"You just come in to the front desk and we would get it all set up and then you would be good to go and it is super easy, super quick," ELPL communications team leader Gabby Kindig said. 

With a library card, students are able to access every resource that ELPL has to offer. 

When people think of the library, they are likely to think of the books that are free to check out. ELPL has a vast collection of books for all ages, interests and even a language collection with many different languages highlighted.

"Gen Z, more than anything, is reading more than all the other generations ever have," Kindig said. "So one nice thing is our library does have a lot of reading for pleasure stuff too."

Psychology senior Cordelia Rutter has been using her library card for the past year. She was attracted to ELPL because of their collection of books to read for enjoyment.

"I was kind of a little bit disappointed in MSU Libraries for fun kinds of books," Rutter said. "They didn't have the exact selection of more for fun books that I was looking for." 

Rutter has been an avid reader since the third grade, and would often use the library in her hometown to check out the books she wanted. 

"Coming to college, it was important for me to find a place where I could find similar books for free, because books are expensive," she said. "Being able to go to the library and find any book that I'm looking for and just be able to read it has been very, very meaningful."

The wide variety of books at the library also offers a great resource for people who have never been very interested in reading and don’t know where to start. 

"The library is a great place to start," Rutter said. "They have so many books there. You can just go there and look around and see if there's anything that you might be interested in."

ELPL does not only have books, it has a variety of online resources as well as in person programming and events that attract many different age levels and interests. 

"If you come and check it out, then you know there's a good chance that you'll find something that you didn't even know you were looking for," Kindig said. 

Academic supports include online research databases, a language learning app called Mango Languages, online tutoring and test prep. There are also study rooms in the library that you can reserve for free online. 

Many entertainment options are also available with your library card. Card holders have access to two online video and music streaming services. Hoopla, one of the streaming services, offers audiobooks, e-books, music, films and television. With a library card, you can check out these various sources online. 

International relations senior Shae Eckles makes good use of her library card through Hoopla. 

"As someone who was like, super into audiobooks, but doesn't want to pay for Audible, I am Hoopla's number one user, I swear," she said.

For Eckles, audiobooks offer an on-the-go, convenient way to enjoy her favorite books without having to sit down and flip through a physical copy. 

"Sometimes I just don't have the time or energy or the attention span to sit down and read, but I can always concentrate on an audio book, or sometimes it helps me sleep," Eckles said.

One of the things about Hoopla and ELPL that surprised Eckles was the amount of variety.

"I've been into biographies and like autobiographies recently," Eckles said. "They have Matthew Perry's (autobiography), I read 'Elvis and Me' by Priscilla Presley, all kinds of stuff... even classics. There's literally something for everyone."

Eckles has even found some of her class readings on Hoopla, in audio and e-book form. 

The most important thing, Kindig noted, is that everything is available through your free library card, at no cost to the card holder.

"Everything being free, it's really important, because then that lets everyone have access to whatever they need the most, even if that differs between people," Kindig said. 

By getting a library card and accessing these resources, Eckles said, library-goers are also giving back to the library.  

"Using your community libraries and making sure that you're supporting them is so important," Eckles said. "Libraries are government funded, and making sure that you're using them and showing the government that they're supported and they're worth putting their money into, is super, super important."

The programming and events that the library hosts are also a way that students can benefit from having an ELPL library card. Kindig said one of the events that may be most attractive to college students is the Bricks and Brews event.

Once a month, ELPL hosts a lego building event at Reno’s North Bar. They order pizzas, people get into groups and lego bricks are provided. Then, groups are given a prompt and they build based on it.

There is also an intergenerational birding group through the library that meets regularly, as well as an adult nature book club that meets every other month. 

"It's hard, sometimes, as a student to get involved with the larger East Lansing scene," Kindig said. "And so this is a way that we try and get people who've lived here for 20 years, and the students and everyone to get along and make friends and make connections... it's also a great way to get off campus for a minute and enjoy being out in the city a bit more."

A lot of people might be surprised at the vast resources that the library has to offer, Kindig said. It was something that even surprised her when she began working at ELPL.

The library of things is yet another resource that card holders have access to. In the library of things, there are many items that can be checked out, from power tools to musical instruments. Instead of going out and buying something once, not knowing if you will ever use it again, you can check it out from ELPL. 

"All the way up to every age group, there's something here for you, and I think the library offers that in a way that like no other institution is really offering these days," Kindig said. "And so that's really exciting."