It's National Library Week
At the Chicago Public Library website, this is some of the material that a library card holder has available to them for FREE. ---
Almost any Hollywood movie you can think of, in DVD form.
Tens of thousands of books, including current best sellers, in "e-book" form , which can be read on your browser, E-Pub, or Kindle formats.
Thousands of audio books, through either the CPL website or the Hoopla application.
Free access to the entirety of Encyclopedia Britannica , online, and the same for World Book encyclopedia.
Free access to the massive Gale Reference Library online.
Access to hundreds of daily newspapers, online, going back for 15 or 20 years, through the Pro Quest application.
Access to the Facts On File database of articles on history, science and the social sciences which is another massive group of information.
All of these items and much more are at your finger tips with a Chicago Public Library card.
If you live close enough to a big city to have their library card , or be able to get one, check out the online offerings of your local library. You will probably be surprised and impressed at what will be available to you.
It's all free, and most of these things are immediately available. It is possible you will have to wait for a particular movie or audio book.
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National Library Week (April 7- 13) is a great time to remind yourself of all your library has to offer . Whether you check out the library in person or online, you’ll be contributing to your community.
This year’s theme is “Libraries = Strong Communities.”
Melinda Gates is the honorary chair of National Library Week. In the last 20 years, Gates’ Global Libraries initiative has invested more than $1 billion in enhancing libraries and empowering communities.
Think of librarians as information navigators who are here to help patrons find the resources they need on their information journey. The new James Patterson? We can request it. Printing tax documents? Yes, we can, for twenty-five cents per page.
Here are some other library fun facts to impress your friends at trivia night:
There are more public libraries than Starbucks in the U.S. (That’s 16,568 libraries compared to 14,718 Starbucks.)
The Library of Congress is the largest library in the world. With more than 167 million items, The LoC has 838 miles of bookshelves! (That’s nearly the distance from Asheville, North Carolina, to Dallas, Texas!)
At our library in Black Mountain, North Carolina, there are many ways to celebrate, like: “borrowing” seeds from our seed library, renewing your Friends of the Library membership, attending story time or a book club, shopping the Friends of the Library’s renovated book store — can we say canvas tote bags? — and so much more.
Or, simply stop in your local library and say hi — librarians love to see smiling faces
Good article, John. Although our town's library isn't as big as a city's library, it's modern with a county-wide access, and the librarians are very friendly and helpful.
I really enjoy the libraries and frequent them quite often.
Kudos to all librarians.
For years I have contemplated a subscription to Encyclopedia Britannica Online, but didnt foresee using it enough to justify the cost. The CPL recently added the EB to its online resources available to library card holders, and it is a great source of now free information. These things are great if you like to read for fun or to gain specific knowledge.
One of the things I really regretted when I left Canada was to have to sell my annually updated Encyclopedia Britannica. I learned much from using it.
I love libraries. Our annual library book sale is next month, and I always volunteer to work at it. I used to volunteer at the library book sales as a kid, where I grew up, too.
We've finally raised enough money to build a new, bigger library - but we're going to keep the little one in town, so that people who may not have a way to get to the new one can still use its resources, computers, etc.
I love the local library system. I can request/search materials online from a 5 country wide network (Clevenet) and then they send me an Email when they arrive. I can pick the book up at the drive though.
Hoopla is awesome. It’s like going to the library without getting off of your couch.
This is a link to an excellent article that goes well with this article and all of the ''free'' things that a library card can do for you.
Beyond books: The hidden perks of a free library card
Great link, Kavika, read it bookmarked it.
Thanks pat. I stumbled across it and starting reading and was blown away by some of the information in it...
I'm not great at borrowing library books and returning them on time, too much pressure, lol. I do love using their used books stores. I buy a book for .50 to $2.00 and then go back and donate it and get more.
I donated a bunch of my computer and software applications instruction to books to a local small bookstore, as they were expensive books that a lot of students could not otherwise afford to buy. Having been an Instructor at two community colleges, and a Microsoft MVP for 3 years, I had a lot of books that teachers would have for learning how to use a computer and software applications. These would be very helpful to students as well as those who are trying to help others.
I went back a few months later to donate a few more books and found that every book I donated had been bought. I was glad to know that they were perhaps helping someone who really needed them to learn or improve their skills to get a promotion or get a better job. That is far more productive than having them sitting on my bookshelf gathering dust.
It's great to see how many members love libraries and take advantage of them - seems as if reading is one of their favourite pastimes, doesn't it? Wouldn't it be nice to see those "book-lovers" contribute to the NT "Books" group an article or comment-wall note about what their favourite books were, or what they are reading now?
i.e. put their finger-tips in place of their mouths.
We have a wonderful library and I love to go there all the time. It has everything or can get anything.
What a great way to celebrate is to go and enjoy!
When I was pre-school, my mother used to take me to the main public library in our home town. This is a vintage "post card" photo of it - and as I still remember, the children's room was on the main floor at the front right side.
There I would read my favourites, the "Freddy the Pig" books, written by Walter Brooks - a series of novels about animals on a farm that speak to each other and have "human-type" adventures. The first was published in 1927, preceding Orwell's Animal Farm by almost 20 years, and long before Charlotte's Web. I posted an article on the "Books" group about those novels long ago.