Last year in honor of Library Card Signup Month I shared 4 lesser-known perks that come with a Timberland Regional Library card. They were what I considered to be more niche perks that as someone relatively new to the library world, I wish I had discovered sooner-and that I think more patrons should know.
Now a year later, amid the 2025 Library Card Signup Month, I want to share 4 more Library Card Hacks that you may have wish you knew about sooner:
Paywall got you down?
What’s more annoying than tapping on an enticing headline on your local newspaper’s social media page only to find that you have to pay for a subscription or make an account to read the whole article? (Has that ever worked on anyone?) I have a library hack for that. With your library card you get access to NewsBank which has newspaper articles for FREE (Hello The Olympian? Chinook Observer? Centralia Chronicle?) It's updated every day and gives FULL articles for free, including the web editions. Big Newspaper doesn't want you to know about this!
Help us Help You
Trying to decide what you should read next, but don’t trust Chat GPT to give you accurate suggestions (because it most likely won’t)? We have this thing called Personalized Picks where you tell us what you’ve read recently or what you’re looking
for and real human library staff will use their readers advisory skills to pick
out a selection of titles for you to check out or place holds on. It’s quite impressive.
Taking it a step further- you can opt to do Grab & Go . Fill out a quick form and
a selection of items available from your local branch will be put on hold
for you to pick up in a few days.
Load up your Libby app
Whether you have multiple library cards in your household, or multiple library cards from other library systems… (more on reciprocal library agreements here) You can store them all in Libby. Do what you will with this information.
Try Before you Buy
This not only goes for books, but also items like Assistive Devices, Light Therapy Lamps, and even things like musical instruments (Tumwater ) or cooking tools (Montesano). Check them out and see what you think BEFORE making the commitment to buy.
TLDR; Work smarter, not harder. Utilize all your library has to offer because chances are- there are so many more resources available to you than you realize. Our staff are always here to help, so if you have questions about any of these items or are curious about other potential library resources- ask your local library staff member or message us at asklib@trl.org
