It’s National Library Card Sign-Up Month – Get carded!

By Karen Thompson
Features Reporter
September 21, 2018 9:32 a.m.

Get Carded! No matter your age, the Nassau County Public Library System invites you to join thousands of toddlers, students, teens, adults…young and old…to celebrate National Library Card Sign-up Month in September.

Lady Bird Johnson once said, “Perhaps no place in any community is as totally democratic as the town library. The only entrance required is interest and a library card.”
In a 2016 Pew survey about half of all Americans ages 16 and over used a public library in the past year and two-thirds say that closing their local branch would have a major impact on their community.

There’s something for everyone in our five county library branches in Bryceville, Callahan, Fernandina Beach, Hilliard and Yulee. Libraries are open, accessible and free. For no charge you can:

• Borrow from a selection of over 170,810 physical items including books, magazines, audio-books and CDs, but not including e-books, e-audio books and e-magazines.
  -Download e-books, audio-books and e-magazines.

Get real time financial information.

• • • Access high speed internet and Wi-Fi or use the computer lab to polish your computer skills.
    • Bring your child for educational programs.
    • Send a teenager to see an age-appropriate movie.
    • Research your ancestry, often with help from members of the Amelia Island Genealogy Society.
    • Locate information on jobs and careers.

Attend special programs on a variety of subjects including author-talks, current events and local history to name just a few.

• Visit an art display.
• Take a practice test for a college or occupational exam.
• Check out puzzles and memory improvement games.
• Use computers in children’s area that are loaded with educational games, PreK to 6th grade.
• Look up information on health and other personal issues.
• Use the self-serve book and document scanner.
• Settle into a friendly, comfortable environment to read or study.
• Apply for a U.S. Passport.
• Join the community book club or ask for assistance for your book club.
• Rent the meeting room. Non-profit organizations are free.

Libraries transform lives and communities through education. They offer fun and informative resources to help you pursue your passions and succeed in life.

TV Star John Goodman once said, “When I was young, we couldn’t afford much. But, my library card was my key to the world.”

To apply for a library card, visit any of Nassau Counties’ Public Library branches or go on-line at www.nassaureads.com for more information. Get Carded!

Editor’s Note: Karen moved to Fernandina Beach eight years ago after working in Chicago as a senior public relations specialist for the Midwestern regional office of the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency. Prior to that, she was an editor, columnist and writer for a chain of Chicago newspapers , an account executive for several Chicago public relations agencies and proprietor of her own pr/marketing business. She grew up and earned her journalism degree in Wisconsin and she is a regular volunteer at the Fernandina Beach Library.