Written by Mackenzie Manley, Content Specialist, Downtown Main Library
September is Library Card Sign Up Month. To celebrate, here are a few Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library must-dos.
Explore Our Physical Collection
If you ask us, there’s nothing better than getting lost in the Library’s stacks. Head to your favorite branch and checkout books, DVDs, CDs, and more to your heart’s content.
You may even find that new bestselling book you’ve been eyeing via our Lucky Day displays!
The Downtown Main Library is also home to rare and special collections, including more than 43,000 books, 23,000 photographs, and various maps, blueprints, broadsides, and prints.
...And Don’t Forget Our Digital Collection!
You can access CHPL’s collection from your computer, mobile device, or even your TV screen. Enjoy eBooks, eAudiobooks, digital magazines, and streaming services for free with your Library card, including:
- Libby: Meet Libby, the Library’s most popular app. Check out thousands of eBooks, eAudiobooks, magazines, and read-along books.
- Kanopy: Stream more than 3,000 free movies, classics, documentaries, and educational videos.
- Freegal: Stream or download more than 18 million songs. Download unlimited songs or albums to your device to keep!
Secure a Hotspot
While all 41 of our Library locations offer free Wi-Fi, customers can also check out a mobile hotspot for up to three weeks. The device serves as a wireless access point for connecting laptops, tablets, smartphones, and more to the internet.
Reserve a Computer
Of course, you can also head to your preferred neighborhood branch to use the Library’s desktop or laptop computers. Our computers run Microsoft Windows 11 and include webcams.
Freestanding laptop-dispensing kiosks are available in the Main Library’s Coworking Space and Atrium, and the Avondale, Cheviot, Clifton, College Hill, Corryville, Covedale, Deer Park, Forest Park, Groesbeck, Loveland, Madisonville, opens a new window, Mariemont, Mt. Healthy, Mt. Washington, North Central, Pleasant Ridge, Price Hill, Reading, St. Bernard, Walnut Hills, and Westwood branches.
Library cardholders may borrow one laptop at a time for four hours of use in the Library building.
Get Creative at MakerSpace
The Library’s MakerSpaces are perfect for creatives, students, small business owners, and everyone in between. Equipment includes 3D printers, an audio recording station, button makers, cutting machines, digital creation stations, direct-to-garment printers, sewing stations, media conversion stations, and other tools.
The Downtown, Forest Park, Madisonville, Reading, and St. Bernard branches all have MakerSpaces with varying equipment. Visit chpl.org/makerspace to learn more.
Explore with Discovery Pass
Your Library card grants you access to some of Greater Cincinnati’s coolest spots. Visit arts, cultural, and recreational attractions in Hamilton County for free via Discovery Pass.
Krohn Conservatory, a living museum of exotic botanical specimens from around the world, is the Library’s newest partner organization, joining 14 other attractions:
- The Contemporary Arts Center
- Cincinnati Observatory
- Gorman Heritage Farm
- Norwood Recreation Center
- The Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center
- Heritage Village Museum
- Taft Museum of Art
- Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park & Museum
- The Harriet Beecher Stowe House
- Great Parks
- Cincinnati Museum Center
- Cincinnati Art Museum
- American Sign Museum
Print, Fax, and Scan!
Looking to print something? All you need is a Library card. Print up to 20 pages in color or 33 in black and white per day for free at any branch. You can send your documents to be printed with your email or mobile device. Once you get to a library location, you can release the job for immediate printing.
Additional pages can be printed at a cost of $0.15 per page in black and white and $0.25 per page in color. You do not need a library card to use this service.
The Library also offers free, unlimited faxing at any location — no library card required.
Deep Dive with Databases
Whether you’re working on a school or personal project, you can access dozens of research databases and online resources with your Library card. Resources are available for kids, teens, and adults!
You can also learn a new language with Transparent Language Online, take full-length online practice exams with Peterson’s Career and Test Prep, and dive even deeper into our curated historical digital collections.
Bonus: Use a Meeting or Study Room!
Need a quiet place to study or a free space to meet? Use a meeting or study room for free. You don’t even need a Library card.
See a full list of our meeting and study room locations at chpl.org/meeting-study-rooms.
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