Time to cancel that magazine subscription?

Andrew Scrogham reveals that libraries offer free and current eMagazines and eComics 

In a previous role (life?) I was the Service Specialist for Information and Digital - kind of like an old reference library manager but with IT bits thrown in. Not that I consider myself particularly savvy when it comes to tech (I still buy CDs and never got rid of my cassettes and VHS tapes) but that's another story.  From the number of years that I was in the role one of the most exciting aspects was bearing witness to the development of eBooks, eAudiobooks and latterly digital magazines. 

Here in Newcastle we first signed up with RB Digital to offer digital magazines around five or six years ago (if my memory serves me right).  Straight away it was clear that offering digital magazines direct to people's homes online and through an ever-improving app was as near to revolutionary as the library world tends to get. In the old days we used to get so many magazines and journals, catering to so many different interests and professions from Caravan Monthly and Buses to the Lancet and the Grocer. This was great - but you had to come in to City Library to read them (or buy your own of course!) and you might have to wait around for a bit while Mr So and So pored over every word with a meticulous zeal that could either send you to sleep or leave you wanting to commit an act that would infringe the library byelaws.

With a great range of titles including All About History, Empire, iCreate, Mojo and many more, it really is very simple to put the app on your phone or tablet and start reading - titles are checked out for you as they come out and back issues are stored for you to go back to when you wish. With the price of magazines going up pretty regularly, to get an exact digital version of the copy in the shops and to be able to easily scroll through the magazine or use hyperlinks to get to the content you want - for free - is, as they say, a bit of a no-brainer.  We've recently added a fantastic comics collection to the RB Digital app too - over 1100 titles ranging from Alice in Wonderland to Star Wars and taking in Marvel favourites Spiderman and X-Men along the way.

I should say that not everyone enjoys reading for pleasure on a screen - and if you're one of those people that's fair enough, there are times when we all need a break from technology - but for ease of use and range of titles in one place it's certainly worth a look, particularly in the strange times we find ourselves in currently.

Who knows, if this had existed twenty-odd years ago I could have saved myself, my Mum and a few girlfriends along the way a load of grief by not having bags of old NMEs, Melody Makers, Selects etc etc blocking up bedrooms (even my car boot for a couple of years) and generally creating a trip and fire safety hazard! Me: "But I can't get rid of that, it's got a great article about how Mansun got their hair so blonde (or something like that)"

Mum/girlfriend/flatmate "!!!"