Let’s hear it for September because it’s Library Card Sign-up Month. Yay! Of course, you can get a library card any time of the year, but getting a card in September is extra special, so if you don’t have one, do it today!
We would love for everyone in the many communities we serve to proudly have a library card. Not only can you use it to check out books, a library card gives you the ability to borrow DVDs, audiobooks, children’s music CDs, and magazines; download e-books and e-audio from our extensive digital collection; stream music from the Freegal Music database; and search the library’s selection of online resources including Ancestry Library for genealogical information, ProQuest Newspapers for access to over 900 publications, and Alldata Repair for auto repair details for vehicles manufactured since 1982. In other words, a library card is a very powerful tool.
For our youngest library patrons, library cards are also full of magic. We know this because we get to see the faces of our new readers whenever they get their first library card. As adults we tend to take such privileges for granted, but when a child receives a library card, the whole world opens up through the magic of reading. Library staff have the honor of seeing these moments of wonder, and trust me, it never gets old.
To all our current and future library patrons, here’s to you. I’ve created a short list of picture books with a library or reading-related theme, and while I hope it inspires parents and caregivers to check out these titles for their little readers at home, I encourage adults to add a few — or all — to your own reading list. Perhaps you’ll get to relive that moment when you signed up for your first library card, allowing you to become a library patron, a member of an incredible reading community, the holder of a powerful and magical tool. Libraries rock, and so do our patrons!
