#Support Your Local Library

[thewonderfulwizardofwords]

Listen to the gators, they will not lead you astray.

Great addition in the tags from @intoxigators. My previous library has a similar weeding policy. It hurts so badly to see what got culled when dumb James Patterson schlock books took up 5 shelves.

I'm already seeing advice from people in the US to purchase queer books and other banned or "controversial" books on paper as a way to combat the wave of government censorship that is coming. While this is a good idea (it is! absolutely!), it's not accessible to everyone, and truly, we're not going to be able to consumerism our way out of this one.

If you can buy the books, do. Whether you can buy the books or not, borrow them from your library.

Borrow the paper versions. Borrow the ebook or audiobook versions. Request the titles you want that your library doesn't have. The more a title circulates or is requested, the better librarians are going to be able to defend keeping it if and when it's ever challenged.

Use libraries like @queerliblib too. The more members they have, the better they'll be able to fundraise.

Your community resources depend on you using them. Borrow the books before they go away.

InB4: Piracy is not the solution here. We're trying to keep community resources available, not make sure individual people can read individual books. Different problems.

The books are still available. Borrowing them from your library and returning them on time and in good condition will help keep them that way.

[laughroditee]

"She's so beautiful! I bet she goes to the library."

- my 7 year old daughter

[thebibliosphere]

I've had a couple of messages over the last few days from folks saying things like, "Sorry, I can only afford to get your book through the library," and I need you to know I am gripping you by the shoulders, I am shaking you gently, and I am begging you stop apologizing for using library services.

After Amazon and Payhip, the quarterly checks I get from Overdrive/Libby are my biggest and most reliable source of income.

My readers have been nothing but feral in their quest to get Hunger Pangs into as many libraries as possible, and while library lending pays an exceptionally modest amount, if enough people do it (which many of you evidently are), those pennies add up.

I am guaranteed at least $20 a month in library lending royalties. That might not sound like much to some folks, but to me, that's my b12 supplements covered for the month. That's the thing I need to keep me alive paid for.

I will never resent anyone who uses libraries instead of buying books.

I'm a disabled author who lives month to month at the mercy of my medical expenses. Even though I have incredibly generous patrons and supporters, I know what it's like to not be able to afford things.

Use the library. Please.

Use it guilt-free. You're helping the library and the authors, probably more than you realize.

And if you're in the US and haven't signed up for a @queerliblib free library card yet, you should! it doesn't matter what state you're in, the Queer Liberation Library offers free access to their catalogue of queer media across the US.

And if you've got the means, maybe help them out with a little donation. They're only able to expand their collection via the support of their patrons, and the work they're doing is hugely important.

[fangtastic-vampyra]

buying books & reading books..two different hobbies.

[cucubert]

Find these quality shitpost designs and more at Library Renegade

[ellierenae]

ay kid, you like readin? then keep your eye on the birdie cause all you need for this card trick is a US address, a phone number, the date your folks popped you out, and a first and last name

you put those figures in this form right here

then theyre gonna give you a little somethin under the table, pro bono

take that card number and pin and bring it over to this site right over here

badabing badaBOOM you now got access to every ebook, audiobook, and magazine under the sun PLUS those ebooks can go straight to kindle. yeah. a real soft on your eyes type

now scram

and dont say i never did nothin for ya

[specialagentartemis]

Genuinely: For people who are angry and frustrated at the limited number of movies and shows available for streaming, at the way streaming services pull or cancel movies and shows at will, at the way every media corporation under the sun is pulling their stuff onto their own streaming service and balkanizing access to things behind a dozen different monthly subscriptions? For people who miss Blockbuster and want to be able to just rent a DVD again?

See if your local library has a DVD collection.

If I want to watch The Mummy (1999) with Brendan Fraser? I can't stream it on Netflix, but I can borrow it from my local library.

If I want to watch The Mummy (1932) with Boris Karloff? I can't stream that pretty much anywhere, but I can borrow it from my local library.

I want to watch Star Wars or Iron Man or my favorite Disney movie but I refuse to sell my soul to pay for Disney+? I can borrow these from my local library.

Do I want to finish watching Star Trek: Deep Space 9 or check out Star Trek: Picard but resent that it's all on yet another streaming service I don't want? I can borrow season box sets of DVDs from my local library!

Obviously, available circulating collections vary a lot between library systems. (My hometown's library has all of Star Trek DS9 on DVD, for example, but my college town's library only has TOS, Picard, and Discovery.) And of course it depends on whether things are released in physical media form at all, and you won't be able to keep up with new episodes of new series - it takes a while for many things to come out on DVD.

