The Public Library

I am an unapologetic supporter of the public library. Maybe it's because a lot of the libraries in DC have been spruced up as of late, but, I am a huge supporter on the following levels.

1) Music. How much money do you spend on music in a given year? Probably too much. In DC, the public library buys hundreds of albums per year, which you can rip to your ipod for free. Additionally, the library has a service called Freegal, http://www.freegalmusic.com/, which is a free, online distribution network run by Sony and a bunch of independent labels. You get three downloads per week, and I guarantee you will find at least a handful of artists on there you will like. Take a look at the entire music selection of the library (go to advanced search, select the format "music cd," and enter the year of release), and you'll probably be amazed at what you could be listening to for free. This should significantly decrease the amount you are spending on digital downloads.

2) Movies. We all know netflix has screwed the pooch of late, and that there are a number of competitors coming up. The library isn't an expert at streaming video yet, but they routinely get dozens of movies around the same time as netflix. You don't pay for them, and you have them for three weeks, and you can have out a handful at a time. My netflix plan is for one move at a time, without streaming, for 9 dollars a month. So I spend over 100 dollars a year on what I could easily get from the library. I routinely suspend my netflix account when I get frustrated.

3) Books. Duh. The library will give you books and audiobooks for weeks at a time. Addicted to your kindle or ibooks? There are digital downloads where you can rent an ebook for weeks at a time. Unless you are planning on collecting books for fun or plan on showing off books in your beautiful library, there is virtually no reason to buy a book anymore. Only in those very rare circumstances where you are looking for a book which is not available in the library should you consider buying, and even in that case, look for an interlibrary loan from a jurisdiction that has your book.

Check out your local library. It's free, and they probably have a bunch of programs you would really enjoy. See if they subscribe to Freegal, and if they don't, encourage it. Scroll through the online catalog and find out if there are downloads you might like. You'll be amazed to how much entertainment you can get for free. http://www.dclibrary.org/