The Toronto Public Library has a bedtime story hotline

Looking for something to take the edge off before bed? Or maybe you want to practice your Polish comprehension?

It may be news to you that the Toronto Public Library has a dedicated "Dial-A-Story" line that you can call at any time to hear stories in any one of 16 different languages: English, French, Cantonese, Gujarati, Italian, Korean, Mandarin, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Tamil, Tagalog and Urdu.

The service isn't new, but it is cool — and a tweet from the library on Tuesday served to remind many the program is still around.

Looking for a fresh bedtime story? Call our Dial-a-Story line at 416-395-5400 and enjoy stories in 16 languages: https://t.co/DC0DyjgFxA

— Toronto Public Library (@torontolibrary) August 21, 2018

Callers simply dial the number (416-395-5400) and tell a robot which language they'd like to communicate in.

Then, they choose whether they'd like to hear a story for "younger children" (aged up to 7) or "older children" (from age 7  to 40 to 12).

An actual human voice reads out the bedtime stories, as well. The one I just heard, about a Canadian cowboy who tries to become a fisherman, was narrated with aplomb by a man named Ken Roberts.

My teenager still talks about dial-a-story and what a great program it is! Glad it's still going strong! 📱📚🌜

— Tash Smith (@Toronto_Tash) August 21, 2018

It may be geared toward kids, but adults can make good use of the free bedline stories hotline too, whether for the purpose of language learning, entertainment, or to avoid the task of reading to their own children.

Having fun isn't hard when you have a library card—or just a phone!