Movie "rentals" are free at the library

A reader (thank you!) e-mailed me about the Harford County Library's vast collections of movies that can be borrowed for two days at a time. She finds it a great way to keep the kids busy on cold winter days when they're off of school -- like today. You can double the time you get to keep that movie by signing onto the library's website at http://www.harf.lib.md.us/. Go to "Review My Account" and you can renew your movie for another two days. I use this feature to manage the books my family borrows on its four different library cards. In the past few years I think we've only paid a few dollars in late fees. (Most of that was from the borrowed videotape that lodged itself into my VCR. I had to wait until the end of the week before the only technician in town who still does that kind of work was available to fish it out.) The library also offers a small collection of Playstation 2, XBox and Wii video games that can be borrowed for a week. Those also can be renewed for another week. Beats paying $8.47 for a weekly video game rental at Blockbuster. However, Blockbuster's grace period allows you to keep it for another week before penalties kick in.