About Us
About Children’s Preservation Library
“Why do we need library books, when we already have textbooks, and too little time (and interest) for those?“
“How are your books different? More importantly, can they somehow engage my son, or help my daughter achieve real learning?”
Fair questions. Because, most parents today have never seen a living book, as these sumptuous literary treasures from yesteryear are called. It’s been so long since the “Golden Age of Youth Literature,” (when lyrically written, artist-illustrated books were published in high quality on every imaginable academic topic, not just the “woke” narratives of today) that all we adults ever had in our educations was dry textbooks. We could hardly wait to get “school” over with, so we could start our “real life.” Ah… We’ll have grasped God’s principles of education, when what we do each learning-day is the pulsating core of real life, as each youth daily becomes all God has called them to be, to the benefit of millions, now and eternally!
Believe it or not, these living books are so rich in their very nature (the very opposite of most books kids/teens see today), that they can either be “dessert” for what you’re doing in education already, or they can be the “main course” on their own! They also were written when the culture wanted its next generation to know virtue, patriotism, character, wonder, initiative, and creativity, which was redolent in these living books. Well, you still want that for your offspring! And, so do we! That’s why, when you come in, you’ll receive energetic help from the team in finding the just-right books for each of your children, on each of their educational endeavors. We also have a full online database, for convenient online reserves, which can be picked up at CPL either during hours of operation, or put out in our locker for you to pick up at your convenience.
The bottom line? A living book is so vibrant and impactful that it "captures attention, secures interest," and "arouses something noble in the heart of the child, without any effort on the part of the teacher or the taught." What could be better? Whether your kids are in school or home-educated, whether classical, Charlotte Mason, or traditional. Join today!
In a hurry?
CPL offers a full online database, for convenient online reserves, which can be picked up at location either during hours of operation, or put out in our locker for you to pick up at your convenience. Drop your returns and you’re good to go!
Founder - Michelle Howard
For almost 30 years, Michelle has been a librarian, home-education consultant, author, columnist, and speaker, specializing in top-quality living books, educational vision, and history instruction. It began in 1995, when she pioneered the first-known library of “living books” (highest quality, mostly-out-of-print youth literature), which has been thriving ever since! Children's Preservation Library now lends over 21,000 valuable volumes, serving patrons in several counties. Then, in 2016, she founded Living Learning Libraries in Florida, currently lending over 41,000 books, with plans for additional branches.
Michelle is considered a national leader/expert on living libraries and literature, and helps others around the nation found and operate such libraries, including requests to work with colleges, charter schools, and educational cooperatives. She has been engaged by a non-profit foundation to help the library at Hillsdale Academy (K-12 classical school affiliated with Hillsdale College). She has developed a massive database on youth literature, and her first-hand knowledge of these in all academic areas is unsurpassed.
She has also been asked to speak about education, literature, and history at many levels--both in person and via national radio--and is a regular contributing columnist to various national magazines and educational websites. Additionally, she also privately helps families find deep child-specific vision through local or long-distance consultation as Living Books Lady.
Michelle wrote the multiple award-winning TruthQuest History curriculum, which steers families through American and World history with deep, engaging, spiritually-probing commentary, and which embeds her vast knowledge of topic-specific living books recommendations.
An outstanding student herself in both high school and college (including invitations to apply to West Point, MIT, etc.), Michelle graduated summa cum laude from University of Alabama, with a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Communications, after an extensive, senior project in youth literature & library science. Michelle home-educated all four of her children—one a Hillsdale College alumnus, admitted to their esteemed Honors Program, and another graduated from Houghton College. She’s been an active member of local churches and educational support groups over the years, has traveled to Europe and Russia several times, including overseas mission trips and international adoption, and now has seven cute grandsons.