Books. I love ‘em. Books are a great way to learn something new. They are a great way to unwind and de-stress. If you are anything like me, the bookstore can be an easy way to unload tons of your hard earned cash in the blink of an eye.
I try to stay away from bookstores. Simply because I know if I go in, I’m in trouble. I always seem to walk out with 3-4 new books and a big hole in my bank account.
It wasn’t until recently that the light bulb finally went off in my head. Just last year, my husband and I got a library card. Not because we wanted to check out books, but because our local library was offering free passes to area attractions and museums and I thought it would be a great way to enjoy some of the offerings of the city with our son. Since my husband had been laid off at the time, free was my best friend.
That led me to check out the library’s website. Wow, technology has gotten sooo much better since I was in high school (the last time I had visited a library, sad I know). Our library system here in Phoenix is pretty large. I quickly discovered that getting books from the library was so much easier than I had thought. With a toddler in tow, sometimes I just don’t want to spend hours in the library looking for a great book. And now I don’t have to.
Our library system is made up of multiple branches so you can pretty much find just about any book you are looking for. The coolest part is that I can go online and reserve whichever book I’d like, they will ship it to my local branch and I can just go pick it up and leave. Easy peasy!
Guess what else? I can also rent DVD’s and cd’s! How cool is that?
And being able to get these from the library means: no more DVD rentals, no buying cd’s only to find out it really only had one good song anyway and no more spending lots of money at the bookstore bringing home books I may or may not read more than once.
It also means, that I am not creating more waste and environmental damage caused by the manufacturing of more products. Who knew the library was really just a big recycling center?!
And for those books I just can’t live without because I will use them over and over and over? Well why not buy used? Half.com is an online site affiliated with eBay where buyers and sellers can exchange new and used books, cd’s and DVD’s. I’ve bought and sold through them many times and have been very pleased. More recycling!
Have you taken advantage of your local library system? Have you tried Half.com? What did you think?
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
This is a great article! I am a green consultant in my area and I will be sure to be getting my library card and getting the word out in my area.
I’m actually with an organization called Friends of the Phoenix Public Library; we’re a non-profit, grassroots library support group. I stumbled on your post and couldn’t leave without saying “Thanks;” for being a patron and for writing such a rave review of Phoenix’s great library system. See you at the library!