Get a library card—even if you don’t plan to use it. Your registration helps secure funding for libraries, keeping them open and thriving for the entire community. Every card counts!
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Going through chemotherapy right now. Can’t tell you how much I miss just being able to drop in at my local library for an hour or two. But so grateful for the apps. My library is still getting me through the day!
You can sign up for library access from different towns or even different states! Cincinnati Public Libraries have great online resources, and I don't think have any geographic limits.
From a friend: "ALSO! If you take a book off the shelf, even just to read a description or something, don’t re-shelve it! That matters to their numbers"
Also, writers: Libraries are generally happy to receive donated copies of your books. It's a good way to get your work out there, especially if you're just starting out.
I would love to renew my library card in NC (because their libraries need all the help they can get) but living in the UK makes it all but impossible since they require me to stop by to pick up the card. And pay $113 for non-residency... I understand why, but it's frustrating.
Absolutely fed up with councils closing libraries which are so much more than book exchanges but provide warm hubs, places for small groups to meet and story time for young children
Have one. Haven't been able to use it since June bc our local library is closed for renovations. It will be double in size with larger study rooms, a new children's area, more computers, books, DVDs, etc. Great thing for our neighborhood.
Not quite true, active borrowers are what counts. Many libraries will delete users who don't borrow for data protection. But you can get a card and download audiobooks and ebooks so you don't have to visit to use them.
My library has many eBooks on food and cooking. I read them not so much for recipes as techniques and variations. “Beautiful Bread” had a focaccia variation with sautéd leek as a flavour. I incorporated that idea into a multigrain loaf that I then cubed for a savoury strata. Fragrant and delicious.
Yes! People don't realize that libraries have cookbooks! If you're tired of having to scroll past someone's whole life story and half a dozen ads to reach the actual recipe on a cooking blog, go to the library for a physical cookbook! Mine has hundreds of shelf-feet of them!
Came here to say this! If you don't have time to go into the physical building, you can still enjoy tons of content online, including movies and shows that are not otherwise available on the Hoopla app (which you can use on Roku). I also use Hoopla to stream music!
Netflix and Amazon are for profit companies. Non-profit competition is probably not very welcome. I was referring, though, to the billionaire oligarchs who vote for someone to give them another tax break by cutting public services to other Americans. Oh, and book banning.
no. I think even the ones who vote against funding libraries would not say openly that they oppose them, just as those banning books deny vehemently that they are banning books.
Glad to see someone try and get some action behind libraries but people should really get over to the libraries, especially if you have kids. My wife and I are filling a couple tote bags weekly. It’s been huge for their development.
Stats are kept on number of cards issued, but also checkouts, number of people who come in daily and who attends programs. There are lots of stats recorded to ensure future funding.
I’ve been in many great libraries - and not just NYC or Library of Congress, either. Libraries provide so much for a community. I even know one that has sewing machines a cardholder can use.
First thing I did when we moved was get my new drivers license. The second was library card. The library card would have been first but the DMV was on the way to the library.
You sure do things different there then where I was born as there the local shires run the libraries. Only thing is that you have to be a resident of the Shire to get a card which you can use at any of the libraries in the Shire. With the States running the state libraries in their respective state.
Absolutely true. Every year libraries submit an annual report that includes # of cards issued, # of materials loaned, # of programs/events + # of attendees. Statistics determine funding levels & prove tax dollars are spent for taxpayers' benefit.
Libraries are funded by local authorities, so levels of funding are largely local political decisions set against other spending priorities rather than being centrally funded using a formula.
Most US states have state-level grants, funding, and programs for libraries in addition to local funding, and circulation and programming statistics help determine it.
I got one many years ago. Even if you have an e-reader most libraries have digital books you can check out. I have used our local library for e-books for a long time.
I love my local library. I use it to get books, movies and other things. I volunteer there to teach youth how to play chess. I have used the meeting spaces to meet with groups I’m part of. We should all support this valuable community resource.
Well, I don’t use the public schools, or the new swimming pool complex, but I did in my younger days. I guess I’m paying it forward with my property taxes. I use the library extensively, especially online. The part of my tax that is levied for libraries is <5% of the school levy.
I love my library a quiet respite.
Go often read magazines, get a book or buy a used book for my Little Free Library.
Used by parents w/kids, socialization for disabled folks, warm place for older/poor folks, tutoring, study/craft groups, working on puzzles. meeting rooms, social events etc.
