Things I didn't do early on: join a municipal library

When I first came to Japan I was a university student, so I was able to use the private library in the university. But I was in Japan about ten years before I started using a public library frequently. I guess until then I was able to survive on reading and borrowing books to satisfy my reading needs. I was a member of a library in Mito, about my third year in Japan, but I didn't use it that often. But when I had children, it was becoming very expensive to buy them books, so I joined not one, but several municipal libraries!

The reason I joined several municipal libraries is because my local library had a very limited selection of English books for children. Upon visiting other libraries, I learned that most of them had a limited selection of children's books in the English language. But by joining several municipal libraries I had a wider range of English books for children available to me. It also kept things interesting for the kids - visiting a different library every couple of weeks. 

Some libraries are better than others. Not just in the book selection they have, but in the space and comfort. Some have additional, attractive facilities. For example, Konosu City's central library has a coffee shop in it. And Kitamoto City has a library designed just for children. Are you a member of a public library in Japan?