Books in the Foreign Service

My family and I are avid readers.  It's a small fact that I'm rather grateful for.  There is nothing like opening a good book and enveloping yourself in a new adventure.  After a recently library withdrawal, I realized that I might not have the book opportunities in another country that I'm used to.  


I have several FS families that I email when I have questions about Foreign Service life.  I am very grateful for their time to answer my questions, especially considering the fact that my husband hasn't taken the test yet.


What is the book situation like in your country? Do you use up some of your weight allowance and ship books, gone to digital, use a local library or purchase through online stores?

Their responses:

"The answer is it all depends.  In Manila there was no library.  There was a pretty weak library run by the American Recreation Club that had old John Grisham books and stuff but for the most part, nada.  We went to the book store and daughter's preschool had scholastic book club so we would always order a ton.  

My husband has a kindle and I am huge fan.  No book weight (except our kid's books).

So the answer really is it depends on where you go but I am willing to bet pretty much all of the third world it is not an option and the first world is probably not in English.  Maybe Canada but who wants to go to Canada?

Amazon prime is your friend and some people do a book exchanging system through the mail (we didn't)."

"This is a great question.  Books are indeed a problem.  For the children, we end up buying a lot, A LOT of books.  I hate to deprive them and the library options are limited -- usually attached to the English speaking school.  But, book weight adds up fast.  So, to compensate, my husband and I have had to get creative with our own reading.  We buy books from discount suppliers (so we don't mind purging when we're done) or borrow/trade with friends or try what's in the Embassy lending libraries or just go without.  We've talked endlessly about getting a Kindle and we may go that route before our next overseas post, we'll have to see.   I don't think you save money with a Kindle, in the long run, but you do save on weight, which has become the priority.  

We have lots of books in storage and I miss them.  But, my sacrifice is the childrens' gain.  I want to encourage reading, of course, but you have to be realistic about collecting and buying books because, as you know, they are very expensive.  We buy lots of bargain books we might not otherwise own, but when it comes to kids books sometimes quantity is equally if not more important that quality.  Not everyone we know in the FS feels this way, but it is really important to us so we forego bringing other things overseas in favor of more books."


"Books are actually one of the hardest things about living overseas for me. I'm a avid reader, like you, and if I could, would probably read about 40 books a year. I'm lucky to have my Mom and my cousin to send me books, but even then it's not enough. I also get books at the Embassy library, but it's limited. I end up buying them or borrowing from friends. Now that we're moving home, one of the most exciting things for me is having a library again. A few friends have joined paperbackswap.com, but not everyone on there is willing to ship to our overseas address."


"Most of our books either come from Kindle, Amazon or from local bookstores.  I have always loved libraries too, and used to take our daughter twice a week to storytimes and for new books.  That is definitely a downside of our post in Manila.  There are no libraries here, but I don't think that's true for all posts.  Actually, there is a tiny library at the American compound, but I'd hardly call it a "library."  It's more of a book graveyard for people who are leaving post. Also, most people I've met here are big readers, so we swap books regularly.

I've heard of online book swap websites that you might want to check out: Paperback Swap and Bookmooch"

"As for libraries: Some countries have library systems, or at least big city libraries, similar to in the U.S. (There was one in Port of Spain, but I never went there, in part because it was in an area of town that wasn't the safest. Part of the reason, though, is that I have TONS of books I've been carting around waiting to read, and I got a little caught up on those.)

The biggest source of English-language books for you overseas, though, will probably be the American or international school. (Do you homeschool? I can't remember. Even if you do, you probably could work out some kind of arrangement with the school most of the embassy kids attend.) In Port of Spain, we would get regular updates on the books the school library was getting, and they were current and sounded interesting.

Most posts also have lending libraries -- many of them informal in a "take what you want, donate what you don't want" sort of way -- in the embassy Community Liaison Office. These differ a lot in size and quality, of course. Here in Milan, there are regular shipments of recently released paperbacks. I think they're for the Marines, but we all have access to them.

I don't know what your weight situation is in regards to the things you're planning on carrying around the world with you, but you might want to consider an e-reader. My husband has a Kindle, and I'm hoping that reduces the amount of books we're constantly acquiring. I love books, but they're heavy, and we also usually end of with boxes of them that don't ever make it into bookcases."