When it comes to the holidays, my family has a tradition – we decorate the Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. At the same time, we break out the holiday music. Typically, we listen to the same two Christmas CDs that we’ve had for years. This year, however, we were able to break out of our holiday music rut, thanks to the Sweetwater County Library System.
The library can help you spice up your music collection without having to spend any money. All you have to do is use Hoopla, a service that provides streaming music for the library system. With Hoopla, library patrons have access to music online. You can check out 12 items per month, and of course, it’s free! And there’s quite the selection. Take, for example, Christmas music. A search for “Christmas” under the music section brings back more than 2,000 results – certainly a lot of options for your holiday listening needs.
And Hoopla offers a lot more than music. You can check out streaming movies (both holiday and non-holiday), eBooks and digital audiobooks. Hoopla even had comic books! So instead of spending a lot of money on holiday music and movies this December, check out the options available to you for free at the libraries.
Speaking of saving money, do you have book lovers on your list this holiday season? If so, stop by White Mountain Library in Rock Springs. We are holding a Holiday Book Sale Dec. 1-5 and Dec. 7-12 p.m. while the library is open – 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The sale will take place in the library near the reference desk. We’ll have a lot of great items available to help round out your holiday shopping. And the great thing is, you can save a lot of money doing so. We don’t put prices on the books – all items are sold for donations. So basically, you set the price that you pay.
The funds raised help the library system and the Sweetwater County Library Foundation, a nonprofit organization that helps pay for library programs and services above and beyond what the community’s tax dollars can support. The collection in the sale is made up of books received through patron donations and from items removed from the library collection.
Make sure to make some time for yourself this holiday season. Curl up by the fire and read a book. If you need a little encouragement to read throughout the holidays, sign up for the library’s winter reading program, “Snow is Falling, Books are Calling.”
Adults who take part in the program will be encouraged to read at least five books between Nov. 30 and Jan. 30. When they do and turn in a completed reading log, participants will receive a finishing prize – a cool glass mug.
Also when they turn in their reading log, they will receive one entry into one of our prize basket drawings.
Of course, we have winter reading programs for kids and teens as well. Bring the kids by the library and sign up. The reading programs are a good incentive to keep reading throughout the holidays.
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