Slice of Life: Public Library to the Rescue! #SOL20 #TWTBlog
Clare, do you think you will have time to go to the library?
Sure, just send me your list and I will go by before I pick up your groceries.
It always makes me laugh that my father-in-law feels like it is an imposition to ask me to go to the library to get books. Has he met me? Seriously, I love his love of reading and his unwavering commitment to the public library. He has always used the library and he always has a stack of books on the coffee table.
So, when the public library closed last week before I picked up the books, I knew I was going to have to problem-solve this with him. I knew he would not embrace the immediate suggestions offered to him by those around him:
Buy your books on-line.
I have some books I can drop off.
It was a text message I received from him later that afternoon that showed me his level of desperation: Don’t worry Clare. I guess it’s time for me to start watching The Crown on Netflix.
Now, no offense to Netflix or The Crown, but I have NEVER seen my father-in-law watch television in all the years that I have known him.
It was time to teach him how to get his books digitally. I found an old iPad we are no longer using and downloaded the OverDrive and Kindle app. I used my online account to get him is the first book – get him hooked before I teach him. He is in the midst of reading it and I know he will be ready for a new one soon. Since I can’t see him in person, I decided to video myself getting a digital account and checking out a digital book online. He is on the waitlist for the next book in the series.
Even in a pandemic … public library to the rescue!
In case you or someone you know wants to learn how to get a digital library card or borrow digital resources I included the video I made for him below:
Be safe. Be well.
