Hi

This week, I am going to convince you to sign up to your local library. Yes, even if you don't actually want to go there.

Why I love my local library

Kilburn Library's Tuesday morning Rhyme Time sessions for under 5s with resident host Carol is a masterclass in toddler entertainment. And it's free. Unlike the extortionately priced Monkey Music you find in every church hall.

But do I go to that library to read books?

No.

Do I spend a lot of time staring at my phone while holding a sleeping child?

Yes.

My lovely library understands this.

Your local library in your phone

It turns out that most libraries have a digital ebook and audiobook collection, as well as those standard physical book things on shelves.

You can borrow all these virtual books without getting up off the sofa. Just use an app called Libby.

Because you don't have to go down to your library in the forsaken rain, Libby feels more like you're using Amazon Kindle or iBooks or something like that. It feels almost illegal to use.

How to increase the bookshelves

Admittedly, just like physical libraries, they don't stock everything you'll ever want. Plus you have to wait in a virtual queue for things that are already being borrowed.

The best thing to do here is to increase the number of titles you have access to.

As the resident of a city, you're entitled to sign up for your local library, as I'm sure we all know. In London, that means you can sign up for a LOT of libraries. I'm not completely sure what the rules are, but you can definitely sign up to multiple boroughs.

Each borough has their own library system. If you sign up to them all individually, then add all your cards to the Libby app, you'll create one massive repository.

Recession is the mother of ingenuity

Unlike subscription-based services like Kindle Unlimited, this is all free. You never feel like you own a Kindle book anyway, so you might as well just knowingly borrow it from the library for a set period of time.

That's also the beauty of Libby: borrowing books comes with a time limit. That forces you to prioritise reading. With looming due dates set, you're encouraged to actually read the book instead of the oh-too-common forgetting about it after purchasing.

If you want to increase the number of books you read per year, simple old-school library dates combined with your device's instant convenience means you might find Libby is the solution you've been looking for.

Libby is apparently available in 78 countries, so wherever you are, it's worth seeing if it works for you.

Stand-up routine of the week

The more I'm drawn into the world of looking after my children, the more I realise I will end up like this old Stewart Lee routine.

It seemed funny when I first heard it back in 2012, but now that I'm a parent, Lee's explanation of how he sees life and what he's able to talk about seems like an ominous prophecy...

That's all I have this week because I've been watching Scooby Doo.

Thanks for reading.

Adam

Adam Zulawski

TranslatingMarek.com / Procrastilearning.com / More stuff

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