If you are like me, you buy a lot of books and music. These take up valuable space and most of the time you may never read them again. Now you can go online to your library website. The library websites are almost like going to amazon.com or one of the other online bookstores. There are descriptions of the books and even pictures of the covers.
Many libraries have formed co-operatives with other libraries in their areas. This means that you can order books from other libraries farther from you and in some cases college libraries! You can order the books and have them all sent to the library that is closest to you. It usually takes less than a week. When you return them you can usually return them to any library. No packing slip or packaging materials required.
It is not just limited to books anymore. You can get CD’s and Videos from your library too. Some libraries also have art work. You can actually check out a print from your library, keep it until it is due back and get a new one. The most current change is that you can get periodicals, e books, and recordings online from your computer at home. Check with your own library about this, but a lot of the time all you have to do is go into your local library and ask to get an access code to gain access to the net library from home. Once you have done that all you have to do is log in from home and you will have access to e books, recordings and anything else that is available on net library.
Another resource that can help you find items is worldcat.org. With worldcat, you can look up any item that might normally be at a library and see which libraries have it and identify copies located near you. You can then go directly to that item on the libraries webpage. Depending on the library, you may be able to have the item shipped to your library as well. This database includes public and college libraries.
So, there is no reason why you shouldn’t go to your local library and sign up for your free library card. There are tons of resources just waiting for you. So go online and find them.
