Libraries

Nelle's favorite libraries

The free treasure houses behind half the nightstand. Numbers below are the latest published figures; checkout periods vary by item, so peek at each library's site.

home base

Dayton Metro Library

Eighteen locations and a bookmobile, anchored by a gorgeous downtown Main Library.

  • Around 874,000 physical items, plus a huge digital collection
  • Card: free for any Ohio resident, photo ID (plus proof of address if the ID is old), any age
  • Heads up: new cards have a 10-item limit the first 8 weeks

Nelle's home card ♡

Columbus

Columbus Metropolitan Library

A Main Library plus 22 branches serving a million people, regularly ranked among America's best systems.

  • About 1.5 million items in the collection
  • The 1907 Main Library downtown is worth the trip on its own
  • Card details and checkout periods at columbuslibrary.org

pairs with a Book Loft trip!

Cincinnati

Cincinnati & Hamilton County

The overachiever: the 2nd-largest public library collection in the United States, on one card across 41 locations.

  • Roughly 9.6 million volumes
  • The most e-books of any public library in the country
  • One card works at all 41 locations; details at chpl.org

a whole day is not enough.

Library-card magic, in one minute

A library card is free, works at every branch in its system, and most Ohio systems welcome any Ohio resident. Bring a photo ID; bring a piece of mail if the ID's address is stale. Checkout is typically a few weeks with renewals when nobody's waiting, and every system above lends e-books and audiobooks straight to a phone.

the best hobby budget hack there is.