Surprising perks of an Austin library card

Beyond access to thousands of books, music and movies, we learned of a number of free services for library cardholders:

💻 Technology: Borrow a Chromebook, a tablet or a Wi-Fi hotspot for up to three weeks.

• Spend an afternoon at the library, using a Macbook Air, Lenovo Thinkpad laptop or Chromebook for up to four hours.

🚲 Recreation: Check out a hiking compass or a bike repair kit.

• Borrow a gardening tool set or a water saver usage meter and get to work in your yard.

🔧 Tools: Need a rake? How about a 100-foot extension cord?

• Get some work done with a set of pliers.
• Measure the amount of light that falls on your property using a SunCalc.
• Dry your floors with a carpet fan.

📚 Education: Use your card to learn a new language with Mango Languages.

• Test prep or become a chess expert with Brainfuse HelpNow, available through the library.

Do some genealogical research while connected to library Wi-Fi using the Ancestry Library Edition, an online source with billions of names in over 6,000 databases.