside an article by Warren Farha who owns my favorite bookstore around, Eighth Day Books. You’ll know why that’s so meaningful to me if you read my article. ☺️ I mean, a whole magazine with all the articles about books!! 🤓🥳
If you don’t receive this magalog yet, you should! You can sign up for a free copy at Memoria Press’ website.

Friends, it’s time! These books have been patiently waiting to be catalogued for too long. Send help! (and Lenten chocolate!) I’m going in!

I’m never sure what to say when world events are so intense and the words of an ordinary children’s author from West Virginia on social media feel so unnecessary. “Stay in your lane,” I tell myself. And that’s good advice. We probably need far fewer experts on the “out there” and more people living faithfully “right here.” The world very rarely needs “my take.” The last several years of seemingly ceaseless punditry from every citizen on a mission has been tedious and exhausting, not to mention ineffective or counterproductive. The "not many of you should become teachers" line from St. James comes to mind.

“Stay in your lane” is usually pretty good advice. I’m usually choosing to.

So, while ordinary men kissed their wives and children and turned to fight to protect their homeland from invasion, I wrote. I wrote thousands and thousands of words—in private—on a story that I’ve been working on for many months with my son. I kept at it while a new war in Europe intensified and drew the attention of the world.

Though it feels relatively unimportant, I think creating and sharing soul-forming stories is of great long-term value. My lane is an avenue that goes straight through the hearts of children God made and loves and intends for his kingdom of light. No small thing. It’s a good little lane. So I write on, focusing on this little job “right here” that goes—by some rare magic—far from my presence and into the lives of precious children I’m called to serve all over the world.

This new book is about conflict, and standing up to evil men, about showing up for the good fight you’re in and being faithful and brave. All of my Green Ember books are about this. I hope and pray this one also inspires those who read it to live out those ancient virtues in the “real world.” I hope it is a gift to ordinary people living “right here” in their lives and that has an impact for good “out there” in some way.

Maybe your lane seems small, or insignificant. I bet it isn’t. You don’t have to be a geopolitical expert, an epidemiologist, a pastor, a prophet, or a therapist, unless that’s your calling—your lane. I bet your lane leads—maybe in the long and winding way—to places of deep significance and service to the people, be they millions or very few, who God has called you to love.

Show up for that. Be ruthless about ignoring all those enticing “shortcuts” to self-expression, seeming-expertise, and shallow impact. They are almost always lies. Take the long cut. Enjoy your lane.






📷: Graeme Pittman

We can do it!!! 💪🏻😅

A reminder to my patrons: you are always welcome to email or text to set up a time for an appointment Tuesday-Friday! ☺️

Pic is my current stack (top 4 are for teaching at the cottage school).

A reminder that we’re open today from 2-5!

Want to find a great read-aloud to start off the semester? We can help! We’re open this semester Tuesdays and Fridays from 2:30-5:00 (note a bit of a time change). You can join any time of the year!