• Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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    2 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.