photo by: Shawn Valverde

File photo of the Lawrence Public Library on Friday, July 26, 2024. Brad Allen, executive director, hopes work on a facilities master plan in 2026 can help identify ways the library can better serve the public and help Lawrence achieve its goals.

Editor’s note: This is an installment in an occasional series of “user guides” that aim to provide readers information on how to access and use everything from public spaces to community organizations. If you have an idea for a future user guide article, send it to news@ljworld.com.

Though most people immediately conjure the image of books and scanners when thinking of libraries, the Lawrence Public Library, like most across the country, has begun expanding its offerings as technology and people’s needs move forward.

Of course, the library has thousands and thousands of books to check out, but it also has collections of CDs, DVDs and video games on offer and community resources at its building at 707 Vermont St.

But the options don’t just exist at the physical location. The Lawrence library has a digital library with over a dozen features that anyone with a library card can access — meaning free select resources that can be accessed from your computer or your phone.

“So many things are possible (with a library card) that people don’t know about,” Brad Allen, the library’s executive director said.

From recently expanded digital library offerings to a myriad of ways to get new book recommendations to dedicated spaces that can help archive memories or edit multimedia projects, this is a user guide to help find a way to make the most of your library card.

AN EVER EXPANDING DIGITAL LIBRARY

While Lawrence library members already had access to a variety of digital resources for free with their card, the library expanded options just last week that help fulfill a diverse range of needs.

Kevin Corcoran, the library’s collection services supervisor, said the library announced on Monday it can now offer free access to the services BiblioTele and Tutor.com and expanded access for the library’s New York Times account.

Corcoran said BiblioTele is a new Spanish-language streaming service that includes Spanish-language movies, TV series, short films and documentaries. Corcoran said the service is meant to serve Lawrence’s Hispanic community, but it can be used by anyone in the community, including people attempting to learn or improve their Spanish.

photo by: Screenshot

The Lawrence Public Library announced Monday it could offer users access to the Spanish-language streaming service BiblioTele. The service has Hundreds of films, series, documentaries, theater productions and original content.

Yari Medina, the library’s youth services outreach specialist, said in a press release that while language learning tools like DuoLingo can help you learn basic phrases, they don’t necessarily see how the language works in conversation. Using a specifically Spanish streaming service can help with the language learning with more immersion.

“BiblioTele is created and curated by native Spanish speakers from across Spanish speaking countries, so you get to watch scenes where the language is a part of a more realistic cultural experience,” Medina said.

Corcoran said that the streaming service also has live online training sessions in Spanish that teach about a variety of topics, including health, immigration and career advice, that are catered to the Latino community.

Another newly-added resource is tutor.com, which provides free academic support for a variety of topics — from help with algebra or test prep for standardized tests like the MCAT, SAT or GED. Corcoran said that users have the option from 2 to 11 p.m. to schedule a live session with a real tutor to get help with a specific subject. Corcoran estimated that hiring a personal tutor for a one-on-one session could cost up to “$30 an hour,” but with tutor.com and a library card, users “can get that access right here” for free.

The other new service the library got for this year was an expansion of a New York Times subscription from a regular one to an “All Access” package. Corcoran said with a library card, users were able to “access literally just the (articles in the) paper itself.” The new package will allow users to have free access to other digital portions like the NYT Games, its cooking section, Wirecutter, and access to the sports website The Athletic.

Corcoran said he had heard “a lot of demand” from the library’s patrons, and users can now get full access on their phone with the NYT app or their computer through its website.

ADDITIONAL DIGITAL RESOURCES YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT

Although the library aims to ensure its users know about the offerings in its digital library, Corcoran said it can sometimes be hard for users to find out how to use it.

Corcoran said the library staff discusses how they can make it easier for people to be more aware of different resources, but also said people get very used to accessing things their own way and “it can be hard to crack into” that routine, especially when many people are used to downloading apps and not every resource has its own app.

Much of the different resources can be accessed through the library’s website under its “Digital Library” header. With a click, users can get access to Libby, which has over 43,000 different items available including eBooks, eAudiobooks and eComics. Corcoran said the library “fills that with as much books as possible,” and it is always listening for user feedback of what kinds of books or items to buy.

“It’s functioning really well with us, we’re constantly building the catalog,” Corcoran said.

