What is it that, at least here in the U.S., you are already paying for and, in my opinion, is one of the most underutlilized resources for saving money?
Your local library!
I worked for a large library system for two years and now live in a small mid-western town where I use our library frequently. Even after all that experience, it still surprises me what can be found at a library. What amazes me even more is that most people don’t have any idea just how much is available at no cost, beyond any taxes you’ve already paid, of course.
By merely walking into a library, you probably wouldn’t be aware of even half the possibilities. It can take some time to truly learn what all they have through exploration, research, and talking to the library staff. To help you save time and, hopefully, some money, I wanted to share what is available to my family and neighbors at our local branch so you’ll have an idea what you may be missing.
Before you even walk through the door at our library there is a US mail box, a paper recycling dumpster, a donation drop box for a local charity, and an after hours drop box to return your library items. The mailbox has saved me, on numerous occasions, a trip to the post office and being able to drop off checked out items after hours can save you from late fees.
Upon entering, there is a small used bookstore with a variety of items including books, DVDs, and magazines for very low prices. Everything sells for less than $1.50 and sometimes items are simply free.
The following can be borrowed FREE of charge:
- Books
- DVDs
- CDs
- Audiobooks
- Play – Aways
- Magazines
- Newspapers
- Video games
- State museum tickets
- Heritage museum tickets
- board & yard games
- cookie cutters
- baking molds & pans
- WiFi hot spots
- portable device chargers
- virtual reality glasses
- toys
- knife sharpener
- telescope
- umbrellas
- check engine diagnostic tool
Services available free of charge are:
- notary
- faxing
- computer lab
- teen room
- toddler/kids play area
- kids computers
- private meeting rooms
- Local Ancestry room w/assistance
- Study tables with phone charging stations
- craft activities for kids
- Inter-library loan
- Tablets for in-house use
- variety of classes
- WiFi
- MyLibraryRewards
Through the library’s website, with your library card you are also able to access:
- e-books
- audio-books
- e-comics & graphic novels
- streaming movies & tv shows
- digital music
- practice driving and test manuals
- business and legal databases
- Rosetta Stone
- Cyprus Resume
- legal forms
- American Fact Finder
- Education apps
- Gale Virtual Reference Library
- Britannica Library
- Teen Book Cloud
As you can see, libraries can offer a multitude of ways for you to save money, and all you need is a free library card.
Take some time out of your busy schedule to stop by your local library and check it out. Please leave a comment to let us know how it went and what cool resources you discover.
I LOVE my local library, or any library really! I’m a big book lover and can spend ages wondering around, looking through the books. You’re right about it being an underused resource, though mine doesn’t have even half of what can be found in some of the libraries in the US by the sound of it. I wish we had an out of ours drop box at ours. Apparently they used to, not sure why they don’t any more as it would be incredibly helpful to have. Great post – long live our wonderful libraries!!
I am so happy that you appreciate the library as much as we do! I was just there today and had to rush in and out, but like you, I could spend hours wandering around. I always thought it would be fun to spend the night in a library so I could have hours browsing through every single stack!
Thank you so very much for taking the time to comment, we appreciate your visit.