You should get a library card if you don’t have one already. Then get the apps Libby and Hoopla. There you can download audiobooks and ebooks. So even if you don’t go to your local library a lot, you can still support them and the authors you love.
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It does cost quite a bit but we (a small rural library in Northeast Kansas) have to cap our "borrows" and while that sucks sometimes it's better than nothing. Thankfully the nearest big county allows folks from our spot to get cards there and they do use Libby so I help folks set that up. It's cool.
You can also often get access to databases that can help you run or start a small business, investment tools like Morningstar, online encyclopedias and research tools for school projects, and directories of local, state, and national government resources.
I love your reasoning, but an alternate pitch: this is the ultimate life hack for enjoying content and feeling good about your consumption of content. Do it for entirely lazy selfish reasons if your love for libraries doesn’t get you off your ass.
Yes! They also have resources for folks who want to start a small business, record songs, 3D print, learn a language, go to kid's events, and so so so much more. The library is an endlessly beautiful and helpful resource we should protect at all costs! 💜
It's weird, mathematically the cost per circ can be less with Hoopla, but it's very hard to budget for if you don't know how much will be used every month. With Libby, we can control the spending ahead of time and purchase/lease reliable books. I didn't know how much AI junk was on Hoopla.
Just make sure you're reading what you check out and not holding it and forgetting about it. Libraries can only rent out so many copies of an ebook because of book publishers treating it like a subscription service the library pays for (only get so many download rights per x dollars)
Can't wait to get back to some sort of normalcy where I'm not spending all my reading time on one horrific news article after another.
A time when a Stephen King novel was the scariest shit to read!
Does anyone know how to effectively use the Hoopla search function? I can enter an author's name and find 1.7k results ... None of which are by the author. Same for movies/TV. If I put the name in quotes, it gives zero results.
It's not great, but if you hit "Advanced Search" you can put the name under "people" and you can also filter by format i.e. just ebooks. That seems to work better but still not perfect.
Yup. I find I'm so busy that it's hard to read a physical book in the time allotted (newer ones all get holds placed in them so it's hard to renew back to back @ our hopping library) but my husband & son use my card IRL & I use Libby for my commute "listening" and hoopla for movie nights. Love it!
I am listening to James by Percival Everett on Libby right now. Wonderful and probably on the right’s banned books list because it’s from the perspective of Jim from Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn.
I work at a small rural library and even though we service maybe 75 people a day I've helped so many get set up with Hoopla. I also help them get set up on Libby with the big library in the next county. It's been a lifesaver for our homebound folks and those who just don't like people. It's rad.
When I started at my library, we had maybe 4-5 people come in per day. Ive increased that over the last year to steadily over 20, but it’s like pulling teeth getting people in the door. I have to bribe them 🤣
We are the only library in the county and our town has about 3000 folks... We also have a large Guatemalan population so we have been having bigger numbers lately due to helping folks copy their info (I don't charge them for copies because ewww why would you)... It's crazy some days but worth it
Holy crap the only one in the county?!? That’s crazy!! There are four libraries within a 10 minute drive from me. There are only like 800 people in my town, though
We do unfortunately charge for printing (I’m trying to get away from that by not renting a copier at 140 bucks a month)
We charge for most things and I'll toss like a $5 in the till usually at the end of my shift. It's only .15 a page but when you are trying to get all your documents in order I try to help where I can
Oh yeah I do the same thing. Free copies for school projects… if I had anyone needing their documents copied, I’d do the same. We don’t have an immigrant population, unfortunately. I wish they’d come buy all these empty 125 year old houses!
Got the card but hate the format of e-books.. I know, I'm weird, but intensely dislike it.. will downloading stuff support them either way, because I'm good with supporting.. have never read or downloaded an e-book so am clueless as to how this works.
I love libraries!
They are our nation's treasure.
The academic ones can be accessed through EBSCO
Click on Access EBSCO and see what local resources are nearby.
My library supports it. Here, I clicked on health. Plenty of content to chose from. https://www.ebsco.com/products/res...
… so there’s three Libby accounts that you can access with one card.
Also, because I have a NY address, I can get library cards from NY public library and both Brooklyn and Queens public libraries. Three more accounts I can access through Libby.
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GET YOUR LIBRARY CARD
Access to books leads to access to knowledge.
Access to knowledge leads to access to opportunities.
Access to opportunities leads to access to growth.
Access to growth leads to a better economic experience.
Access to a better economic experience leads to a better life.
A time when a Stephen King novel was the scariest shit to read!
Since Jan 1 I’ve listen to over 20 book with my library card!
https://www.gutenberg.org/
https://www.kanopy.com
When I started at my library, we had maybe 4-5 people come in per day. Ive increased that over the last year to steadily over 20, but it’s like pulling teeth getting people in the door. I have to bribe them 🤣
We do unfortunately charge for printing (I’m trying to get away from that by not renting a copier at 140 bucks a month)
Going into your library and participating in programming is what keeps librarians going, though.
They are our nation's treasure.
The academic ones can be accessed through EBSCO
Click on Access EBSCO and see what local resources are nearby.
My library supports it. Here, I clicked on health. Plenty of content to chose from.
https://www.ebsco.com/products/res...
My library district covers five counties of rural libraries. The district buys ebooks but can only afford to buy one or two copies.
However! Our district has partnerships with two other districts that cover multiple counties, and they both have higher budgets…
Also, because I have a NY address, I can get library cards from NY public library and both Brooklyn and Queens public libraries. Three more accounts I can access through Libby.
I can always find what I want to read!
You can get so much at your local library!!!!