Second Wind
For Women in the Second Half of Life
Stuff to Do During the Pandemic
Curbside Book Pick-Up
Many of you already enjoy reading e-books on your phones or tablets, and most public libraries provide e-book and online magazines free to check out. Our library is currently open limited hours [Update- looks like Grab & Go is suspended again due to rising Covid 19 numbers] but it's still providing CURBSIDE BOOK PICK UP, which too few people are taking advantage of. Late last night I ordered four books, and I got a call this morning that they were ready for pickup. At this time, our library’s hours are limited due to the pandemic, so I told them I would be there at 10 a.m. to pick up the books. I arrived and opened up the back of my minivan (just like getting curbside groceries), and the library clerk put them in the back of my car. So easy!
Note: Check your library’s website for the current hours or closures, which continue to change during the pandemic.
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If you’ve never checked out a book online, here is the easy procedure to do that in our library, and most library websites work similarly. You have to have an active library card to check out books.
If you don’t have it bookmarked, do a search using your library name, city, state, & catalog. This is what my local library’s catalog home page looks like. Sign in using your card number and password, which is at the top right of our library’s homepage. Your library’s sign-in page should be similar.
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I often learn about books I’d like to read on the Internet, from others’ recommendations, or even from TV or radio shows, or I do a search for bestsellers or for good books in the genres I enjoy reading. Then I do a search in my library’s online catalog to see if they have the title. Or you can just get on your library’s online catalog and search by title, author, or subject for hard copy books, e-books, audio books, or movies.
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If you know the title of the book you’re looking for, type it in the search box, which is located in the top left of the page for our library, and your library search box will look similar. This search function enables you to also search by author and subject. It will even let you search with the first few words of a title, too. Use the drop-down arrow to see these options.
I typed in Lucy and the String, and it came up in English and Spanish, and it shows that they are both on the shelves.
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Click on the title, and it expands to let you reserve the book. Remember, you have to be logged in to be able to reserve books.
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Click on the “Reserve This Item” button, and a box pops up asking you whether you want to be contacted by phone, by email, or by text to let you know the book is ready to pick up. When they contact you, you can set up a time for curbside pickup. Tell them the color and make of your vehicle, and at your appointed time they will bring your book outside and load it in the back of your vehicle.
The public library is one of the best resources a community has to offer, and this is a great way to use one’s time in a pandemic or any other time. Keep reading! It does a mind good!