I worked in a library for several years and when I see a post like this the first thing my ADHD brain does is open another tab and start perusing my library's online catalog. Just put three books on hold. 🤣 My library offers streaming services to watch shows, too. I'm obsessed.
Checking out your info now. As someone who lives in the states, I'm going to need a distraction over the next 4 years from...well... *gestures to the entirety of the US*.
I've been burying myself in British and Aussie Lit (and media) lately.
I agree — but — I've lost a considerable amount of faith in my local library(ies) since they stopped collecting books.
It's all digital-digital-digital. And DVDs of movies from books, not the orig. books.
I've accumulated a lifetime's worth of books. Wanted to donate them; the local library said no.
My library has Libby, Hoopla and free access to Udemy courses. You don’t even have to set foot in the actual library to have access to tons of stuff for free.
Im in RI so it‘s the Ocean State Library System. Massachusetts has the Minute Man Library System. If you have a library card in one town or city you can use the whole state system.
You can even watch movies for free through your library's website! You can borrow Kindle books and they will be automatically removed when they are due. SO COOL. Libraries rock my world. Some of them are gorgeous as well!
And gives you free access to books, audio books, papers and magazines of all sorts via the Libby app.
London's borough libraries all in via London Consortium, & others in too no doubt. 📚🗞
You might be amazed at all you can find out your library. They aren’t just for books anymore! Some of my earliest memories are of the Carnegie Public Library in Arcola, Illinois. Who else has memories of libraries?
And if anyone is challenging the content of the library go to town hall & similar meetings and challenge the book burners. Like everyone should have done in cases with school libraries already.
I do agree! You can get one from your local university as well. I know people who pay $25 for cards for other libraries as well so that they have more options if they live in smaller communities.
Exactly. We saved our local library and I really hope I'll be able to read my debut picture book there next year. In the library I myself grew up in
#nottingham #booktwt
That funding costs me $300 a year in property taxes, almost as much as I contribute to the potholed roads in our township. I can do without the library.
You need to get out more. I posted the township link on the property tax distribution. The average house in my town in 2024 was $380K. That equates to $9880 in property taxes. 3% of that goes to the library. So that's $300, in case you missed out on the math books.
Ours was relegated to a shabby backroom hidden away in a dilapidated sports centre a decade ago. The DWP invite victims to it for 'job search interviews' ... and that's it
My daughter gets library cards from all the places she visits and her brother’s favorite gift for her are library cards from places they visit. She’s an avid reader & researcher.
I am a lifelong library user. When ebooks and audio books came out, I was in heaven. I recall finishing a great ebook at 2 am, returning it and downloading a new book immediately. Does life get any better?
But why not use it? You may get access to e Books, e audio books, online databases and newspapers, lectures and craft classes, books and even things like guitars and gardening tools.
Also, get yourself the Libby free app. Link it to your library card. You will then have immediate on-line access to every e-book and audiobook and magazine your library has access to, which in many cities feels like EVERYTHING. FREE audiobooks on demand. Yes all the bestsellers, too.
In MA and NH budget from one year to the next is based on usership.
Our library provides Internet access, programming for young children, musical evenings, supports exercise classes for seniors, knitting and quilting groups, a table inside the door for donated baked goods.
Population under 10,000
Thanks for the heads up. Not sure if my card is still good. Will have to check! That would be a great New Year's Resolution for people to make...pretty easy to accomplish and it would do a lot of good.
Use the dang library! Libraries offer so much more than books, all for free. Many offer writing workshops, fix it clinics, job search help, education assistance, book discussions, author talks, trivia nights, and much MUCH more. One thing I’ve noticed with audiobooks is many are Audible-exclusive.
Which means that libraries don’t get access. Please always be an advocate for libraries. Look into why publishers don’t allow libraries certain books, or only after a certain period of time, etc. There’s lots of publisher shenanigans that hurt libraries. And always advocate for more funding.
I have 4. Los Angeles Public Library. Redondo Beach Library. Torrance Library. Palos Verdes Library District.
I need them all as when one doesn’t have the title I’m looking for, one of the others always does. I LOVE my libraries and use them weekly
I use my library card all the time. I read all the time. I just the "Scarlet Letter," because I never read it in any of my high school or college classes. Everyone should read all the literary classics or try to do so. I'm trying to catch up on them in my retirement.
