How awesome are libraries? Seriously, this is one of the greatest institutions mankind has ever developed. Free shared information is the cornerstone the development of society and democracy are based on, and the more the collective populace utilizes that, the better we as a species get.

The book rentals are free, WiFi is free and access to archives is free. Librarians are practically professional Googlers. Why would you not use that? Entertainment-wise, DVDs and CDs are free to check out. Libraries are also great used bookstores, with many holding sales where you can get all kinds of great reads for a few bucks with proceeds directly supporting the library.

And kids have a safe place to use a computer for online gaming. In fact, it’s a great place for kids to gather in general. Most libraries have specific tables where kids can hang out, study, do homework and play with board games or trading cards. Don’t want your child’s same group of friends over to the house every day? Send them to the library.

Most importantly, libraries bring people together. No matter what you’re into, libraries have an open and welcoming community for everyone. Did I mention it’s free?