Visit your nearest local bookstore. This suggestion is as obvious as a romance novel plot, but we’re going to read them lead with it anyway because we are proud of our local bookstores! They fought like gladiators to serve customers desperate for pandemic distractions and, like coffee shops, provide heart to our communities. Stop by the one closest to you and let them know you’re new here. (Google Maps and Yelp can show you the way, and some are mentioned below.)
Check out your nearest Wake County Public Library. (Get it? Check out? Sometimes we amuse only ourselves.) Wake County has 23 public library locations. In addition to books, music and movies, most of these libraries offer WiFi, public computers and printers – and some offer community programs and story times as well. If you can’t make it in person, download the Libby app from the Apple App Store or Google Play to borrow free ebooks and audio books from Wake County Public Libraries.
Go see the bookBot. The James B. Hunt Jr. Library, the “library of the future” on NC State University’s Centennial Campus, is an architectural wonder outside and a technological marvel inside. This article at Architizer.com places it among the 12 most important libraries in the world. The bookBot is kind of hard to explain but it’s pretty impressive to watch. It is a huge robotic book delivery system that can store up to two million items and deliver them within five minutes of a click in the online catalog. After watching it in action, you can take a self-guided tour of the gorgeous library — the Skyline Reading Room and Terrace are lovely places to enjoy a good book.
A Few Places to Find Your People
Barnes & Noble recently opened its first new Raleigh location in 18 years in the Village District near NC State.