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If you value books and reading to your child, then you already know that building a great children's book library can be very expensive. After several years of working to bring the best books to my own children, I've picked up a few tips that may help you.

1. Visit the library often and regularly. There are a couple of good reasons to do this. First of all, you can try out a book with your child and see if it is a hit or a dudd. Then you buy only the books that turn out to be the books that your child keeps going back to and asks for often.

   This also gives you the opportunity to try out a lot of different books, work in themes, or read books for special days -- something you could never do if you had to buy them all.

   
   

2. Buy used books whenever you can. I have picked up a lot of really great books in excellent condition at used book stores, The Salvation Army, and thrift stores. You can often pick up books for a quarter or 50 cents each when you buy them used.

   
   

3. Join Children's Book-of-the-Month ClubŪ. I know what you're thinking about book clubs... I used to think they were a huge rip off too. Then I found Children's Book-of-the-Month Club by accident and decided to give them a try.

   They have been great! When you join, you get to pick up several children's books for a small fee, and then you're obligated to purchase a couple more at regular club prices over the next two years. What really surprised me was that the regular club prices were cheaper than I could buy books new from Amazon or locally. I've been a member for over a year now, saved a bundle on books, and I highly recommend them.

   
   

4. Try to buy books that have several different stories in one book. That way you can read a lot of different stories to your child without buying all those books separately. Compiled books of this type are usually more expensive than buying just one book, but you could never buy all the storybooks within a compiled book for the cost of it.

   My favorite example of this type of book is The 20th-Century Children's Book Treasury - This is THE bedtime storybook at our house. We read stories from this book nearly every night. My husband and I like it because it contains so many of the great stories we remember when we were growing up all in the same book. My kids love the stories, of course, but they are also mesmerized by all the great original illustrations. If you read to your children at all, this book is a MUST HAVE and it's the best "compiled" book I've ever seen.

   
   

5. Watch the online auctions. Every once in awhile you can pick up a lot of children's books dirt cheap. Make sure you use some common sense when dealing with the online auctions, however, there are still scam artists operating on eBay.

   
   

6. Watch for big book sales. Sometimes you can pick up some really great books at very low prices simply by watching local and online sales. I know this is a no-brainer, but it's worth mentioning. I often pick up holiday books after the holidays to use the following year. I don't mean just Christmas... you can pick up Easter, Valentine's Day, Thanksgiving, Independence Day, etc. books after the holiday at great prices. If you use this tactic, be sure to gage where your child will be in age and development "next year" so that the book will be revelant then.

   
   

7. Ask for donations. If you run a daycare center, home daycare, or preschool, ask for donations from the local community. People with older children will gladly donate books to a good cause rather than tossing them in the trash. Run inexpensive ads in your local paper, high school papers, church newsletters, etc. to get the word out. You could even offer to buy these used books directly from the owners for pennies on the dollar if the donations aren't pouring in.

   
   

8. Hit garage sales. Watch for garage sales that advertise children's play equipment, toys or clothes and hit them early. Wherever there is outgrown toys and clothes, there is bound to be outgrown books as well.

   
   

The bottom line is that building your child's library doesn't have to be expensive. Even using a few of the tactics above can save you hundreds of dollars while building a great library your child will thrive on.