From the Director’s Office

With the end of the school year in sight but not yet within reach, the time between my daughter’s winter and summer breaks feels like an eternity, with the only reprieve coming during spring break. For the first time in years, we decided to take a family trip to Puerto Rico to get some much-needed sunshine and family time. We were so excited to check out the island’s beaches, rainforests, towns, and shopping centers. Despite our destination being more than 1,800 miles away from any of the Geauga County Public Libraries, I was able to plan our entire trip with the library and its numerous travel-related resources. I was also able to access many of those resources while out of town and throughout our stay in Puerto Rico, which greatly helped us stay on top of our busy but fun-filled schedule.

Take a Book from the Library’s Travel Guide Section & Enhance Your Vacation

Even though planning for a vacation has radically changed since the evolution of the Internet, physical resources, such as travel guides, continue to be critical sources for information about possible vacation locations. I relied heavily on a few of the library’s travel guides, especially Fodor’s Puerto Rico, during our trip. Travel guides contain a vast amount of information about the location of your choice without sifting through pop-up ads; most describe the local history to help you understand the region’s culture as well as highlight must-see spots for first-time visitors. In addition, many guides have current maps of cities and towns to help you navigate an unfamiliar area when internet connectivity is an issue. This feature was particularly valuable to my family and I as Fodor’s Puerto Rican maps helped us find exciting hikes in the El Yunque Rainforest and some fantastic beaches.

While we all have smartphones in our pockets or purses, travel guides are the perfect resource for you to use to help you plan and use during your trip in case the inevitable happens and your phone dies.

Check Out a Library Hotspot & Connect to the Internet Anywhere

Geauga County Public Library is always looking to evolve our resources to help better address our community’s needs. One project we recently completed was adding circulating hotspots to our libraries’ collections. If you are planning a trip soon or are experiencing connectivity issues at home, stop by any of our branches and talk to a staff member about how to check out and use one of our hotspots.

Connect to Geauga County Public Library’s Digital Collection & Access Books on the Go

For the third and fourth highlights of this month’s resource spotlight, I want to focus on the value of Libby and Hoopla while traveling. Despite using these two resources daily, whether during my commute to and from work or while completing some work in my office, their value skyrocketed for me during our trip. While on our flight to Puerto Rico, I finished reading A Fierce and Subtle Poison by Samantha Mabry, which I highly recommend, as well as several magazines. Another e-book I downloaded and read throughout our trip was the e-book version of Rough Guide to Puerto Rico, which helped me save some extra space in my carry-on for other essentials.

If you are not already signed up for these invaluable resources, sign up for a free account with Libby and Hoopla today and start taking advantage of these awesome e-resources! Once you use it once, you’ll be hooked and won’t look back ever again.

Utilize Rosetta Stone Library Solution & Learn a New Language with Ease

Many don’t realize, but the Geauga County Public Library has access to one of the best language teaching programs currently available: Rosetta Stone Library Solution. In preparation for our trip, I spent some time in the evenings learning the most common words my family and I needed to know to communicate in Spanish, such as direction and location vocabulary. Despite always having trouble learning languages while in grade school and college, I was pleasantly surprised with how enjoyable the lessons were and how easy they were to implement during our trip.

Stop By Geauga County Public Library’s Passport Fair to Get Ready for Your Next Adventure

The library can also help in travel prep and planning through our Passport Fair! If you don’t have a passport and have a big trip planned or would like to get a passport in case a last-minute opportunity pops up, I highly recommend stopping at one of these events. The usually complex process of applying for a passport is made easy with the help of the event’s friendly staff.^