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Get FREE Stuff from the Virginia Beach Public Library!

Get FREE Stuff from the Virginia Beach Public Library!

Your Virginia Beach Public Library card can unlock some incredible freebies! If you live in the area, you can’t afford to miss out on these great deals.

Borrow telescopes, Roku devices, video game controllers and more!

There are two technology borrowing programs offered by the Virginia Beach Public Library: Take Home Tech and Stay and Play Tech.

Take Home Tech

You can borrow much more than books from this library! Take Home Tech is a lending library that includes items like an Orion Starblast Telescope, Wi-Fi hot spots, Roku devices and more! Most devices can be kept for three weeks, but the telescopes are limited to seven days.

You can borrow up to two Take Home Tech items per library card at a time.

The catalog currently lists the following items in the Take Home Tech library:

  • Orion Blast Telescopes
  • Wi-Fi Hot Spots
  • Roku Devices
  • Sphero Robots

They also have several great offerings for kids, including:

  • PlayAway View
  • Code-a-Pillar

Stay and Play Tech

These devices can be checked out and used within the library building. You will need to return them to the staff before you leave the library.

Stay and Play items include:

  • Osmo Genius Kit
  • Animation Studio Stop-Motion Kit
  • Magic Mouse 2
  • Magic keyboard
  • Noise Cancelling Headphones
  • AWE Laptop
  • MIDI Groove Controller

They also have numerous video game controllers, including but not limited to:

  • Nintendo Switch Joy-Con Remote
  • Wii Nunchuk Controller
  • Dualshock 4 Wireless Controller
  • Wii Classic Controller
  • WiiU Game Pad

3D Printer Access

The Virginia Beach Public Library has one MakerBot Replicator+ 3-D Printer available at four locations: Bayside Area Library, Great Neck Area Library, Meyera E. Oberndorf Central Library and TCC/City Joint-Use Library. These are free to use once you’ve completed a one-hour orientation.

Download movies, TV and more with your library card!

You don’t even have to leave home to access some of the benefits you can get with a library card! There are many digital services that are available 24/7 from the comfort of your own home!

You can read e-Books from Overdrive (also known as Libby). RB Digital offers audiobooks, magazines, and ebooks also.

If you run into paywalls on The New York Times, you can get a unique link from the Virginia Beach Public Library to bypass that paywall. It only lasts for 24 hours, but you can renew the unique code as many times as you need to.

Hoopla is an incredible service that allows you to borrow movies, TV shows, music, comic books, audiobooks, and eBooks without leaving home. There are hundreds of thousands of titles to choose from! If you have an Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Roku or Chromecast device, you can stream the movies and TV shows straight to your TV!

Your Virginia Beach Public Library card unlocks amazing online services!

You can log in to exclusive online services using your library card credentials!

Learn a new language with Rocket Languages.

Rocket Languages is a popular and effective online language learning course. Rocket usually costs $449.85 to use, but you can access this tool for free with your library card!

Achieve new goals with Lynda.com.

With Lynda.com, you can participate in expert-led online courses. Some of the courses award certificates and can be used to build your resume. Lynda.com also features personalized course recommendations, quizzes, project files, offline viewing and more. This service usually costs $29.99 per month, but you get free access with your library card!

Attend hundreds of courses through Universal Class.

Universal Class courses have no college credit, but they are taught by experienced instructors. You can find a class on almost any topic! A Universal Class membership usually costs $59 per month but it’s free with your library card.

Didn’t graduate? Apply for Career Online High School (COHS).

Provided through Virginia Beach Public Library, the Career Online High School helps adults who are at least 20 years old complete their high school education. Applicants must have completed at least 8th grade. This school awards a high school diploma and a career certificate.

Students can earn a career certificate in one of these categories:

  • Childcare and education
  • Certified Protection Officer
  • Office Management
  • Commercial Driving
  • Homeland Security
  • General Career Preparation
  • Retail Customer Service
  • Food and Hospitality

Need a notary? The library offers free Notary services!

If you need a notary, you can make an appointment at your local library! Their notary services are completely free. You will need to bring current, valid photo identification and any witnesses that you may need.

Job and career services are also available.

If you need to improve your resume or change jobs, the library is a great place to start! They have resources that can help you with career coaching, resume writing and skill building. More info here.

Virginia Beach Public Library services are available to everyone.

This library system strives to be accessible to everyone in their region. If you struggle to access your local library, there are programs that may be able to help.

Library customers who cannot read printed books due to poor eyesight, physical disabilities, or learning disabilities may be able to have talking books shipped to them. This service provides audiobooks, players, recorded magazines, large print books, movies, Braille and more. All these materials are mailed to the customer at no cost.

The library is even better in the Summer!

The Virginia Beach Public Library offers several awesome summer programs for children, teens and adults!

Camp Evergreen awards badges for participation.

Participants of all ages can visit Camp Evergreen to complete activities and earn badges. This free, camp-like experience is designed to “keep your brain evergreen.” Each week has a specific theme. For more information, visit this website. 

Win prizes through the Summer Reading Challenge!

Each year, the Virginia Beach Public Library hosts a summer reading challenge. You can read short books, long books, magazines, comic books, newspapers, and even listen to audio books! It all counts.

The prizes depend on how much material you read and how old you are.

Youth can receive a free book after reading five books. After 10, 20 and 40 books, they can also earn a prize wheel spin. If they complete 50 books, they can choose a Super Prize! If they read 20 minutes a day, 5 days per week, they can also win an extra prize.

Teenagers that read one book will receive a Community pass/food coupon. After three books, they will win free admission for two to VBPL’s Teen Night at the Virginia Aquarium. After 5 books, they’ll win a $12 Barnes and Noble gift card.

Adults are invited to participate in the year-round program called Adults Read.

Get more FREE stuff in Virginia!

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