Library as a Craft Investing Tool

For some of us, going to the library to find a book is obvious. Then there are the others like myself who are rediscovering this useful resource that is right in front of us.

Until the last few months, I was spending good money buying books to help me develop skills and technique; seek insight and inspiration; and for simply entertainment. I do love owning new books--the feeling of it and knowing that I have this resource whenever I need to access it--but it was simply something that I can do without.

One day, my friend came over and saw all of the books that I had in the house and wondered why I didn't just go get them from the library to avoid clutter. She was right. I am fortunate enough to live within a huge network of libraries in NYC, so why not use it?

The great thing about computers these days is that I can login with my library card number and add books that I want from their catalog. For instance, I was going through Amazon's paper quilling section and I saw "Paper Quilling for the first time" by Alli Bartkowski. With that information, I went to the Brooklyn Public Library website and entered the title into their catalog and there it was. From there, I put it on hold and they ship it to the library of your choice. When it's ready, they shoot an e-mail to you and you're all set--just go to their library hold shelf, look for your name, and check out the book!

The best thing about this is that I can work from the book now or I can go ahead and scan whatever page I want or even take a picture of it so that I'll have it without ever needing to purchase the book! Isn't that great?

Hope you enjoyed my money saving tip!




P.S. I do this with cookbooks as well. =X