Posted by Anne M on Tuesday, Sep 5, 2017
In honor of September, National Library Card Sign-Up Month, here are five ways you can make the most of your ICPL Library card, right at home:
Listen up—You’re busy. Whether it’s work or school, caring for others or commuting, chores or exercising, there isn’t always time in your life to snuggle up with a book. Why not give audiobooks a try and listen to a book wherever you are? ICPL has thousands of audiobooks to choose from, whether you are in the mood for a heart-pounding thriller or an in-depth history. And OverDrive’s new app, Libby makes listening super easy.
Distraction Reading—If getting into that in-depth history—or even that heart-pounding thriller—isn’t in the cards right now, there is nothing like a magazine to give you the short distraction you need. With your Library card, you can read over 175 magazines right now, from Glamour to The New Yorker to Us Weekly, all for free. Try the new RBDigital app today (iOS, Android, Kindle Fire).
Learn a Language—Want to strengthen your French skills? Traveling to Japan? Always wanted to learn a second (or third) language. Then Mango Languages is for you. Mango offers interactive lessons in over 70 different languages, including English. With the Mango Languages app, you can take your lessons with you and track your progress. Learning a new language may be hard, but finding great resources to help is just a Library card away.
Buy with Confidence—When making a big purchase, you want to make sure you are buying the right thing for the right price. That’s why you need Consumer Reports. They do all the work for you, testing everything that is out there to determine the best of the best. And you save so much time in not having to read all of the reviews on the seller’s website from people you do not know. With your ICPL library card, you have access to everything on the Consumer Reports website (all the reviews, all the buying guides, all the videos) for free. Now, that’s a good deal.
Burn the midnight oil—Studying for the GRE, SAT, or ACT? Perhaps you are taking the TOEFL soon? Looking to prepare for a certification exam? We can help you. With Learning Express, you have access to practice tests, tutorials, and eBooks to help you prepare for your next life step, whether career or college. Even if you want to brush up on your writing, math, or computer abilities, Learning Express has a number of tutorials to fine-tune your skills.
About the Author
Anne Mangano has worked for the Iowa City Public Library since 2008, serving as the Collection Services Coordinator since 2013. In this position, she oversees ICPL's collection, including the selection, cataloging, processing, repair, and removal of materials, including the library's digital collections. Anne holds a Bachelor of...
A lot of “pandemic novels” are coming out right now—at least narratives inspired by or written during the pandemic and everything that happened within that time. They provide a window into what authors were thinking about, working through, or grappling with during the height of the pandemic. Lauren Groff’s thinking was pretty bleak. Her thoughts turned to the “Starving Time” of Jamestown: crops failed, disease flourished, and those that survived ate everything. The narrative centers on a white servant girl, who is called many different names in her short life, and her decision to run away from the colonial settlement and strike out on her own in hopes of finding the French. She is hungry and afraid in the settlement and what is unknown to her beyond the palisade holds better chances for survival. The story follows her during those first few weeks with glimpses into how she found herself on this side of the Atlantic. This survival novel is engrossing, and it takes on quite a few subjects: colonization, land use, 17th century religion, and the oppressively hierarchical structure of English society. But also, what does it mean to be human when you are alone? What does real survival mean? Groff left me with more questions than answers, but good novelists do that. -Anne M