Borrowing library books
- Thread starter Miss Chicken
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TheLonelySquire
Vice Admiral
No, reading together is great. I read the Dr. Seuss Sleep Book to my 6 month old just this afternoon. We both crashed after the Jedd's head hit his bed. The softest of beds...it is said.
I buy them. I haven't borrowed a book from the library since high school.
He he. I am a Dr. Seuss fan. Though I prefer Fox in Sox. I won a writing contest on this board a couple of years ago by doing a Dr. Seuss parody. I think I still have it somewhere. That was fun, we ought to have anther writing contest!
I prefer to buy cheap books. If there is a new book coming out that I REALLY REALLY REALLY want to read, I will have the library get it. Stephen King's Cell, The Accidental Time Machine by Joe Haldeman, Deeper by Jeff Long, and Paul of Dune are the last few I can think of that I requested though. It's few and far between.
TheLonelySquire
Vice Admiral
Then you're obviously familiar with the Jedd. Good to know I'm not the only one...
This is a little OT, but it does involve the library.
The library is a pretty big part of my life, I'm in there at least every two weeks to check out a few books. Over the last few years though, my library has been going through some major changes.
It seems like it is turning into more of a video store/computer lab at this point. When I'm in line to check out my books everyone else is either checking out movies or asking to use the internet. The DVD and computer lab sections keep getting larger, and the book shef space keeps shrinking.
Lately I've noticed that they have been selling tons of used books really cheap, which they never used to do. Some of them are only a couple of years old, nice $20-$30.00 hardbacks being sold for a buck.
I was just wondering if this was something going on everywhere or just in my neck of the woods.
The library is a pretty big part of my life, I'm in there at least every two weeks to check out a few books. Over the last few years though, my library has been going through some major changes.
It seems like it is turning into more of a video store/computer lab at this point. When I'm in line to check out my books everyone else is either checking out movies or asking to use the internet. The DVD and computer lab sections keep getting larger, and the book shef space keeps shrinking.
Lately I've noticed that they have been selling tons of used books really cheap, which they never used to do. Some of them are only a couple of years old, nice $20-$30.00 hardbacks being sold for a buck.
I was just wondering if this was something going on everywhere or just in my neck of the woods.
I hardly ever go to libraries and pretty much just buy.
It's more out of habit really... the library by my house when I was growing up was small and generally had a poor selection. So I just got used to not going to libraries. Apparently said library has been completely renovated and expanded recently but it's too late for me
It's more out of habit really... the library by my house when I was growing up was small and generally had a poor selection. So I just got used to not going to libraries. Apparently said library has been completely renovated and expanded recently but it's too late for me
My sister uses paperback swap. Helps her fund her book-buying habit! My problem is once I own a book, I do not want to let it go.
Rii
Rear Admiral
I used to go to the library all the time, but since moving a few years back I haven't looked the local one up. I really should.
I recall going to the library one time when I was around 10yrs old and borrowing some Star Trek novels. The lady at the counter haughtily informed me that those books were for older readers and that I couldn't have them. She eventually relented, though.
I recall going to the library one time when I was around 10yrs old and borrowing some Star Trek novels. The lady at the counter haughtily informed me that those books were for older readers and that I couldn't have them. She eventually relented, though.
Did you go all logical on her ass? 
I went through a phase when I was 10/11 during which I wanted to read all the grown-up books. I could read them so I did. I read The Color Purple, and Body, and Portnoy's Complaint (which I enjoyed far more at 19 than I did at 11), and other moderately inappropriate books. I checked out The Naked Lunch from the library and the librarian raised her eyebrow disapprovingly. Later, as I got to a scene where people were injecting heroin through wounds on their thighs I realized that I was 11 and she was right.I recall going to the library one time when I was around 10yrs old and borrowing some Star Trek novels. The lady at the counter haughtily informed me that those books were for older readers and that I couldn't have them. She eventually relented, though.
I've never actually finished that one.
I think I read The Hobbit next.
For research purposes, the library is invaluable, as obtaining such books otherwise would necessitate an expensive trip to Blackwells or suchlike, or require a costly subscription to a journal I'd not usually read regularly ot equivalent expensive fee. (If I can get free text papers via the Internet, that'll be useful too.)
Sometimes it would be easier to just buy the book, especially if it's something I'm going to refer to constantly and use in years to come, and I do just that for some texts. Plus the return dates can be variable and prohibitive, varying from 6 weeks to just 4 hours depending on which book and which library.
Of course, these are for books I need for work. For recreational books such as novels, I prefer to buy them as they tend to be much cheaper than medical texts.
Sometimes it would be easier to just buy the book, especially if it's something I'm going to refer to constantly and use in years to come, and I do just that for some texts. Plus the return dates can be variable and prohibitive, varying from 6 weeks to just 4 hours depending on which book and which library.
Of course, these are for books I need for work. For recreational books such as novels, I prefer to buy them as they tend to be much cheaper than medical texts.
I love buying used books -but I could never sell any of mine and am perplexed that people actually do this!
I used to go to the library very often. Sometimes the library would even come to me. We had this great feature that a bus chock-full with books from the library would drive around all the villages surrounding the bigger town where the actual library was located. Awesome!
Nowadays I hardly go anymore, though. For one, I really like to own the books I read. I want to have my very own library when I'm big. I plan to have walls full only with books, until you don't know anymore whether that particular portion of the house/apartment is supported by concrete or stories. Reason number two would be that every library I have access to has a very limited selection of English literature. And I just love my English literature too much!