Another service accessible from the library’s website is Kanopy, which is a free streaming service that has a lot of documentaries, indie films and other global cinema. Although there are certain limits on streaming — Corcoran said users get a certain amount of “tickets” to use each month. The service has an app you can download to a smart TV like a Roku or an iPad so you can access it on other devices.

Corcoran said he has found he personally uses Kanopy and its library of over 26,000 films “all the time,” and it has a wide selection ranging from films from the independent film company A24 to kids entertainment. At a time when many people are concerned with all the different streaming services they are signed up for, Corcoran said he has thought about ditching other services like Netflix or HBO because of the available selection.

photo by: Screenshot

A screenshot of the streaming service Kanopy, available for free with a Lawrence Public Library card. The service has over 26,000 films available to stream.

Library card members can also access the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post, browse NewspaperARCHIVE.com for research and also access Consumer Reports. Corcoran said he recently used the site himself to buy a new dryer, and it helped him be ready for the major appliance purchase.

“There’s really nice information you wouldn’t get anywhere else,” Corcoran.

PERSONALIZED RECOMMENDATIONS AND EVENTS

All those digital resources are handy, but if you are hoping to find new books you would like rather than reading the same ones over again, the Lawrence library tries to get the right titles in your hands in multiple ways.

On its website, the library has a section for personalized recommendations through its “Book Squad.” Users can enter details like the “last book they loved,” “last book they hated” and if they had a preferred format to get the book and submit it to the Lawrence library’s team that is dedicated to helping users discover books they would want to read.

The six employees who make up the library’s Book Squad also provide their own staff picks and help host a multitude of book clubs at the library, including clubs for genres like Speculative Fiction.

Polli Kenn, a readers’ services supervisor and a member of the “Book Squad,” previously told the Journal-World that the book clubs are also a way that people can work to find community, and the Book Squad also hosts events throughout the year — like Booktoberfest — that are catered to adult readers that aims to bring the community together through a love of reading and bookish events.

Along with those events, the library also hosts meetings not related to books, whether it be a free yoga class or a crafting and gifting club. A full list of events at the library is available on its website’s events page.

DEDICATED SPACES FOR MEDIA NEW AND OLD

While the library has free accessible computers and meeting rooms available, it also has dedicated rooms for specialized tasks that can be booked.

Bec Trickey, the library’s marketing and communications specialist, noted the library has a free recording studio for musicians and other audio mixing purposes and a recent new studio that helps users archive old files so they can be preserved and digitized.

The recording studio, known as Sound+Vision, is a bookable recording and editing space that has a live room and control room to record and mix music or whatever other audio use you can desire. To book the room, you need to be over 18 years old and have a library card, but the studio has everything a user might need to record.

For music performances, the library even offers drums, guitars, amps, keyboards and microphones in the recording room, while Trickey said the library also offers “hands-on support” from its staff to help with the recording.

photo by: Contributed/Lawrence Public Library

A photo of Jim Barnes, the Lawrence Public Library’s public technology supervisor, showing off the digitization rack at the library’s DIY Memory Lab. It’s one of the library’s many free resources.

The library also added a “DIY Memory Lab” that can help users that media in old formats — photos, slides, cassette tapes, vinyl records and more — and help archive and transfer those into “high-quality digital files.”

The lab was first unveiled in March 2025, and is a one-stop place where users can archive family memories. The digitizing station includes multiple tools that help turn physical copies into digital files, like a machine that can convert 8 mm or Super 8 film into an MP4 file. The lab also has a Scanning Station that can scan up to 50 photos or other documents at a time and even a machine that can scan books.

•••

As libraries evolve and media consumption evolves, the Lawrence library staff want to know what other resources they should get, and they make note of which ones are a success.

Corcoran noted the library has to pay for much of the resources in its digital library. If the staff can see data that certain resources are being utilized, that information “is reassuring to (staff),” he said.

Trickey noted that many of the featured items are “just a handful of the cool resources the library has to offer” its users. When spring rolls around the corner, the library has its own seed library that assists gardeners learn more about the craft. The library also has genealogical resources and local history resources that can help amateur historians learn more about their houses or include archives of old newspapers like the Journal-World.

While books are the bread and butter resource for the library, there can sometimes be limits to what even frequent library users know is available. The Lawrence Public Library staff hope that its users can make the most of their library card in the coming year.

“We got a lot of stuff out there,” Corcoran. “Obviously we want people to use (those resources).”