When we bought our house, I was a little concerned about moving 45 minutes away from the town I grew up in. For my entire life, I was accustomed to living a 7-minute drive from everything. Grocery stores, work, church, everything was 7 minutes away.

I was relieved we found a house a block away from the highway, but I was still a bit worried. Then I took a walk.

We live a 5-minute walk away from a Dollar General, a mom-and-pop grocery store, an Ace Hardware, and a small public library that’s connected to a county-wide library network.

This library isn’t much. It’s literally a double-wide manufactured home with most of the walls taken out. Or in other words, it’s a single room.

It has a kids’ corner, a movie section, a bay of computers, 3 tables, 2 aisles of books, A bathroom, a front counter, and a 3d printer.

It’s not much, but it’s more than enough.

During my parental leave, I took our toddler daughter there more than a couple of times. The librarian knows us now, and I’ve been able to check out multiple books for Lottie, Dune Part II for a movie night, a woodworking book, and even Clair Obscur Expedition 33 for the PlayStation 5.

It’s incredible.

They even have a website where I can browse the greater library catalog and put holds on media I’m interested in. I can even request it to be sent to our little 1-room library that’s within walking distance of our home.

It’s literally perfect.

Did I mention they have video games? I also went through every game they had until I reached the 360/PS3 era and made a list of 61 games that I would like to check out at some point… that’s a ton of games, like years worth, all for free.

Anyway, here’s your reminder to check out your local library! You might be surprised at the possibilities.

I just need to figure out how to use that 3d printer.