Helen ZhangMy laptop, which has served me well for years, is finally on its last trembling legs. It freezes and the fans whir to life if too many tabs are open, Netflix crashes are a fact of life at this point, and worst of all, the battery drains like mad.
My charger gave its last wheezing sputter of life back in September, which means that I’ve been stuck borrowing my sister’s charger for the past few months to save money. Since it’s not actually mine, I can’t always have it on me, which means I’ve often found myself adrift at school with 10 per cent of my laptop’s battery life left and two classes still ahead of me.
But my luck, it seems, has finally changed due to a recent discovery of mine. Libraries on campus, as it turns out, don’t just lend books or CDs — they do equipment lending as well. Just present your OneCard, and a spare charger is yours for four hours, more than enough time to fully charge your device. They have a variety of chargers available for MacBooks and PCs alike, and can even lend you a whole laptop if you’re really in a pinch.
Having this resource on campus has been absolutely invaluable these past few weeks, and I wish I’d discovered it earlier in my degree. Because of the spare chargers I’ve been able to borrow, I haven’t had to worry about whether or not I can take notes in class. I’ve had an easier time completing assignments, and I haven’t had to pester my (very patient) sister as much.
So if you find yourself on campus with a low battery and a take-home final to write, drop by a library and take advantage of their equipment rentals. Our libraries provide tons of ways to enhance our learning, and this one is especially useful.
