Discover all the ways the Library helps you with your travels
For all the items and resources included in this guide, you can also find them in the catalog.
Trip Prep
Travel Guides from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, Monaco to Russia, and Everything in Between
Publishers put out updated travel guides every year or two, so why buy something that could be outdated in no time? With more than 400 on the Lake Forest Library shelves, plus hundreds of eBook guides in Libby and Hoopla, it’s easy to pick from your favorite series including DK Eyewitness, Falcon, Fodor’s, Insight, Lonely Planet, Moon Travel, and Rough Guides.
Find international travel guides starting in section 914 of the Upper Level.
Culturegrams Travel Guide
Concise, Reliable, & Up‑to‑Date Cultural Content
Before you travel to another country, state, or province, use Culturegrams to get a bird’s eye view of the local recipes, customs, and lifestyles.
Adventures Await Across All 50 States
Wax nostalgic along Route 66. Hike, camp, and raft through the Grand Canyon. Retrace the overground railroad of the Green Book. Dine on regional delicacies from fry bread, bison burgers, and poke bowls to key lime pie, buckeyes, and gumbo.
Find U.S. travel guides starting in section 917.3 of the Upper Level.
A to Z Food Databases Travel Guide
Did Someone Say Gumbo?
Never have a dull dinner again with access to traditional recipes, craft beer reviews, and food photos from 50 states, 6 regions, and 33 ethnic groups in the U.S. and more than 170 countries.
GENERIC QL Conde Nast Pressreader
New Digital Magazines: Condé Nast
Dive into the best in travel, culture, fashion, technology, and music with access to Bon Appétit, Condé Nast Traveler, Glamour, GQ, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Vogue, Wired, and more!
GENERIC QL ROM Mango Languages
You’re Speaking My Language
Apps are a great way to learn a language through real-life situations, actual conversation, vocab builder videos, and more.
Mango adapts to your learning style, so you pick up on new vocabulary, intuit unfamiliar grammatical structure, and train your pronunciation, all while boosting your cultural IQ.
What to Pack
Language Phrasebooks
Keep handy phrases at hand with perfectly packable pocket phrasebooks and dictionaries in Danish, French, German, Greek, Japanese, Korean, Lao, Malay, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Tibetan, and more! Find language learning books in section 400 of the Upper Level.
Borrow from the Takeout Tech Collection
- World Travel Adapter: Charge up around the world with an all-in-one adapter for use in more than 150 countries.
- GoPro or DSLR Camera: Your cell phone camera is great because you always have it with you. But if you have a special trip or special occasion coming up, why not try a GoPro or DSLR camera to capture all your special moments?
- Mobile Wi‑Fi Hotspot: Connect up to five devices to T-Mobile Wi-Fi in North America.
- Power Bank: Enjoy portable backup power for your devices when you’re on the move and not near a wall outlet.
- Noise-Canceling Headphones: Muffle the hum of airplanes, the rattle of trains, and all sorts of transportation noises. Youth headphones are included in the Self-Regulation Accessibility Kit. Find it amongst the grey backpacks in the nonfiction section of the Children’s Library.
Lake Forest residents ages 16+ can borrow these items by finding its hangtag in the shelving unit in the Reference Room.
En Route Entertainment
Libby When Offline
No Wi-Fi on your flight or along your off-the-grid road trip? No problem! Before you leave for vacation, open the Libby app and make sure your borrowed books are downloaded to your device.
If you see a cloud symbol, tap it to start your download. A checkmark means you can enjoy your book even when your device is in airplane mode or isn’t connected to the internet.
Magazines in Libby
Sometimes on vacation you don’t want to commit time and brain power to a full book. Magazines to the rescue! Librarian Kate recommends reading with Libby on a tablet, because its size and how you swipe to turn pages is a lot like reading a regular magazine.
Audiobooks, No Apps Needed
Take a break from reading on your phone by borrowing books on CD, or better yet, try the Playaways! These pre-loaded audiobook devices only need a AAA battery and headphones to use, so they’re perfect for screen‑free road trips or your staycation exercise runs.
Find audiobooks and Playaways in the Audio Room (past the Reed Room in the back of Fiction), Teen Space, and Children’s Library.
Load Up Your Kindle with Help from Libby
Prefer to read on your Kindle? On your phone or tablet, open Libby and go to Settings, then Read Books With, and select Kindle. When you first borrow a Kindle‑compatible eBook, Libby will take you to Amazon’s website for you to sign in, where you can then select Get Library Book. The book will then appear in all the Kindle apps and devices associated with your Amazon account.
To search for Kindle-compatible titles in Libby, select the “kindle” Catalog Filter.
Short or Long Libby Loans
As you borrow an item in Libby, choose your “Borrowing for” setting before you finish checking out.
- Maybe a 7 day loan period is plenty because you plan to plow through multiple eBooks on an overseas plane ride.
- Or perhaps you need 14 or 21 days to finish a single eAudiobook because your travel agenda is so full.
You can always return your Libby loans early, which is wonderful if someone is waiting in line for the book you borrowed. Go to the book in your Loans, select Manage Loan then Return Early.
Summer Reading Along the Way
Log your reading on paper or in the Beanstack app while traveling, then visit the Library by July 31 to pick up the prizes you earned. Find Beanstack in your device’s app store.
Sight to See
Intro to Canva: Build a Digital Travel Postcard
