Do you know which card in your wallet might save you the most money? It’s not your fancy points credit card, or your AAA membership. It is mostly likely your library card!

While it is common knowledge that people can check out books for free at the library, and in fact, many libraries have even dropped overdue fines! However, there are multiple ways to get value out of your local library than simply borrowing books. This past week NPR reports Marielle Segarra and Audrey Nguyen published an article called 7 surprising ways the public library can help you save money. For the first way they highlight unusual items that some libraries lend out.

Libraries offer all kinds of items on loan. “Video games, musical instruments, board games. Some libraries have bakeware collections where you can get baking pans,” says Threets.

Akhila Bhat, branch manager at Harris County Public Library in Katy, Texas, says her library system has a seed library. “Patrons can pick up seeds to start a garden and drop off seeds for others to take home and plant.”

Meanwhile, libraries like the Providence Public Library in Rhode Island have tools you can check out. That includes a cordless drill, safety goggles and a laser level.

Another way that the authors highlight the value of the library card is through the free activities and events happening monthly at your neighborhood library.

Save money on live music by checking out what your local branch has to offer. The New York Public Library’s performance art space, for example, has upcoming concerts featuring a choir and a quartet. And people can watch a classical guitarist or a harpist perform at different libraries in Los Angeles County.

Learn about the other five ways to save money with your library card by reading the rest of the article on the NPR website.

BOOK CHALLENGES in libraries are nothing new, but until recently they generally involved a single title, in a single library, being filed by one person. Such challenges are best handled locally, where those raising questions have, in most cases, acted in good faith. But today we are seeing the weaponization of school and public library policies by a small number of people, filing an unmanageable number of challenges that grind our public institutions to a halt.

Thus begins an article called The Overwhelming Cost of Book Banning published in the New Hampshire Union Leader. Written by Katherine Towler, Sy Montgomery, and Peter Bromberg, the article explores the current state of book challenges. It notes that the vast majority of challenges are being done by very few people. Amazingly, their impact on operations was deep.

How few people are filing complaints? The Washington Post studied more than 1,000 book challenges and found that 11 people were behind the complaints. In one Utah school district, a married couple were behind 199 out of 205 challenges. The district reported that the challenges required 10,000 hours of staff time and cost more than $100,000. In Texas, documents show that more than 16 employees spent more than 225 hours at a cost of $30,000 on a single book challenge at the Spring Branch ISD.

How can libraries respond to this sort of disruption? The trio propose several things that would remove the ability for a few people to have an oversized impact on library operations. One of the ideas has to do with placing appropriate limits on public complaint.

One policy proposal is simply to allow for public comment and feedback on public policy and law, but clarify that feedback about operations (book selection, programming, spaces, services, etc.) while welcomed, will not automatically lead to a formal, time-consuming review. 

To learn more, please read the rest of the article.