Tuesday, 24 March 2015

Libraries in Canada are reading between the lines and lending a lot more than books and DVDs

Libraries aren't just books anymore! 


Fitness tracking: The Ottawa Public Library has more than 500 pedometers available for people to borrow and track their steps towards better fitness. Even more high-tech? The Santa Clara City Library in California lets patrons borrow FitBit trackers.
Parks and arts: The Vancouver library lets patrons borrow a free pass to go mini-golfing, and Calgary’s library offers free live theatre tickets to low-income families. At the Ottawa Library, you can borrow passes to almost every museum, as well as Gatineau Park’s ski trails.
Watt-ever you need: Libraries in Ottawa and Calgary let patrons borrow “Kill-A-Watt” machines that can track how much energy is used by household appliances.
Fun and games: Carleton University’s library has an extensive collection of borrow-able board games, including classics like Monopoly and new and unusual titles like Blokus and Zombicide.
Gamer heaven: Once thought the antithesis of books, the Ottawa library now has over a thousand different video game titles in hot demand. There’s only a few copies of each and some, like How to Train Your Dragon 2 for Wii, have over 50 people waiting.
The cutting edge of tech: Ottawa library allows patrons access to 3D printing and video gear. In Toronto, you can use a “Print-on-Demand” machine for DIY bookbinding. The University of South Florida is seeking federal approval to lend out thousand-dollar drones to students.




The Lincoln Public Library has pedometers and watt metres to check out and board games to play in the library.  Check us out!

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