A(n) (Inter)National Treasure

Living abroad has many advantages.  We have spent at least one post talking about the benefits of our move to Saudi Arabia.  One big thing that we lack is access to books. Many expats experience this problem, especially when you live in a non-English speaking country.  Well this problem is a thing of the past once you read about this library hack.

In Saudi, our local option is a place called Jarir Bookstore.  Jarir is a bookstore/electronics/office supply store.  While it is good for some things, the book selection leaves much to be desired.  The selection mostly consists of Steven King, James Patterson, John Grisham, Sue Grafton-type books.  While not horrible, it is often difficult to find something good to read.  Another option is across the causeway in Bahrain, called the Bookcase.  The selection is slightly better, but we don’t get to Bahrain often, and we can spend upwards of $100 at the bookstore every time we go.  Finally, our compound does have sort of a library, but it is basically a place where people can drop off books they no longer need. (I think half of the books are ours!)

What aggrivates us most, is that if we lived in the US, we woud be able to frequent the library more and get all of these books for free.

We desperately miss the library! This was brought home even more when we went back to the US over the summer.  Simon was able to go to the local library with grandma for storytime every week.  The library is much more than a chance to read free books, but in our position, the most we can expect is free books!

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Library Hack

I was determined to spend less on books at the bookstore, and I believe that I found a way to minimize the cost.

The Free Library of Philadelphia allows people out-of-state to get a library card for $50 per year.  Here is the link to register. When you do register it asks for a US address.  If you are an expat, you could maybe use a family members if you don’t have a US address.  Luckily, we have a US address through Traveling Mailbox.

Read our review of Traveling Mailbox here

Once you have a library card emailed to you, you can use Overdrive to check out books straight to your Kindle. (or the Kindle app on a tablet).  Click here to check out the Free Libary Overdrive page to see what is available.  They also offer access to other databases.  I need to explore this more but it looks like there is access to audiobooks and magazines as well!

In the short three weeks that I have had the description I have already read Fools and Mortals by Bernard Cornwell and In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin by Erik Larson.  Buying these books would have cost me $22 on the Kindle, so I am more than on my way to putting the $50 library card to good use!  It will be interesting to see the savings after one year!

Please leave a comment below if you try it or have other good Expat Hacks!