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This article appears in print in the August 2018 issue. Click here to subscribe.

The King County Library System is taking its encyclopedic book knowledge to the airwaves with King County Reads, its new TV program (King County TV Channel 22/322/722; streams at kcls.org).

Hosted by University Book Store public relations guru Terry Tazioli (a former Seattle Times editor and host of public affairs network TVW shows Author’s Hour and Well Read), each monthly half-hour episode explores the events, programs and services available at the library’s many branches. It also features author interviews and other reading-related entertainment available to all residents of King County.

Another viewing experience comes courtesy of both the Seattle Public Library (SPL) and King County Library systems with their online video-streaming service Kanopy (spl.kanopy.com and kcls.kanopy.com), available to any library cardholder.

After creating an account, viewers can access more than 30,000 films in a dozen categories, including Sundance selections and Academy Award winners. There’s a limit of five titles per month and three days to watch each selection once you press play, so don’t expect a Netflix-level binge.

But with commercial-free, free-of-charge videos, the service is worth—as they say at the library—checking out.