Sarasota’s Selby Library

If you are in Sarasota, do stop in at the Selby Library. It is a great free stop on the tourist tour. Here are five free (or really cheap) things you can do.

• For kids (and the rest of us), the lobby has a large fish tank that you walk under. It’s kinda like Aquatica, but smaller and no slide.
• The Friends’ bookstore has a great selection donated by locals. Not only the latest bestsellers, but discards from the library and specialty books (in August 2008 they were selling a large collection of World War II flying books).
• Just inside the drive up porte-cochere, local bookstores often donate day-old newspapers. It’s hit or miss, but it is usually good for a copy of Barron’s or Investor’s Business Daily, and even The New York Post.
• Get free Wi-Fi. The signal is good too.
• Get a schedule for a speaker or program. During the Sarasota Film Festival, the library even hosted writer Ethan Canin. While he won’t be there, each weekend there is usually something free.

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