Libraries can be budget savers!
As someone who approaches their budget like Smaug hoarding gold in the Lonely Mountain; I appreciate saving a buck or two. My library card has always been the one membership that has saved me the most money. I am that person who leaves the bookstore empty-handed as I’ve placed all the titles I want on hold. Every movie night features a stack of films from WBRL. I also have a burning need to immediately mention Libby upon any utterance of Audible. Before you ask, yes, I am a delight at parties.
Supplement or Replace your Subscriptions
I understand that some subscription services are needed. With the Oilers reaching the playoffs this year, the Sportsnet+ app may have made an appearance in my life... However, in the age where the digital world is the go-to place for entertainment, the streaming service market has been pulling a fast one on consumers as they have been steadily increasing their cost of services and limiting password sharing options. After a 2023 survey of two-thousand subscription service users, Forbes Home and OnePoll reported that 44% of users saw the cost of their services rise last year. They also discovered that people are spending an average of $552 per year on their subscription services. With a Wood Buffalo Library Card, you will have immediate access to all our physical and online resources, which may help to cull some of those costly entertainment services. Plus, we don’t care if you share your membership with your family!
Watch hoopla
Did you know that, as of last year, there are no more limits to how many Dvds, Blu-rays or 4K Dvds that you can borrow? As long as you check them out and bring them back, you can take armloads of popular new movies and old favorites from our collection to make your own movie marathon at home! The newest addition to our physical film collection is the 4k HD Blu-Rays, which deliver the best home video picture quality money can buy.
We also have an online resource, hoopla, that, among other features we will discuss further on, will deliver tv shows and movies straight to your preferred device. Without a wait list! You can even download them to your device to watch later when you are unable to connect to Wi-Fi, like when travelling or camping!
While you’re only able to borrow 10 items a month, hoopla has introduced a Bingepass that allows users to—you guessed it—binge! Entire collections of streaming content are available at your fingertips for seven days with just one borrow. Hoopla changes up the selection every six months or so, and there have been some big content creators attached to the online resource like Craftsy and Curiosity Stream.
Read & Listen
If you’re looking to read, then the library is the obvious place for you. Like with our movies, you can borrow as many books as you can carry! Our receipts even show how much money you’ve saved over time by borrowing items from us.
If you’re looking for materials in different languages we have items for all ages! We have a well-loved French collection on both floors. Our Indigenous Cultural Corner houses items for First Nations languages like Dene, Cree, Michif and more. We also have an extensive world language collection for both floors that cover languages like Italian, Gujarati, Chinese, Spanish and much MUCH more!
Not only do we have thousands of physical books for you to borrow and love, but we also have several online databases with eBooks, eAudiobooks, and eMagazines for you to download at your convenience!
Libby is one of our most popular resources because it offers access to thousands of eBooks, eAudiobooks and eMagazines. Libby may seem familiar if you are used to using Overdrive. Libby is owned by Overdrive and offers the same free digital content—except it’s on Libby’s easy-to-use platform that was designed to make finding, borrowing, and enjoying titles easier than ever. One of Libby’s fancy new functions is the Deliver Later option users have when they receive a hold notification that they aren’t quite ready for. You will no longer lose your place in line with Deliver Later, the hold will simply go to the next user in line until you are ready to read!
Hoopla is my personal favourite for e-reading as it’s the only online resource to offer access to electronic versions of comic books or graphic novels along with its eBooks, eAudiobooks and eBooks. For those like me, comic book lovers with aged eyes that can no longer read the tiny font, hoopla allows users to double tap on the screen to zoom in to each comic panel.
While Libby has an excellent selection of eMagazines, Pressreader is the heavyweight champ when it comes to periodicals. It connects users to thousands of global newspapers and magazines, that means that you will be able to borrow an issue of Cosmopolitan U.S, or you can see editions from France, Italy, India and more!
For our users who are looking to read a publication from their home country, there are over 150 regions for you to choose from!
Tumblebooks is the online resource for your little readers! It’s an eBook site with over 1000 titles suitable for kindergarten-grade 6. The titles can come as an animated and talking picture book, a read-along chapter book, or the classic eBook format. Stories are also available in English, Spanish, or French which will make the first step to being a bilingual kid even easier!
In this tough economy, every cent counts. So, if you’ve managed to save even one dollar using the library, that’s more money in your pocket to spend on yourself! And remember, even if we do collect a few fines now and then, at least we won’t use your hard-earned cash to build a space rocket—we just want to buy more materials for you!
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