Beyond the Books

Savvy moms already know that the Ottawa Public Library (OPL, please) is a great place to foster our children’s love for reading, but not everyone knows there is more to the library than the written word.

Books Plus
The OPL’s online catalogue has become as important to us as our espresso machine—we just can’t imagine life without it. Not only can we look up titles from home, but we can reserve a book at the click of a button. Since our library card is hooked up to our email account we are notified as soon as it’s ready to be picked up. And don’t forget the treasure trove of encyclopedias and other homework-helping resources. (Racking up the late fines? We have two words for you: Library Elf. It’s a third-party web service which lets you know when your books are due.)

Movies and Music
We have totally trimmed our entertainment budget since we started borrowing our Friday night DVDs from the library. Searching the OPL online catalogue is a bit of a challenge if you don’t know what you’re looking for so it’s best just to embrace the randomness and poke around the shelves. Will it be an art film, a four star foreign film, Japanese animation, or a surprise newer release? We do love to live by the seat of our pants!

Digital Audio
OPL’s huge collection of audio books has been our biggest savior. Many titles can be burned to CD for use in the car, making for invaluable entertainment during long car rides. There is no shortage of books to choose from; there are over 500 titles for kids alone. Check out the list.

Great Deals
Yes, great deals! You can also use your OPL card to:

• Borrow passes for free admission to Ottawa’s Museum of Civilization, the Canadian Museum of Nature and the Museum of Science and Technology of Canada. Passes can be borrowed for one week and be used each day you have it out (so get on the waiting list already)!
• Get discounts on theatre and concert performances
• Borrow pedometers and kilowatt meters
• Access Ottawa’s university libraries as well as the Virtual Reference Library (a great place to start if you’re tracing your family tree).

So don’t just sit there with your mouth open wondering why you haven’t been taking advantage of all these freebies. Think outside the book and check out what’s happening at your local branch.

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