• By Mara Lynn Newman
  • Posted Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Traveling This Summer? The Library Can Help Plan Your Trip

Check out and/or go online and use the Library's great resources for travelers: books, language learning, what to expect, customs, and more. Your library card will get you farther than you think! The Library can assist you in preparing for your dream trip overseas, a camping trip in any national park, or a visit to Old Salem. Among many resources, these listed below are ready for you to take advantage of as you prepare.

Books, of course, can enlighten your destination and prepare you for maximizing experiences in a new place. Use our Online Catalog and type in your destination. Our 900s collection—about world countries, each of the United States, and areas closer to home—is extensive, for both current travellers and those wanting to know history. How about a book to improve your digital photography?

FCPL offers valuable Online Resources, and some of them might be important to you as you plan a trip. These are available at home 24/7 and anywhere you have internet access. Best of all, just like all the resources we offer, they are FREE. (Spend the money you save on your trip!)

Global Road Warrior opens the world to you for travel or study, providing the most up-to-date information about all the world's countries. It's practical, telling you about climate, electrical outlet needs, political data, and how to get around. It includes much, much more than tourist info.

CultureGrams helps you learn about... wait for it... the CULTURES of the world's countries, with emphasis on the U.S. and Canada. Know what to expect about customs, proper greetings, meals, and more. A version for kids will get them excited about visiting new places, too.

Foreign travel in your plans? Learn the language before you go! Set up your own self-paced account with Mango Languages. Strike up a learning conversation, either online with your home computer or anywhere with the Mango Mobile app (both Apple and Android). All the world's most popular languages are there for the learning, over 80 of them, as well as ESL lessons. [Note that the mobile app works after you have set up an account through the Library's website, using your library card to access Mango Languages.]

Maybe you would enjoy reading about other places at your leisure. Sign up for the NextReads Armchair Travel e-newsletter to be delivered to your email's inbox every other month. An FCPL Librarian is the editor and will guide you to enjoyable reading about the world, and newly released titles are the specialty. Here's a sample that includes books about London, Mumbai, South America, an American river and A Walk in the Woods.

For more information about our travel resources, visit or call your favorite FCPL location and speak to a friendly Librarian. We'll do our best to assist you with information to make your trip even more memorable.

Oh, and don't forget to pick up a paperback or bestseller or ebook download to read during your travels. Download an audiobook or pick up CDs for the road trip! Have a fun and safe excursion and come back to the Library soon. (We've got your Summer Reading entertainment right here.)

world travel

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