Libraries Are For Lovers (Of Books)

Here’s the thing about the library: we don’t really shush people anymore. Also, we like to believe that everyone knows how awesome we are, but the other night when I mentioned KFPL’s amazing downloadable media collection to a friend and they were all “WHAAAA” and I was all “WHAT YOU DIDN’T KNOW?” I realized that maybe, just maybe, we need to spread the good word a little more. With that in mind, here’s a non-exhaustive list of things you probably didn’t know about the Kingston Frontenac Public Library.

1. We have downloadable eBooks and audiobooks, and you can download and access them from anywhere–if you have a library card, that is. Maybe you live in Kingston but spend more time away from town. Maybe you’re shipping out overseas next week. Take the library with you! Your KFPL card gives you full access to downloadable goodies from anywhere you plug in your laptop. Check out our media page.
2. We have movies! And they’re free to borrow! I currently have library copies of Zombieland, Sunshine Cleaning, and North By Northwest on my coffee table, and I didn’t pay a cent for ’em. Okay okay, you might have to wait a couple of weeks for the really new stuff (example: I was on the list for He’s Just Not That Into You for about a month, and within the first ten minutes wondered why in the name of all that is good in the world I thought that movie was worth waiting for), but whatever, it’s not like you have anywhere to be, right? Is the world going to end if you can’t watch 500 Days Of Summer TONIGHT? Probably not.
3. Our local history collection is totally rad. One of my favourite little treasures is the collection of old city road plans from the early 20th century, where you can look up your house and see how much your street has changed in a hundred years. It’s like StreetView! On paper! We also help facilitate the Ontario Time Machine, a digital collection of historical miscellany that is totally worth a gander.
4. You can bug us over IM. KFPL participates in the province-wide AskOn project, where you can ask a librarian all your burning reference questions from the comfort of your living room, just by hooking up to our live chat reference service.
5. Screw Doctor Google–you can get way better health information from us.  We subscribe to a whole slew of wicked databases, including some great health resources on mainstream and alternative treatments.  Another greatest hit of our virtual collection is the Auto Repair Reference Center, which will take you to detailed instructions and schematics on your broken down jalopy. You can read daily newspapers from across Canada in our Canadian Newsstand database, or look up the Boer War in the World Book Encyclopedia online.  Check out all this and more at our eResources page.
6. We have book club sets! Come in and sign up for a Book Club Card, and you’ll be able to order sets of ten copies of amazing, thought-provoking books for you and your book club. The sets come with discussion ideas and other resources and there are tons to choose from.
7. Librarians are nice people. Seriously, we really are. We love being disturbed (in more ways than one) and we love answering questions and we love just chatting about books and magazines and movies and TV shows.  We are basically the best people in the universe. You should really come and talk to us.

Thanks to splityarn for the thumbnail photo that accompanies this post.