Magazines, Music and Books - OH MY!

Sometimes you discover little hidden Perth gems that make you so glad to be living in our gorgeous city you have to shout it from the rooftops!

Our local public libraries - run by Culture PK - are absolutely fantastic and it might surprise you to find out that everyone with a Library Card can download e-books, e-mags and music files FOR FREE! And I’m not talking one of those dodgy mags at the end of ‘Have I Got News for You’, there is no ‘Biscuits of the World’, no ‘Lapdogs United’. You’ll find ‘Homes and Interiors’, ‘Hello!’, ‘Red’, ‘The Economist’… and they are all available to download to your device and keep. For free.

Music is the same; when I popped in and spoke to the very lovely librarian, she was enjoying the amazing sounds of Uptown Funk on her iPad and hadn’t paid a penny for it! (In a good way, she’s not a crook...)

Books are slightly different; you download these to your device in the same way you’d borrow from the library. So after two weeks, they vanish/are returned and you’ll never have a late fee again. Genius and simple!

I’m a huge fan of the library; when Cain was little we were never away from it. I studied for my Highers in the old Sandeman Building and my college exams in the AK Bell. My Grandad visited every week, an avid reader, in his element with this never-ending supply of books. It has served me throughout my life and yet, something happened and gradually I stopped going. I think Cain grew older, I became time poor, I could afford to buy books and when I wanted to look something up I jumped onto my laptop, phone or tablet.  And I’m sure everyone reading this is exactly the same.

So to find that a library membership can be used sitting on my sofa, or on the bus, or waiting in a queue was a proper ‘WHOOP WHOOP’ moment for an old book geek like me! Not only is this a brilliant service but I love seeing our libraries bound loud and proud into the 21^st century. Here we are with our time-poor, fast-paced lives, constantly on our phones and tablets, always looking for new ways to save a few pounds. And then here’s the library all modern and shiny and giving you great, free stuff (that isn’t candy crush!) to do with said devices! 

I know you’ll all be as excited as me and super keen to get signed up and start downloading for free so here’s the lowdown on how it works:

• To start things off you need to go into your nearest library and sign up for a membership. Library cards can be obtained for free. Find out addresses here.

• Once you’re signed up you need your library membership number and your pin. Then simply click onto the full e-library collection here, where you’ll be able to download the apps and get browsing.

There are some fabulous books; you can share what you’re reading through your social media and invite your friends to join in. We’re chatting to the library about a #SmallCityBookClub and would love to know if you’d be interested (add your name to comments!).

Happy reading!