38 Comments
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Charlie Connell's avatar

Hell yeah! I've only gone into my local library a handful of times, but I check out books through them on Libby pretty much every week.

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Jane Pratt's avatar

That's awesome, Charlie! You always know about the good things before I do. How long has this Libby thing been around anyway? asks grandma.

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Cheryl B Werber's avatar

JAAAAAANNNNNNNE.

Okay, to be fair one of my closest friends is a senior librarian.

BUT JAAAAANNNNNE.

Welcome to the club. 😁

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Jane Pratt's avatar

Ha ha ha! Seriously, how long has it been around?

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Cheryl B Werber's avatar

Honestly? No idea. 😅 I shall ask my librarian!

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Jane Pratt's avatar

I appreciate it! Now I want to come up with something to "ask my librarian" and just so I can use that phrase.

And mind you, my email is on Yahoo so that's how up to speed I am.

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Cheryl B Werber's avatar

Libby launched in June 2017.

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Robin D. Wheeler's avatar

Yay!! Getting a library card helps them get funding and is an act of resistance! I love my library!

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Jane Pratt's avatar

Yes!! I've been publicly supporting libraries for this reason in interviews I've been doing but had never gotten my own card until now. It starts at home, Jane! I'm learning!

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Cheryl B Werber's avatar

JANE. Do you know how much stuff you can borrow from the Library?! Not to mention via Libby or other programs? Graphic novels? Audio books! Here in my humble city you can borrow tools, games, etc. JANE.

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Jane Pratt's avatar

I adore you and you crack me up, CHERYL

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Robin D. Wheeler's avatar

No joke—last week I checked with my library to see if they had dog clippers among the tools they lend!

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Jane Pratt's avatar

Wait, I am seriously in need of dog clippers right now. I'm trying to use my own scissors and it's not going well. So do they??

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Robin D. Wheeler's avatar

Unfortunately, they didn’t have dog clippers so I’m still living with a 50-pound Muppet. An attempt was made with a standard beard trimmer. It did not go well.

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Jane Pratt's avatar

Haha. I have two muppets with me as well. When I'm ready to confess all, I'll tell you the story of my dog grooming gone awry over pandemic, which led me to do at home surgery. It was successful though so it's a happy ending.

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Robin D. Wheeler's avatar

Oh no! 😹 I can’t wait! My Muppet is a 14-year-old golden retriever/corgi mix. She has that thick, long retriever coat and this summer I decided the old lady would probably enjoy being naked. So far, no luck. I want to do it before the kid returns to college so they can enjoy the spectacle.

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Cheryl B Werber's avatar

Dog clippers! Yes, that makes sense!

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AJoy's avatar

One town near me is proud of their special cake pans collection. And do not get me started on the giant chess set u can check out at my own DIVINE local library. There’s a giant chess board in the nearby ped mall .

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Robin D. Wheeler's avatar

Cake pans! My library has them, too!

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Jane Pratt's avatar

Where have I been all my life? Seriously missing out, that's where! Cake pans!?!

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Andy Finley's avatar

Yeah... I wouldn't be surprised if suddenly you found you couldn't check out books because your account already shows you'd checked out The Communist Manifesto, The Voynich Manuscript, and How to Build a Nuclear Reactor in your Basement.

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Charlie Connell's avatar

I stole a copy of the Communist Manifesto from the public library in my hometown. Not so much because I wanted to steal it or even just thought it was an edgy thing to do, but because the cover had clearly been damaged and they replaced it with what appears to be 1970s kitchen wallpaper covered with daisies. The hilarity of it was too much for me to handle, I needed to have it. For the proletariat, of course

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Jane Pratt's avatar

Woah! That's art and you did a great deed by preserving it.

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Jane Pratt's avatar

HAHAHA leave it to you to take an innocuous little question and turn it into something this specific and hilarious. Thanks for that!

And now you've inspired me so that when I do check out all of those books, I will blame it on someone using my code which I "inadvertently" published.

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AJoy's avatar

Libby is tits. No library card entire adult life?????????? I can’t fathom

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Jane Pratt's avatar

I don't know what I've been thinking! I have gotten lots of books sent to me for free from kind publishers, but that is still no excuse.

Also, your way with words continues: Libby is tits, indeed!

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AJoy's avatar

My favorite college prof hates library books and finds them sticky. Clearly, having books sent to you would change the game, you’re forgiven now that you’ve seen the light and are proper library patron.LOL

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Jane Pratt's avatar

Hahaha. Your college prof sounds a little OCD in a way that I relate to. Nothing is worth sticky.

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Derek Kupper's avatar

It would probably be wise to black out the number/code, but without your PIN, it's down to how many people read this and then try to brute force it.

Also, Hoopla is another version of Libby in a way I don't fully understand, but I use both!

AND congrats on the library card! Libraries are such a fucking miracle. Our local one has a snack and toiletries pantry for local people in need, a sign that they will always respect your pronouns and name, but to let them know who they can use them around, and will give you a card in your real name or your dead name, depending. And librarians are just like 99% of the time amazing people!

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Jane Pratt's avatar

Thank you! I love your local library from that description! And I love that you’re giving me credit for learning about another, Hoopla, when I have just cracked Libby. Thanks for the vote of confidence!

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Celia Cain, PhD's avatar

Probably not the case in NYC, which has one of the world’s great collections, but in many areas, various regions band together, so if you have a card in one city, you can check out books in another. Digital interlibrary loan, basically. My mother lives in a tiny town in Colorado. She has access to most of the collections in the state—I think only Denver is excluded—meaning she has a full and rich library at her fingertips, which she can read on Libby or have sent to her local library. Her library is a community hub, with meeting spaces and quiet places to work, as well as all the expected programming. I have access to 6 library systems in Ontario. Through Libby I can get most any new book (and it puts me on hold in the shortest line) and the different libraries subscribe to different magazines and newspapers. But also Jane, there’s so much you can do with a library card (beyond reading and research). They have audio, film, and tv streaming. Games, cds, dvds. Craftsy and Artistworks are free through my library. Passes to Ontario Provincial parks. You can access archives around the world. You can check out camping equipment and seeds, spices, sewing patterns, art supplies, legos, computers, medical equipment, 3D printers….

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Jane Pratt's avatar

This is amazingly valuable info. Thank you so much! By the way, whenever I see your writing here, I remember how much I want you to write for AJPT and I think I still owe you an assignment. Let me go look at our last emails. Thanks again for this!

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Jennifer Dines's avatar

This top hip-hop track linked below really says it all! As Cheryl said, WELCOME TO THE CLUB! Also, I love Libby girls too (and I'm not talking about the brand of canned pumpkin here)!

https://youtu.be/lyxEDSnegTU?si=e95HGvp_yJVFZb2N&t=52

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Jane Pratt's avatar

Arthur is always on top of all the right trends! I love that clip so much. And now I'm gonna go look up Libby canned pumpkin. Xoxoxo

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Jennifer Dines's avatar

Absolutely! Francine is very proud to be named after an Arthur character even though that’s not why we picked the name. If you cook, Libby is good for the pumpkin pasta recipe from skinnytaste.com … I often hate too cook though except a little bit in the fall.

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Erin Templeton's avatar

For some reason, my work internet flagged the book link as porn, which made this book club feel extra controversial and subversive, but I am also relieved to know that the actual book selection is one that I have been wanting to read anyway. 💖

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