With so much free time, a great way to relax and pass time is to read. Not only is it good for your brain and increases your vocabulary, it is also an enjoyable pastime. You can take your book outside and read in the sun whenever we have good weather, or read inside under a blanket when, as is the case most days, it’s rainy and dreary. Due to the closures of public places and nonessential businesses, the library and several bookstores are closed. However, there are several other ways to get reading material during the shutdown.

Waterford Public Library has ebooks online to borrow when you sign up using your library card. You can sign up on OverDrive or Libby either on a computer or using the apps on your phone. Then, you can borrow books and read them online or through the kindle app. Furthermore, buying ebooks through companies like Amazon is also much cheaper than buying a physical book. Many ebooks are more than 50% less than a physical book would be. Amazon is offering a free two month trial to their kindle unlimited service, which has over 1,000,000 books that can be read anytime. First time users can sign up on Amazon before June 30. 

Audio books are another way to experience books during quarantine. Audiobooks are practical, allowing a listener to work on other projects or activities while still learning and experiencing a book, Amazon is offering a free trial of Audible. The library also has a collection of online audiobooks that work the same way as their ebooks. 

If you want to read physical books, stores like Bank Square Books and Savoy Bookshop and Cafe are all offering curbside pickup and allow you to support a local business. Books-A-Million is also offering curbside pickup and you can order books from Amazon. 

Bookstores are set to open on May 20 with the partial reopening of the states. Furthermore, the library now allows a drop off for returning books and pick up. The drop box outside the library is open for returns. Readers can use a Waterford Public Library card to log in online and place holds on the books that they would like to read or they can call the library using the number found on their website and verbally request the books. Readers can then pick up their requested books a few days later.

Now that there is more free time, more people should start reading. Many stopped due to the demands of work and school, but now that those are more limited, it would be a great time to rekindle the love of reading. Despite all of the closures, there are still many ways to find any genre and style of book.