Library perks worth looking for

[walkinwood]

I just found out that the Denver public library offers :


- free passes to local museums and state parks! You have to "book" a pass online or at the library since they have a limited number.
- A lottery for tickets to the Colorado Symphony & Performing Arts Center
- A way to stream movies using Kanopy
- Homebound services for people who can't make it to the library


The following for loan periods of a week to 3 weeks
- Draft Check Meter, Power Check meter & Indoor pollution meter

- GoPro camera
- chromebooks and wi-fi hotspot
- Video projector


It is worth checking out what your library offers beyond books, dvds and CDs.

 

[mystang52]

I couldn't agree more! Our local library system makes me happy ( well, that's a slight exaggeration) to pay my high property taxes. One of the frequent things I take advantage of are the numerous lectures covering a variety of topics.
I've also taken my grandchildren to various child games/entertainment activities there, and while I haven't partaken, there are also good ol' fashioned book discussions. Library is indeed a great source for many things beyond books.

 

[sengsational]

Our library offers audio books, movies, tv shows, ebooks, through hoopla, overdrive, Libby (DRM aware players/apps). You might need to wait, since they only have a license for a few concurrent copies, but it's easy to build a queue and always have something.


But I need to ask about borrowing hardware, and get a list of courses.

 

[Bestwifeever]

We just watched a movie through Hoopla on our second non-cable TV (added as an app to the Roku interface). Soooo easy!!!

The movie was What We Did on Our Holiday https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/what_we_did_on_our_holiday It had a great cast, and is a sweet funny extended family story

 

[joeea]

It is worth checking out what your library offers beyond books, dvds and CDs.

Good advice.

With fewer folks reading library books, libraries around the country are finding other ways to justify their continued existence and trying to serve their communities in new ways.

Our local library offers terrific children's services - crafts, poetry, lego activities, movies, 3D printing, book clubs, and lots of programs in association with other children's outreach groups.

They also host lots of art and music events, lectures, family movies, as well as a town meeting room.

I particularly enjoy their Kindle offerings through Overdrive.

And of course they offer the typical museum passes and discounts for museums throughout the area.

It's a nice library with terrific employees and volunteers - even if I pretty much never borrow dead tree books for myself any longer.

 

[FinanceGeek]

+1 on the Kindle/Overdrive offerings


Sadly the big libraries in my area now serve as daytime shelters for the homeless. Feel bad for these folks, but our family no longer feels comfortable going into the building. So our involvement with library services is limited to what we can do online.

 

[travelover]

Our library has free access to Morningstar, genealogy sites and Consumer Reports, among others.

 

[EastWest Gal]

+1 on the Kindle/Overdrive offerings


Sadly the big libraries in my area now serve as daytime shelters for the homeless. Feel bad for these folks, but our family no longer feels comfortable going into the building. So our involvement with library services is limited to what we can do online.

Are there smaller satellite libraries in your area? Our Bay Area town had a pretty good sized public library in a bad part of town, but a much smaller library locally that was very good. Where I live now in PA has a county library system 6 different libraries scattered. The nearby city is in a different county and even its downtown library seems very safe. One can search online and have materials sent to any library in the system for pickup.

One of our local libraries has regular foreign language groups, where people meet to practice a second language and keep up their skills. There are also lots of lecture offerings, and children's reading groups in the summer.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

Our astronomy club has sponsored telescopes that can be checked out of our local library.

The branch near me has a large selection of jigsaw puzzles, which DW and I have become addicted to since retirement. No due dates; you keep them as long as you need to.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I'm also a library fan. I like books I can markup so we go to the library book sales. I just bought 5 new to me books in new condition for $5 and the proceeds go to the library. We also enjoy the activity passes. Our library has 69 venues to pick from. Some are discounts offers but the majority are completely free passes and include most of the local museums and other cultural attractions. We also have access to lynda.com, Great Courses and free music and video downloads (Freegal).

 

[Major Tom]

One of my local branches has a tool lending library. You can check out everything from screwdrivers and files, up to large power tools. Last year, I checked out a jackhammer and ground driver attachment, to drive a few ground rods for a radio transmitter installation. I'm still trying to figure out how I found it in me to transport the jackhammer back home on my bicycle. That thing was heavy!

It's great having a tool lending library - very useful for home projects requiring tools that I don't use often enough to justify purchasing.

 

[brucethebroker]

One of my local branches has a tool lending library. You can check out everything from screwdrivers and files, up to large power tools. Last year, I checked out a jackhammer and ground driver attachment, to drive a few ground rods for a radio transmitter installation. I'm still trying to figure out how I found it in me to transport the jackhammer back home on my bicycle. That thing was heavy!

It's great having a tool lending library - very useful for home projects requiring tools that I don't use often enough to justify purchasing.

Pick up a pull behind the bike kiddie cart/buggy for your next big tool. Great way to bring home groceries, also. The carts usually run about 50 bucks used.

 

[Nick12]

In Orlando the local libraries offer English classes to the many immigrants in the area, tax help during tax season, book discussion group meetings, storytelling for the little ones and ice cold AC during the brutal Florida summers for the ones that need to cool off such as the many homeless in the city.

 

[Bestwifeever]

You have to go to the library to use it, but we have ancestry.com available—apparently you can save the results and send them to your home computer. I have been wondering if someone in my generation has done research on my mother’s family but not enough to dive in—I’ll ask the librarian about how it works. There are about a dozen library computers in the adult section, always busy.

I see we also have lynda.com, the online learning mentioned above.

 

[ArkTinkerer]

We have a seed library. It is suppose to be for seed swapping and they sponsor an annual swap every February. Honor system but I think it works pretty well.

 

[cathy63]

I know I have mentioned this before, but for those who live in California, you can get a library card from any public library in the state, not just the one in your area. I read mostly e-books, so I don't care where the library is actually located, though some cards do expire after two or three years and you have to visit in person to renew them.

San Francisco has a much better cookbook collection in their Overdrive catalog than any of the San Diego libraries have, so I check out a lot from them to try out a cookbook and decide whether to buy it. I use the Kindle app on my iPad when I'm cooking from an e-book.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I just remembered some of the libraries in our metro area have 3D printers. Learning how to use one of those is on my retirement to do list.

 

[travelover]

One of my local branches has a tool lending library. You can check out everything from screwdrivers and files, up to large power tools. Last year, I checked out a jackhammer and ground driver attachment, to drive a few ground rods for a radio transmitter installation. I'm still trying to figure out how I found it in me to transport the jackhammer back home on my bicycle. That thing was heavy!

It's great having a tool lending library - very useful for home projects requiring tools that I don't use often enough to justify purchasing.

Wow, this is awesome.