Hi readers,
Some of you may have a public library card, others probably haven’t set foot in a library in ages. I fell into the latter category! I walk past the Galway Library twice (!) a day, and one lunchtime – yes, they are open over lunch as well 🙂 – I went in and I got myself a library card. These days it’s a credit card sized card, see below. How to join!
Image of a an Irish Public Library card
The card was free, and is valid pretty much around the country, meaning that if you rented a book in Galway City, you can return it to the library that’s nearest to you. My nearest library is in Gort, but as I am never in Gort during the day, I am now having access to a service I never had before. Actually, when the kids were smaller we did avail of the mobile library to rent children’s books( yeah, I think we still have them)..
So now onto the unexpected benefit parts. I am a keen listener to podcasts, but never really ventured into Audio books. Turns out there is an app you can download called “Borrowbox” aka Bolinda, that enables you to get free access to Ebooks and AudioBooks , using your library card. Just a quick note, your login is your library card, the pin are the last 4 digits of your library card number.
Access e-books and e-audiobooks at Bolinda
Online Courses – really?
1)Universal Class
This resource provides a wide range of over 500 courses, including Yoga, Digital Photography, Computer Basics, Excel, and much more. You can learn at your own pace.
Access online courses at Universal Class
2)Mango Languages – awesome!
This online resource will help you learn a new language. There are over seventy languages to choose from including Mandarin, Arabic and Japanese.
Access online language courses at Mango Languages
3)Magazines – it’s getting better!
Zinio
This resource provides unlimited digital access to a wide selection of magazines.
Online Newspapers – who would have thought!
Proquest
This resource is the world’s most comprehensive collection of news content. It’s database’s detailed indexing helps users quickly find the news information they need. Each issue of each newspaper is indexed thoroughly, so researchers have access to not only top news stories but also the information contained on the various sections of the papers. The indexing covers not only complete bibliographic information but also companies, people, products, etc.
Newspapers included are…
- Irish Times
- The Independent
- The Examiner
- The New York Times
- Wall Street Journal
- The Guardian Observer
- The Globe
Access online newspapers at Proquest
I am enjoying my audio book, I am currently listening to the “Compassionate Achiever” on my daily commute – it’s interesting and look forward to listen to others!
Sunny greetings from Galway,
Katleen
That’s a great resource, I never knew you could borrow via the app stores. Thanks for sharing Katleen
Thanks Niamh! Yes, it’s a great evolution!