• Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    My wife is a library administrator in (depending on how you want to look at it) a large town or a small city.

    Some of the things the library offers people might not expect:

    • Free 3D printing.

    • Free large format printing.

    • Free sewing machines.

    • A ‘libary of things’ where you can check out things like tools or musical instruments.

    • Tabletop RPGs you can take home or play there with people.

    • A teen room with an XBox and a Playstation and a bunch of games, but adults are welcome too.

    • eBooks and streaming audiobooks, movies and TV. My wife listens to audiobooks constantly and hasn’t paid for one in years.

    You can also book a librarian to basically be your own personal researcher for a certain amount of time and they will even deliver books to you and pick them up later if you need them to.

    Soon, a new branch will be opening. It will have a room with a lockable door and a signup sheet, one person allowed at a time. Inside will be a shower, a washer and a dryer, free to use.

    By the way, if a library doesn’t have the item you want but another library has it, they can get it for you from that library.

    Libraries are amazing.

    • RaccoonBall@lemm.ee
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      5 months ago

      I love the musical instrument loan programs. I loaned a violin for a month to test out whether I wanted to learn to play it.

      I like it and the experience gave me enough of an understanding of the instrument to feel comfortable buying a used one to continue on with.

      I don’t think I ever would have started learning it without the library program, the instrument is so intimidating

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        That’s awesome! My wife brought home a ukulele to try, but then she never tried it and brought it home. On the other hand, she’s already very good on piano, so that’s not the worst thing in the world.