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The San Diego Traveler

More Education for the Masses - The Libraries

by Carole A. Lane on March 30th, 2007

Fletcher Hills Branch LibraryIn the last article, I wrote about the free classes available online and in the San Diego community.  The free educational resources don’t end there.   Our single greatest free educational resource is, without a doubt, the San Diego Library system. 

This has been true since  when the first San Diego library was established.  Our libraries have changed a great deal since then, expanding into and services  never dreamed of.  Are you taking advantage of all of the free educational materials and services now available at your local library?

Calendar of Events

Spring Valley Branch LibraryYou can still go in and check out a book, or sit and read the latest news, but today there’s so much more.  There are classes, concerts and lectures offered by libraries throughout the county. (.)  In any given month, you’re likely to find puppet shows, computer classes, kids’ crafts, career counseling, video game parties, dance troops, game nights, exercise classes, support groups, movie screenings, and homework help all offered for free at county libraries.  Book clubs for kids, teens and adults meet to discuss the merits of the latest bestsellers or classic books.  Grandparents come in to read to little ones at story time every week.  The library has become a gathering place for all types of community groups, as well as individuals of  every age.

Mobile LibraryBooks-By-Mail

If you’re temporarily or permanently shut in, there’s a free program available.  Even the postage is paid for.

Public Computer Services

The libraries provide free so that you can use the Internet or Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, Publisher, Excel or Access.

For those doing research, there are numerous online databases available in the library, and some can be accessed from your Lakeside Branch Libraryhome computer using your library card.  These include databases of newspapers, magazines, health & medical information, and various homework reference works.

Within the library, you can trace your roots using the extensive Ancestry genealogical databases too.

Reaching beyond the library walls

Did you know that you can access the online?  Let’s say you’ve always wanted to read the classics, but didn’t know where to start.  Using the Internet, you can download the from universities like Rutgers, and then go online to the . 

Using their online system, you can look up the books that you’d like to read, searching all of the libraries in the San Diego Library system, but it doesn’t stop there.  , (which includes San Diego State University, the University of California San Diego, University of San Diego, and California State University San Marcos) has just Potrero Branch Libraryopened their libraries to the San Diego Library System, meaning that you can also access all of the books in their catalogs as well.  When you find a book you’d like to read in any of these libraries, click Request, put in your library card and  and select the library that’s nearest you. 

Rancho San Diego Branch Library If you sign up for email notification, they will email you when your requested books are available (usually in just a few days), and you can go to your local library and check them out for three weeks.  About three days before your books are due, they’ll send another email notification so that you can take the books back, or go online to renew them for another three weeks.

No time to read?

You say you don’t have time to read as much as you’d like because you’re stuck on the road, working out, cooking dinner, and so on?  Those would be great times to listen to a book.  Many books are available in audio form, and  these can also be checked out through your local library.  Some can be , to be played on your MP3 player!   You could even learn a new language through downloadable audiobooks. 

Listening to a good book while you do your grocery shopping or sort your laundry will make a mundane task more stimulating.  Listening on your way to work will make your journey feel shorter, while nourishing your mind.  Let’s face it, it’s a whole lot better than most of what you’ll hear on the radio.

Online Books

Solana Beach Branch Library The San Diego Libraries now offer , an extensive library of animated picture books available online for beginning readers.  There are also puzzles and games to play, attracting children to the fun, while sneaking in some education.

With your library card, you can also access literally hundreds of  available as free downloads on your computer.  You don’t even have to step foot in a library to access them if you have a library card.  An added benefit is once they’re “checked out” online, they never have to be turned in.

Stealing some reading time

If you have a PDA (or laptop or Tablet PC or Pocket PC), you can transfer the books you’ve downloaded over to your PDA, and access them through , free software available from Microsoft.  When you’re standing in line, sitting in your car waiting to pick up your kids at school, or even spending some time in the bathroom, you can read a few pages, and when you’re done, insert a virtual bookmark where you left off for the next time you find yourself waiting around.

There’s also , if you’d like your computer or PDA to read the book to you.

A lifetime of learning

Rancho Santa Fe Branch Library Whether you want to fill in gaps in your education, take up a new hobby, or learn how to repair your car or home, the San Diego County Libraries and San Diego universities have books on nearly any topic under the sun.  You can now access this treasure trove of information and entertainment in more ways than ever before.

While colleges and universities charge more each year, this only amplifies the value of free public libraries.  In the words of Andrew Carnegie: 

There is not such a cradle of democracy upon the earth as the Free Public Library, this republic of letters, where neither rank, office, nor wealth receives the slightest consideration.

Doesn’t this make you want to learn something new today?

Oceanside Public Library (Post note: , the most attractive of the bunch, operates a separate library catalog, apart from San Diego County Libraries.  Go directly to their site if you’d like to use their excellent resources.)

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