Nice article about libraries from Gregory Karp, personal finance writer for The Chicago Tribune:

Perhaps the ultimate in careless spending is paying for something you can get free. And no place offers more valuable free stuff than your local public library.

A library card gives access to a plethora of freebies bought by your tax dollars, many you probably don't know about.

"In essence, you've prepaid for all of these services, so you may as well get good use out of them," said Jennifer Owens, adult services manager at the Fremont Public Library in Mundelein.

If you haven't visited a public library in a while, you may be surprised by the breadth of lending materials and services available. Of course, libraries offer books and magazines, which alone would save you about $140 a year on average, according to government consumer expenditure statistics. Read more...