When Did You Last Use Your Jersey Library Card?

Somewhere in Jersey there’s a library card in a kitchen drawer that last came out when a child was doing a school project. The child is probably taller now. The card may still be worth finding. With darker evenings and a few wet Saturdays ahead, November is a good time to see what you can borrow and how much of it you can use from home.

Jersey Library membership is free. Members can borrow from the library’s locations and access digital collections including ebooks and audiobooks. The service also has a mobile library and a Home Delivery Service. Membership and visitor arrangements are on the Government of Jersey site, along with what you’ll need to bring if you sign up in person. Jersey Library membership information

Try changing the kind of book you borrow

Pick something you’d hesitate to buy. A cookbook with only one recipe you’re curious about is a good candidate. So is the first book in a series where everyone has an opinion about which instalment is best. If you get halfway and give up, you’ve found out what you wanted to know and the next person gets a turn.

An audiobook does something different. Put one on for the bus ride home, or for the part of cooking dinner where all you’re doing is chopping. The best way to start might be a book you already know. You can find out whether you like listening to a whole story without having to remember six new names every time you get off the bus. The library’s borrowing pages explain how to get to its digital collection. Library borrowing and digital collections

Make the trip work for your household

If Saturday is the only day you can get to a branch, check the hours before building errands around it. If getting to a library is difficult, look up the mobile stops or ask about eligibility for home delivery. It may be possible for someone who’s lost the habit of borrowing to get back to it without making a journey they’d struggle to repeat.

With children, leave enough time for them to pick their own book. They’ll often choose something you wouldn’t have thought to suggest. A book about sharks with four words on a page can lead to a longer evening’s conversation than the worthy novel you had your eye on. And if you want them to take reading home, letting them choose what goes in the bag is a decent place to start.

You could make one visit this month and leave it at that. Or take two books home, one safe choice and one you’re only half sure about. The second is the one a library card is particularly good for.