But thanks, everyone. All this talk about books made me now finally buy George Orwell's Animal Farm.
*happy giggle*
I love The Strand. We don't have anything like it here. I once bought a bag there which, by now, is as worn and loved as some of my books.
Nowadays I hardly go anymore, though. For one, I really like to own the books I read. I want to have my very own library when I'm big. I plan to have walls full only with books, until you don't know anymore whether that particular portion of the house/apartment is supported by concrete or stories. Reason number two would be that every library I have access to has a very limited selection of English literature. And I just love my English literature too much!
But thanks, everyone. All this talk about books made me now finally buy George Orwell's Animal Farm.
*happy giggle*
I love The Strand. We don't have anything like it here. I once bought a bag there which, by now, is as worn and loved as some of my books.
The library was a lifeline for me, from a young age. I remember exhausting my local ones, and trekking out to those further afield to find my favourite subjects. I used to go 2 or 3 times a week, well into my 20's. It saved me from spending time with my peers, who were busy smoking weed, having sex, and drinking in the local estates.
We didn't really have enough money in those days to feed my compulsive reading habit, so I relied on my local libraries for my needs. Without the use of that service - I am sure I would have turned out a completely different person. Libraries were my place of mentorship. Somewhere I could spend an entire day browsing subjects I may never thought of approaching otherwise. An escape from my ordinary surrounding, to quite extra-ordinary places, inside the covers of a well-used book. I think my love of sci-fi began in a library. I could have any book in the building I wanted, the same wasn't true in a book shop. The only thing holding me back was how fast I could read, not how much a large hardback cost. Libraries helped me develop my own personality - one quite different from my upbringing and surroundings.
I would go so far as to say the most valuable thing ever given to me was a library card.
This is one of my favourite quotes:
"Libraries are reservoirs of strength, grace and wit, reminders of order, calm and continuity, lakes of mental energy, neither warm nor cold, light nor dark. The pleasure they give is steady, unorgastic, reliable, deep and long-lasting. In any library in the world, I am at home, unselfconscious, still and absorbed." Germaine Greer
We didn't really have enough money in those days to feed my compulsive reading habit, so I relied on my local libraries for my needs. Without the use of that service - I am sure I would have turned out a completely different person. Libraries were my place of mentorship. Somewhere I could spend an entire day browsing subjects I may never thought of approaching otherwise. An escape from my ordinary surrounding, to quite extra-ordinary places, inside the covers of a well-used book. I think my love of sci-fi began in a library. I could have any book in the building I wanted, the same wasn't true in a book shop. The only thing holding me back was how fast I could read, not how much a large hardback cost. Libraries helped me develop my own personality - one quite different from my upbringing and surroundings.
I would go so far as to say the most valuable thing ever given to me was a library card.
This is one of my favourite quotes:
"Libraries are reservoirs of strength, grace and wit, reminders of order, calm and continuity, lakes of mental energy, neither warm nor cold, light nor dark. The pleasure they give is steady, unorgastic, reliable, deep and long-lasting. In any library in the world, I am at home, unselfconscious, still and absorbed." Germaine Greer
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i both buy and borrow from the library.
though it goes in spurts with the library.
our library has a computerized system where you can order stuff throuhgout the entire system and have it bought to your library.
they also allow to online renewals as long as the book dosnt have a hold placed on it.
cd's and dvd's are more tricky because their lend time is far less then books.. just a couple of days. and the fines for them very high.
so i use a netflix sub for dvd's.
though it goes in spurts with the library.
our library has a computerized system where you can order stuff throuhgout the entire system and have it bought to your library.
they also allow to online renewals as long as the book dosnt have a hold placed on it.
cd's and dvd's are more tricky because their lend time is far less then books.. just a couple of days. and the fines for them very high.
so i use a netflix sub for dvd's.
Well, my local library is right across the parkinglot for us.. so me and Angry Angel go to the library once a month, I borrow an obscene ammount of cookbooks, books on autism and we also get some books to read. We keep them for the full month and then return them and get another stack. Every month we buy a whole lot of books too since we love shopping for books (sci fi bookstore anyone? love it). But without the library I would be buying a crazy ammount of cookbooks that I would not end up using.
I prefer owning my books though, but one has to be reasonable.
I prefer owning my books though, but one has to be reasonable.
I'm pretty far from a library these days. So I often buy, which means I read a lot less than I used to. I just don't have the space for too many books! I've taken entire boxes to charity in the past as it is, to make way for new purchases.
Me, too. This explains the many, many book boxes stacked five high in the garage right now as I have no room to unpack my lovely books.
I love to buy books. Amazon is a very dangerous website for me. And Barnes and Noble is first on my list of 'enter with caution' stores. If I have extra money (and sometimes when I don't) I will buy books over anything else. The whole family loves books. tsq, we're the same way with the Scholastic Book Orders -- I let the kids pick pretty much what they want from the flyers, though I will put a $ amount on their order, simply because we get books from so many places.
But, I love the library, too. It's so nice to be able to take chances on books that I would be afraid to spend the $$ on for fear that I wouldn't care for them. I let the kids take what they want and as much as they can carry (that's the catch -- Mama won't carry their books.
) every time we go. My daughter is reading Dickens right now. I'm so proud. 
And, with our limited space, the library has been a blessing for feeding our desire for books without having to find a permanent home for them.So, both buying and borrowing have a place here in Mayville. I'm just glad that my children love to read.