But there can be a lot of good stuff there too. For example, I missed Nope in theaters, but I still really want to see it. So I have it on hold from my local library. I'm 73rd in line on 50 copies, so it'll be a while.

So check to see what DVD collections your library does have - it might surprise you what you can get access to, for free, in a manner that no greedy corporation can yank away.

And by checking out DVDs, you are telling the library that you use and want them to maintain and grow their AV media collection. Which is an encouragement we could really use these days.

[onebluebookworm]

We are all aware that libraries across the United States are under attack. Thanks to groups like Moms for Liberty and other outspoken “concerned citizens,” there has been actual legislative action at multiple levels of government to limit what libraries can do and provide to their communities. Even in the places where there hasn’t been that kind of action, those same concerned citizens have mounted acts of intimidation to instill fear and block access...In light of this, I’ve heard many iterations of the same question: how can we help? What do libraries and library staff need right now?

[mbrainspazart]

Thought I could handle a spooky little horror novel—did not expect 'em to come at me with the existential horrors of being a queer child of american evangelicals 😰

[liberaljane]

Support Your Local Library!

Here’s 3 easy ways to get started: 1.) Get a library card (it’s free and usually just requires proof of residency!) 2.) Attend your local library’s events and programming. 3.) Advocate for increased support and funding. 

Digital illustration of a redhead fem with cat eye glasses wearing a green sparkly dress. She's leaning on a bookcart next to a tuxedo cat holding a book that reads, 'support your local library.' Behind her are books with titles that are commonly banned in schools.

[tailsfromthecrypt]

Support your local library. support a library that isn't local. support your niblings local library. support your grandparents local library. support libraries

they've got fucking everything. Books? Of course. Computer/internet access? Yes. Resources for LGBTQIA+? Most do. Activities to keep young children busy? Almost always. A place for teens to volunteer that'll help with college apps? Duh.

Most libraries have activities and events for more than just kids and teens. One library near me just did a tattoo fundraiser to raise money for the library, they also have a craft goods exchange coming up. Another library I know of gets wedding dress donations so brides can come pick out a dress for their special day at no cost! They can keep it or redonate it, alter it or get rid of it, completely up to them once they walk out with it

In conclusion, support libraries.

[fanzines]

Beautiful Support Your Local Library illustration and print by artist @liberaljane (buy it on her site). Here are three ways to get started, which she recommends: 1) Get a library card (it’s free and usually just requires proof of residency!) 2) Attend your local library’s events and programming. 3) Advocate for increased support and funding. Someone on the original tweet also recommended donating books and materials, which you no longer use - always worth asking your local librarians what sort of things they need for the library. My suggestion: 4) Start a zine club at your local library, where you can share and / or read zines with others, or even make zines with others. Zine clubs are an awesome way to meet people, make friends and explore more zines. And, if you're lucky, your library may have a zine library or zine collection. If not, speak to your local librarians about setting one up! ✨

[booksinmythorax]

Here's some reminders!

-Public library cards in the United States of America are free, $0, the overwhelming majority of the time, as long as you can prove your identity and your address

-If you cannot prove your address (you're experiencing homelessness or you just moved, etc), there may be a way around that to get you a free library card anyway, at least temporarily, possibly for a year or more

-If you lose your library card, many many many library systems will replace it for free and many others will do so for $1 or $2

-Many library systems are going fee or fine free as long as you return the book in good condition

-Public library systems in the US are not rolling in cash, generally speaking

-Library systems can only go fee or fine free if they are well-funded by other sources, so if your local library system charges late fees or card replacement fees and you don't like that, don't yell at the librarians - bother your elected officials instead and tell them you want them to give more funding to your local library

[ijustkindalikebooks]

“I lived in books more than I lived anywhere else.” ― Neil Gaiman, The Ocean at the End of the Lane.

[teawithhazel]

Your Local Library Can Be A Great Source of Witchy Books

I never expected it either, but my little local library has witchcraft, paganism, and other spiritual books in its' collection. In fact, that is how I first read Kelden's 'The Crooked Path.'

If you want to be more secretive, check to see if you can get a card for e-books. Apps like Libby can help you keep track of books you've read, how far you've progressed in them, and you can request your library to get books that aren't currently available.

It's free, it supports your local library, and if you don't like the book you're reading you are out nothing.

One downside is, is that there is going to some wait time involved. Popular books will have a lot of people in line to rent them.

[autism-activated]

I love you libraries I love you public transit I love you pollinator and community gardens I love you parks I love you community and rec centers I love you local coffee shops I love you spaces that aren't hostile to just hang out in.