They’re also lovely and quiet places to go during holiday shopping season. I went to the library on Black Friday and had almost the entire place to myself.
I relied on my local library to finish the last semester of my bachelor's degree, when I moved to a new neighbor without Internet access. I often say I couldn't have completed my degree without my library. ❤️❤️❤️
I rescued a cat that was hanging around my library. Best we could figure out was that she was abandoned by someone from the apartments behind the library.
Never been without a library card. Right now I’ve got 4! I’ve been mostly using digital which has been fantastic as I don’t have a lot of time to drive back and forth. I love libraries.
We live in Orange Country, CA. We can have a library card in every city in our county, not just the one we live in. My daughter & I want to see how many we can collect. I strive to have a metal ring filled with cards! And each library system offers special perks. ♥️
Ebooks and audiobooks are wonderful for people who are unable to travel to the library. Both can be downloaded on a phone or tablet using the Libby App. All you need is a library card.
And, unlike voting, some areas let you get more than one. I have 3 for my area libraries. This amounts to more FREE digital book/audio book options and a shorter wait.
Along those lines, if you don't find your favorite authors available at your library, it's super easy to request books. It may take a while to arrive, but it expands your library's collection and boosts the visibility for the author. You can do much good - at no cost to you. ❤️❤️❤️
And ask for your favorite indie author's book to be added to your local library! You will be helping out your favorite author, and helping others read their work for free!! 📚
And if you’re saying, “But I don’t have time to read!”, there’s no book report needed on return to bump up those patron use number! Browse, pursue, stare at it on the nightstand for a week - all counts the same AND you might even read and finish it, too.
And check out books you might read. Consider checking out cook books, or other media for learning. Check out movies, passes to local attractions, mobile WiFi hotspots, etc!
I’ve had a library card where ever I have lived, ever since I can remember. I had no idea that holding a library card helped with securing funding. Thank you for sharing this.
I continue to borrow many ebooks from my local library. In one month, in AuDHD fashion, I read 7 books on Ted Bundy, the months before that, I read 3 books by cult survivors. All from the library.
Took my 3 year old granddaughter to the library and discovered a forgotten world.....and Libby.
We need to support the local libraries like never before
When my 5 kids were young, pre school, the library had great programs for children. Stories being read to them by the librarian, crafts. They loved it and use their library as adults. Daughter was raving about Libby to her sibs!
They're a fantastic resource. I've had a library card since I was about 5. I can still remember going there with my dad to join. I can even remember the very first book I took out.
Yup, grew up in the east end of Glasgow in the 60's and TBH the library was an oasis, a sanctuary, and means of escaping through a window into different realms. First book was about greek mythology which I can still refer to.
Comments
https://www.kanopy.com/en
PG mostly focuses on older books such as classic literature.
Wonder why Netflix and Amazon don't like public libraries huh?
(Feel free to build a road and don’t use it but don’t expect everyone else to stay home.)
There are soooo many resources available at public libraries beyond the books you can see.
Go often read magazines, get a book or buy a used book for my Little Free Library.
Used by parents w/kids, socialization for disabled folks, warm place for older/poor folks, tutoring, study/craft groups, working on puzzles. meeting rooms, social events etc.
I've been burying myself in British and Aussie Lit (and media) lately.
It's all digital-digital-digital. And DVDs of movies from books, not the orig. books.
I've accumulated a lifetime's worth of books. Wanted to donate them; the local library said no.
London's borough libraries all in via London Consortium, & others in too no doubt. 📚🗞
#nottingham #booktwt
Read a book, you may learn a method of improving your society where potholes can be fixed AND people have free access to information.
https://www.meridian.mi.us/home/showpublisheddocument/27814/638418737003370000
Ours was relegated to a shabby backroom hidden away in a dilapidated sports centre a decade ago. The DWP invite victims to it for 'job search interviews' ... and that's it
Proud to be a mom of 3 readers.
Hoopla
https://www.hoopladigital.com/
Libby
https://www.overdrive.com/apps/libby
All free with your LIBRARY cards
Definitely worth having.
Our library provides Internet access, programming for young children, musical evenings, supports exercise classes for seniors, knitting and quilting groups, a table inside the door for donated baked goods.
Population under 10,000
I need them all as when one doesn’t have the title I’m looking for, one of the others always does. I LOVE my libraries and use them weekly
No chip so her name is now Libby.
We need to support the local libraries like never before