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Libraries are a wonderful and often forgotten building that can be full of wonderful items ripe for discovery for you and your loved ones—especially young loved ones who have yet to discover the wonderful oasis that is the library. If you haven’t visited your library in a while, or wandered through the library cataloging system in a while, here are a few reasons why you should drop by your neighborhood library—and possibly even pick up a new library card while you're at it. New Movies Another plus to visiting a library and getting a library card is that most libraries have a great collection of movies—sometimes even the new blockbusters. Though some libraries will charge a fee to rent a DVD or VHS (yes, most libraries still carry VHS movies), it usually is relatively inexpensive to rent them, sometimes only a dollar. But, most libraries do not charge and have a large collection of movies to rent. Though you do have a shorter time limit with movies than with books, it is still extremely generous, sometimes even more than a week for rentals. Story Time In most libraries, there is a pretty substantial children’s section and most libraries even provide a daily story time. This is a wonderful opportunity to bring your child to listen and learn about new books and even meet other children in your neighborhood. One of the best things about story time, however, is that most libraries will have special guests to come visit and will even have famous authors come to read their newest releases. Classes and Seminars Other great additions to most libraries are the classes available to any library patrons. Usually libraries will include computer classes and even software classes to teach the newest software programs—most often they will have a class teaching the Microsoft programs and if you are lucky, some libraries provide Adobe program classes too. Another plus to these types of classes is that they are often at night to accommodate working parents or adults. Some of the classes are directed towards older adults learning new technology and those are often held during the day to accommodate retirees. Used Book Stores One of the best parts of the library is the used book store. Often, libraries will get updated copies of books and will end up having too many older copies. These will then be sold in a used book store. Sometimes they will even sell some of the newer copies of books and all are relatively inexpensive, sometimes only costing a couple of dollars. Be sure to check out this area before you leave—often libraries will even have sales to get rid of some of their stock so you can get some seriously inexpensive books. Books (eBooks and MP3s) Lastly, the most obvious thing to find at a library is a book. But, there are many different books, including a wonderful children’s section in most libraries and a very complete adult section. With so many different books for every age in your household, there is bound to be something to please everyone. One of the newest things to hit the library shelves and the online library cataloging system is the ability to borrow eBooks and even MP3s—sometimes from the comfort of your own home. A lot of libraries have adopted new systems online that make it possible to download eBooks to your Kindle or Nook which then will disappear after your rental time is over. This is also possible in some cases for Audiobooks, another popular form of reading these days. Be sure to ask your local librarian about downloading and using MP3s and eBooks.
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