3 reasons Why you Need a Library Card (and How to Get One in Less than a Minute)

If you’re on Medium, you’re likely a reader. If you’re like me, you are likely spending hundreds of dollars on Kindle books per year, too.

Although I believe that of all the things you could spend $8–20 on, books are a great allocation of that money, I found myself longing for the days I used to check out copious amounts of books for free from the library with my dad (and of course, when dad would pay for the occasional book to take home).

Well, what if I told you that getting a library card is easier than ever, and you could easily get free books within less than a minute to your Kindle or another mobile device right from your couch? Plus you could also get free magazines (remember those?) and print as much as you’d like (because really, who has a printer these days?)?

Now that library card sounds like a pretty sweet deal.

Here’s why you should read, why you should specifically get a library card to read, and how to get one right now.

And if you don’t like to read just yet, here’s the TL;DR of this article:

1. Reading enhances your happiness by extending your life expectancy and helping you socially. With a library card, you can get as many books as you’d like — physical, digital to your e-reader, and audiobooks
2. You can stop scrolling on Instagram/Facebook/Twitter/TikTok/Snapchat/Whatever is cool these days and learn something diving back into magazines
3. You can print at your local library for free
4. Getting a library card takes less than a minute with the Libby App

Why should I read?

As a reader myself, I struggle with how to articulate why you should want to read books (because I want to throw my Kindle at you and scream “duh!”). But since I am not everyone, and completely understand that reading for school killed many people’s desire to read, let me enlighten you with some hard facts.

Reading expands your vocabulary and helps you sound more articulate, score better on tests, and generally increase your intelligence. If you’re still in school, reading for fun can provide a leg up in your schoolwork and help you become a more attractive candidate upon graduating, or help you start your own career. If you’re already in the workforce, reading can help you be a better team member, more effective communicator, and generally increase your ability for promotions and success. If you just want to sound more intelligent at parties and become a better conversationalist, reading can help you with that too.

Reading increases your capacity for empathy, imagination, and understanding social norms, which can help your social life improve. I can’t count the number of friendships I’ve forged or deepened over the shared experience of a book (shout out to Bret and our love for the Red Rising series!). Reading even the most bizarre young adult smut fiction can be applicable to your real-life–you can witness the way a character reacted (or didn’t) and mold your own experiences around what you resonated with. When you read, you transport yourself into someone else’s shoes, which is literally the golden rule for having a successful social life.

Reading can make you healthier! This 2019 Dutch study found that people who read are more than 25% more likely to be healthy than non-readers, even when this is corrected for aspects such as education, income, and age. Having a habit of reading vs. say binging Netflix shows and potato chips have been proven to increase your overall well-being. You don’t need to read non-fiction or health-related books to reap the benefits, just the act of stimulating your brain with reading results in a reduced risk of dementia and primes you for better investigation and deductive reasoning for your own health.

According to this 2019 Real Simple article, engaging in activities such as reading could reduce your likelihood to develop Alzheimer’s disease by 2.5 times than those who spend their downtime on less stimulating activities. Not to mention that reading may reduce stress by as much as 68%–and we all know stress is a killer. Yale also did a study that found that people who read books for 30 minutes a day lived nearly 2 years longer than those who read magazines or newspapers!!

Not convinced yet? How about that, it’s FUN! There are a plethora of books out there–honestly too many for one person to ever get through–and a ton of resources to get started. You can start by following me on Goodreads if you’d like some suggestions.

I would be remiss without at least nodding to my second love, audiobooks. You don’t need a fancy Audible subscription to listen to books (although this is a fantastic way to get reading). You can listen to many books for free via the Libby App. Listening to books is a phenomenal way to incorporate reading into your daily routine. Long commute? Pop in an audiobook. Big walker or hiker? Perfect time to listen to an audiobook. I also listen to audiobooks when I’m cooking, cleaning, or throwing a tennis ball to my dog. If you’re worried about fitting reading into your schedule, audiobooks can save the day.

What else can I do with a Library card?

The most obvious benefit of having a library card is access to unlimited books for free, and now you hopefully know that you should really be reading. If you’re somehow still unconvinced, but intrigued at the prospect of having a library card again, there are two other main benefits from my experience.

First is access to unlimited magazines. At the beginning of last year (2020) I scared myself off of Facebook for good, deleted Instagram from my phone (I can’t fully cut the cord…sorry!), and then suddenly had 2–3 extra hours a day at my disposal. While most of that is admittedly taken up by reading or cooking these days, I still found myself longing for an ambient activity that required little concentration but could help alleviate boredom. For me, that activity became magazines.

Pre-smart phones, I used to consume copious amounts of magazine content. I can’t even imagine how much money my parents spent letting me buy 3–5 magazines for each airport trip or grocery store run. Smartphones providing unlimited information at the tip of our fingers made magazines mostly lose their zeal, and I admittedly forgot about them until last year. However, as the pandemic sank in, I found myself gravitating toward doom scrolling or replying to work emails while attempting to relax if I was using my phone. As everyone knows, those two activities are the opposite of relaxing.

So I was thrilled to discover that the Libby App I mentioned above has unlimited free access to magazines! I download several at a time to my Kindle and peruse them at my leisure. This is the perfect way to calm your mind without the distractions of everyday life. You can check out physical magazines from your local library as well, if you’re more of a tactile person.

The last game-changer for me in terms of owning a library card is access to free printing. With many of us working from home, and Millennials and Gen Z shunning ownership of a printer, printing shipping labels, tickets, and necessary documents became a huge pain. I would beg my one friend with a printer to print things for me, or head to FedEx Kinkos and print for $0.15 a pop.

Enter the library to the rescue! My local library allows up to 10 pages per day for free, black and white or color. It’s unbelievably easy: you just walk in, find a computer, stick in your USB drive (or log in to your Gmail/wherever you store your files), hit print, and collect your documents. This whole experience takes 2 minutes tops, maybe 5 for your first time. It’s become a treasured ritual of mine when I sell something on Poshmark or Depop–I take 10 minutes to walk to the library, 2 minutes to print, package my items right at the library, and drop them in a USPS box on my way home.

Save yourself the money on ink and get your free library card now!

How the heck do I get a library card these days?

Getting a library card through your local library is a complete cakewalk. I’m not going to break down every single library’s process, as they all have their own website and sign-up form, but my local library was accessible via a quick Google search. Here’s a direct link if you happen to live in the Culver City area of Los Angeles.

My key recommendation, though, would be to use the Libby App. While actually going to a library to look through a catalog (remember the Dewey Decimal system?) sounds time-consuming and inconvenient, the Libby app makes this easier than ever. Libby has instructions on their website but honestly, I think my dog could figure out how to get a library card just by downloading the app. When you first open the app, you’ll see the words I Would Like A Library Card or Use My Phone Number. Click there. It’s that easy, seriously.

Once you get a library card through your library directly, you can easily borrow and put books on hold that you’re interested in. I have anywhere from 2–10 books on hold at a time, and it’s like Christmas every time they become available. You can request a mixture of e-books, physical books, and audiobooks at any given time. Through the app, you can always see where you are in line. You also can request to delay a book delivery by any number of days if your hold comes through while you’re still mid-another-book! Everything that used to be annoying about the library has been absolved with the Libby App.

So what are you waiting for? Go get reading!