Slice of Life: Public Library to the Rescue! #SOL20 #TWTBlog

Clare, do you think you will have time to go to the library?

Sure, just send me your list and I will go by before I pick up your groceries.

It always makes me laugh that my father-in-law feels like it is an imposition to ask me to go to the library to get books.  Has he met me?  Seriously, I love his love of reading and his unwavering commitment to the public library.  He has always used the library and he always has a stack of books on the coffee table.

So, when the public library closed last week before I picked up the books, I knew I was going to have to problem-solve this with him.  I knew he would not embrace the immediate suggestions offered to him by those around him:

Buy your books on-line.

I have some books I can drop off.

It was a text message I received from him later that afternoon that showed me his level of desperation:  Don’t worry Clare.  I guess it’s time for me to start watching The Crown on Netflix.

Now, no offense to Netflix or The Crown, but I have NEVER seen my father-in-law watch television in all the years that I have known him. 

It was time to teach him how to get his books digitally.  I found an old iPad we are no longer using and downloaded the OverDrive and Kindle app.  I used my online account to get him is the first book – get him hooked before I teach him.  He is in the midst of reading it and I know he will be ready for a new one soon.  Since I can’t see him in person, I decided to video myself getting a digital account and checking out a digital book online.  He is on the waitlist for the next book in the series. 

Even in a pandemic … public library to the rescue! 

In case you or someone you know wants to learn how to get a digital library card or borrow digital resources I included the video I made for him below:

Be safe. Be well.