Seeing as we are now on the precipice of a significantly less open and more expensive internet, I figured “Hey! What a great time to share with you all some of the many benefits of having an LA library card!” (Why, it’s the Best Card in LA!)

Aside from the always remarkable ability to check out and read actual, physical books, you can also check out most of those very same books in e-book (and audiobook!) format through Overdrive! Read them on your eReader! Or your computer! Or through your ear holes!

 

You can also get books through Hoopla! And that service also includes music! And movies! And graphic novels like “The Walking Dead” (which will help prepare you for the upcoming apocalypse)!

Curious about the news? I really wouldn’t reccomend it.

BUT, if you’re a glutton for punishment you like to stay informed, you can get a FREE daily pass to read the New York Times!

Or, instead of folowing the news, perhaps you just want to leaf though some magazines to distract yourself from our not-too-distant dystopian future? Well, there’s a surprisingly good collection of digital magazines available – for free! – through RBDigital.

Perhaps you’d like to learn a new skill or trade to help you when our economy crashes and burns? Try Lynda! (Just a head’s up, you can use the service through a web browser but not the Lynda app.)

Maybe you want some digital copies of your favorite songs before streaming music sevices start reducing their selection while becoming increasingly oppressively expensive? Try Freegal! You can download 5 songs per week!

Wanna learn another language so you can move to another country that’s not slowly repealing freedoms and dissolving into a totalitarian state? Try Mango!

And, once the internet finally collapses under its own weight, you can still get your information the old-fashioned way, by checking out genuine, honest-to-god books!

In fact, get a head start by using the Library Chrome Extension. That way, when you’re browsing sites like Amazon or B&N.com, it’ll show if the book you’re looking at is available at your local library!

If you don’t have a library card, are you crazy?? Fill out an application in person at any Los Angeles Public Library location, or download the application form , fill it out and take it in! Do it while you still can!