What’s white and blue and black and gives you access to
literature classics and bestsellers, local artists, computer classes, pop
music, Hollywood blockbusters and indie films, TED Talks, continuing education
courses, and all the LOL Cats you can handle?
Yes, indeed, it’s your Leander Public Library card! September is the month we celebrate all that
your library card can do for you. So
let’s just see why it’s called the smartest card in your wallet and take a look
at the numbers.
If you live within the City limits, you pay taxes to the
City which makes you eligible for a free library card. If you live outside the City limits and bring
us a TexShare card from another library you can also get a free card. Otherwise, it will cost you $15 annually, or
$1.25 a month. You can’t really argue
with the price.
Say you’re an occasional user. Maybe you need to buy a new washing machine so
you come to the library to look at Consumer Reports ($26 subscription) to do
some cost and quality comparisons, and since you’re here anyway, you may as
well see if you can get ideas for organizing your important papers better than
the shoebox method (Get It Together, $24.99), and the kids want a dog, so you
decide to check out what that entails (Your Puppy, Your Dog, $25). If you return the books on time and don’t
rack up any 10-cents-a-day fines, you’ve gotten about a $75 value with your
library card. That seems pretty smart.
For regular library users, the value grows
significantly. If you read a bestseller
every two weeks, which is the check-out period, you’ll have read $400 - $500
worth of books in a year. Add in a DVD a
week and, even at Redbox prices, that’s another $50. If your kids are avid readers as well, they
may be checking the maximum of 35 items for a whopping average of $400 in one
fell swoop. That’s really smart!
Now if you’re a heavy library user, besides checking out a
book and a DVD or two every week, you might be coming in 4 or 5 days a week to work
on your laptop using the library’s wi-fi ($30 - $70/mo). And maybe you’re brushing up on your excel
skills or learning how to fundraise for your favorite charity through Universal
Class, or you’re learning French for that anniversary trip to Paris through
Mango Languages, two of our online resources. (Classes can run from $50 - $500+.) Add in an audiobook ($50 avg.) to listen to
in the car while you wait in line to pick your kids up from school, and an
ebook ($40 avg.) to read on your phone when nobody is calling or texting, and
the value you get with your library card could be well over $3000. You must be a genius!
Proof positive that your library card really is the smartest
card in your wallet! And it makes you
look smart every time you use it. (Please remember to bring your books
back on time!)
