As an eager reader who moved from Chennai, India to New York City, the exposure here to more readers in every direction I see has been incredibly beautiful. There’s a strong urge to go chat with a reader studying Yuval Noah Harari’s Lessons from the 21st Century in a crowded subway compartment when your recent favorite read has been Sapiens by the same author. Seeing Kindles out on the bus rides, people poring over books at Columbia, sitting leisurely with one at Central Park and cafes is a wonderful sight to see, especially if its a book whose title I recognize!
There are also the cons, though. Books are expensive here. Shelling out 20 dollars for a book here when one switch to amazon.in (India’s marketplace) displays on retail priced at Rs 499 (~8 dollars) gives one the unease of splurging. As a student at a not-so inexpensive graduate school, I have felt this twinge of unease innumerable times as I try to pick a book from bookstores here.
How else does one acquire books? I was thoroughly shocked, and immensely surprised by the scale at which the incredible New York Public Library functions here! My reading life has been so fortunate thanks to this resource, and so here’s how you can get yourself started with an NYPL membership (it’s ridiculously easy!). I’ve come to realize not everyone has this powerful resource on our side and we attempt to get our hands on the next book we want to travel with, so here is a quick why and how-to of getting an NYPL membership.
Why should you get an NYPL Membership?
There are over 90 libraries across New York, and the entire catalog is available online which includes e-books, CDs, DVDs, printed books & magazines that can be delivered to the library nearest to you for your convenience. You can request holds for books that aren’t currently available and be notified when they are, download books straight to your Kindle or other e-readers, and even get your hands on some academic books! All of this is COMPLETELY FREE!
How-to:
What you need: Just one piece of document showing your residence in NYC/NY State (this could be a mail you received or a copy of your lease etc)
- Get a copy of mail/lease document stating your full name and New York City/New York State residential address
- Any Photo ID proof (University ID, work permit, DL, State ID…)
- Visit your nearest NYPL
- Inform the librarian that you’d like to start a new membership
- Fill in a short, one paged form (~5 minutes) [You can also pre-fill this online]
- Submit the form and show proof of address (from first point) to the librarian
- And that’s it! Your incredible librarian will hand you one of these, and you’ve successfully unlocked the NYPL membership!
If you’re near Columbia University, the Morningside Heights Library (115, Broadway) is the closest!
I hope this helps! If you have another resource that you would recommend for readers, do leave a comment below. I’d love to find new avenues to get books too!
Resources:
Locations: https://www.nypl.org/locations/map
More Information: https://www.nypl.org/library-card
You can connect with me here on Goodreads to discuss more about books and recommend some.
– Swathi Chandrasekaran
Perplexed Potatoes 