New Year's Resolution: Take Advantage of Your Library Card

Happy New Year!  Every New Year offers an opportunity to grow, expand, and improve ourselves.  That’s one of the main reasons why people make New Year’s resolutions.  According to the Washington Post, 40 percent of Americans make New Year’s resolutions.  These resolutions may be to lose weight, stop smoking, exercise more, eat healthier, or any number of other things.  This year, I challenge you to add the resolution to use your library card more.  It may have been a while since you’ve been to the library or you may not be aware of all the resources you have available.  Take a look at some of the many benefits of having your library card. 

With a library card, most people think immediately of checking out books.  Of course this is true, but you may also check out graphic novels, music scores, DVDs, audiobooks, certain magazines, foreign language instruction CDs and music CDs.  Furthermore, did you know that some libraries let you check out art prints, board games, ukuleles, and Wi-Fi hotspots?  If you’re curious about whether something is available, please call the library to inquire.  You also have access to a multitude of databases including Mango Languages for foreign language instruction and LearningExpress Library which offers a wealth of information including video tutorials for computer instruction.  The descriptions of the services and databases below are from the BPL website.  The Overdrive description is from its website.  

Interlibrary Loan - The Interlibrary Loan (ILL) service makes it possible for library users in Jefferson County to borrow books, photocopies of articles, and government publications not already owned by the public libraries of Jefferson County. Through WorldCat Discovery, library users may search and request titles from public and academic libraries across the United States.

       

Kanopy - Kanopy is a video streaming platform for libraries with one of the largest collections in the world (5x Netflix) - over 30,000 films featuring over 1,000 producers including Criterion Collection, Media Education Foundation, Great Courses, Kino Lorber, etc. Our films are more typically "educative" in nature (documentaries, foreign language films, etc) and our motto is "thoughtful entertainment" - seeking to provide patrons access to films of social and cultural importance.

Freegal - Freegal Music Service includes millions of songs from ten thousand labels including the labels of Sony Music Entertainment. Stream or download music. Music streaming is unlimited. The Freegal Music downloaded files are DRM-FREE, Mp3 files that can be played on any device (including iPods). Even better, the downloaded music file is yours to keep with no due date and no expiration date.

       

Hoopla - Bringing you hundreds of thousands of movies, full music albums, audiobooks and more, hoopla is a revolutionary digital service made possible by your local library. From Hollywood blockbusters to best selling artists and authors – not just the hits, but the niche and hard-to-find as well – you’ll soon discover that hoopla provides you the freedom you've been searching for to experience, explore and enjoy what you want, when you want, and where you want. Simple to access and use, without the hassle of having to return the items you've borrowed, all you need is your library card, a web browser, smart phone or tablet to get started. The freedom you want is here, now. Sign up today!

Flipster - Read magazines online. Get access to Atlantic, Better Homes & Gardens, Cosmpolitan, Ebony, Entertainment Weekly, ESPN Magazine, Essence, Field & Stream, Forbes, Good Housekeeping, Health, HGTV Magazine, Motor Trend, O The Oprah Magazine, People, Prevention, Real Simple, Rolling Stone, Slam, Southern Living, US Weekly, The Week, and Wired.

Overdrive - OverDrive is a free service offered by your library or school that lets you borrow digital content (like ebooks and audiobooks) anytime, anywhere. Every OverDrive collection is slightly different because each library or school picks the digital content they want for their users. Through OverDrive, you can borrow Kindle Books to read on Kindle devices or Kindle reading apps. Both Libby and the OverDrive app allow you to borrow and read the same digital content from your library.