If you've known me long, you have probably heard me rant and rave about the library, specifically, the Calgary Public Library. Calgary is fortunate enough to have an excellent library system (even though the central library is DOWNRIGHT AWFUL, but soon that will be remedied by a building that isn't LITERALLY ON THE BRINK OF COLLAPSE and you should know that I am using "literally" in it's TRUE AND REAL SENSE and that if a building isn't built to hold books then guess what IT WILL BE PRONE TO FALLING DOWN) but lately they have been hitting it out of the dang-diddly park and I am here to tell you why. Five words, everybody: "the way of the future".
CPL has implemented a number of fantastic digital programs lately, and if you live in Calgary you will probably want to take advantage of them and you might not have heard of them because you might not follow the library on twitter, which is silly of you. Do you hate literacy?
Here's what you need to do: go to this page, and you will gain access to programs liiiiiike...
- Freegal, which allows you to stream and download music for free, and the downloads don't expire (which means: they are yours. FOREVER.)
- Hoopla, which is like Netflix, but FREE (and with less selection, unfortunately). It has movies, TV shows, music, AND audiobooks.
- Overdrive, which is the site/app I use to listen to audiobooks ON MY PHONE FOR ZERO DOLLARS. Also I use it to download ebooks to my Kobo, ALSO FOR FREE. OMGosh I love the library. (There are a few options there for audio/e books, but I've only used this one. IT'S GREAT.)
- Zinio, which has magazines. Do you want to read the latest issue of whatever but don't want to pay five dollars for it? The library HAS YOU COVERED. There is also a platform for newspapers OH MAN AMAZING.
- TumbleBookLibrary, okay I didn't know about this one until just now but get this: "animated, talking picture books which teach kids the joy of reading" UH, OKAY, THAT SOUNDS AWESOME.
Some things you can do with these resources: scope out a new album before deciding to buy it! Listen to books about polar exploration (or about CONCEIVABLY ANYTHING ELSE)! Read Maclean's and be more informed about Canada (OUR HOME AND NATIVE LAND, THE TRUTH NORTH STRONG AND FREE)! You can even sign up for a five-minutes-a-day book club with readings emailed to you EVERY DAY, OH MAN.
The future is now!
I agree the library is awesome! I'm currently part of the VIRL system (Vancouver Island Public Library) and they hold subscriptions to some the you have listed above. Hoopla appears excellent, however the selection is disappointing. My favourite is Overdrive for audiobooks, but Oneclick is good as well - its Recorded Books Inc. which was my favourite book tape publisher as a kid, so when I get around to listening to some old classics its going to be fantastic!
ReplyDeleteI have probably used Overdrive more than the physical library over the past few months. I love it.
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