Support the Writers Guild of America Strike by Using Your Local Library

You can support the Writers Guild strike and still watch television series that are new to you. Fresh episodes of your favorite TV shows will run out sooner than you think during the Writers Guild of America strike, but there is an alternative to sate your desire for new television fare. Try your local public library.

The WGA members are striking to get their deserved income from shows streamed for free over the Internet and to get more revenue from DVDs sold and rented. Their action is likely to continue long term. The strike in 1988 lasted 22 weeks.

There is a way to satisfy your addiction to new television programming. You're thinking, 'Yeah, I could rent DVDs of television series from the video store or go online and download, or stream them and watch. But wait. Won't getting shows on the Internet weaken the position of the striking writers? Think of the expense renting DVDs if the strike goes on and on.

In every city and town across America you have access to a library system. They are brimming with choices. You won't find every series you seek but there are plenty of entertaining and enlightening shows on DVD and VHS (yes, you might still find use for that VHS player). Your local library can help you fill the entertainment gap. Sit down and make a list of the television series you missed or long to see again. The library has already paid for the rights for you to check them out and enjoy them.

In St. Louis for example you can find something from every genre and era of television. Looking for laughs you can get Absolutely Fabulous to Are You Being Served? from the BBC, Golden Girls to Arrested Development, Gilligans Island to The Office. The science fiction fan can choose from Battlestar Galactica to Stargate SG1. Dramas, romance, action, news, reality and documentaries are also available. Use your imagination. Think about series or specials you missed because Lost or Sex in the City was on. Go back to your childhood for series you vaguely recall. Chances are good the library will have many of them.

You don't even have to search the library for them. Find the web site for your local library system and enter your card number. You don't have a library card? So go to your local branch and get one. They are free. While youre there see if there is anything on the shelf that looks interesting.

Back home go the web site and search for the television series you want. Then request it and have it sent to the nearest library branch. Check back online to see when it is waiting for you, or they will send you a notice in the mail. It might be slower than NetFlix but it is free.

Your local library is a great source for DVDs and VHS of television series you can watch when the networks turn to reruns and reality shows. The networks won't benefit and the WGA members won't suffer. And books, the library also carries stories printed on paper that you create the visuals for.