Books - Libraries

Soz · 09-06-2004, 06:15 PM

Is anyone else a hopeless library addict?

I love visiting the library, browsing the online catalog, and making requests from other area libraries. I have literally thousands of my own books to read, yet I can't help getting books from the library too. I currently have two books out, and I just returned two. Then today, I requested two more books. Lately, I've been passing up books at the used bookstore that I know I can get from the library (I keep a library wishlist on my palm top computer that I take with me to the library and bookstore).

I used to visit a few area libraries, but now I can just request a book online from one library and have it sent to mine. It's so convenient- and addicting! I can also make a small wishlist on the library's site, but I always max mine out because I think it only stores 100 books, and I have many more that I'd like to borrow.

Carrie99 · 09-06-2004, 06:41 PM

Hee. I love libraries.

I use both my college library and my local public one. I don't always have a lot of time to check books out though. I went a couple weeks ago and checked out about 7 books. Hadn't don't that in awhile. Wow, Soz you're so organized! I could. That's great you can make a wishlist on the library's site. How handy!

Crossbow · 09-06-2004, 09:16 PM

I've never liked libraries. I prefer stores. Used or new. I use the library because I know I SHOULD.

pixiedude · 09-06-2004, 10:26 PM

I have cards for both the Seattle Public Library and the University of Washington Libraries (I have alum borrowing privileges), but I rarely use them.

When I lived in Chicago, I checked out library books more often. When I was a kid, all of it was new to me. Even as an adult, if I ducked into a library to get out of the rain, I could usually find something I wanted to check out. But since I've moved to Seattle, I've come to rely on bookstores.

One factor is simply that I have more disposable income than I did back then, but also, the SPL doesn't seem to have a lot of new material. This wasn't as important when I read mostly fiction, but now it seems that I mostly read non-fiction, which becomes outdated more quickly. They have literary classics, and tons of depressing "literary fiction" basically because no one wants to steal it, but even when they list new detective or sci fi books that I want to read, they're not available on the shelf.

SPL deliberately doesn't try to keep up with books on science. They send people to the UW instead. Eg, when I asked the librarian where they had copies of the Journal of the American Medical Association, she told me that I'd have to go to the UW for that.

I did use it a couple of times last year, for books on job-hunting and popular nutrition which were a few years old.

The UW libraries have lots of books that are useful if you are doing research /term papers, but the good reading material seems to get checked out and never returned. It seems like the last few books I've looked for there, after I graduated, had to do with politics. I don't know if the people kept the books because they liked them, or because they disagreed with them so thoroughly that they wanted to keep them off the library shelves. The last one I got on the waiting list for was Blinded by the Right by David Brock, published several years ago. I signed up for it over six months ago. I'm resigned to having to pick it up in a second hand store someday.

22 Umbrellas · 09-06-2004, 10:33 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Soz
Is anyone else a hopeless library addict? I love visiting the library, browsing the online catalog, and making requests from other area libraries.

That's me! I request more books from the online catalog than I actually pull off the shelf myself, mainly because the books I want are never actually at the library when I'm looking for them. I also take a notebook and a pen with me whenever I go to a bookstore so I can write down titles, authors, ISBNs, etc. and look them up on the library catalog when I go home.

I prefer libraries to bookstores because I'm really frugal and very very rarely will I buy a book that I haven't read first.

**n e r b l e** · 09-07-2004, 01:32 AM

i love the library. i visit mine at least once a week. they usually get most of the stuff i read. also, they have magazines that you can check out. that really helps me spend a smaller fortune on my scanning habit.

FinleyN1derland · 09-09-2004, 07:12 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Crossbow
I've never liked libraries. I prefer stores. Used or new. I use the library because I know I SHOULD.

I do too. But i'm too tempted to buy things everytime i'm at the store. And even with my employee discount, i can't afford it. So i love the library 'cause i have to.

**Lemurian** · 09-09-2004, 09:33 PM

I love libraries. Imused to work in one that had over a million books in the stacks, and I really enjoyed getting the books shelved in perfect order.

And I've gotta admit that I just about lived in the library while I was writing my thesis....it was an extended annotated bibliography.

Soz · 09-09-2004, 09:38 PM

My local library is really small, so I pretty much have to request books from other libraries. One of my books came in today and the other is being sent now. And I still have another book out from my last library binge.

Carrie99, I love the wish list feature, I just wish it was bigger. There's no way I can narrow down the books I want to read to only 100!

Profaine Angel · 09-09-2004, 11:18 PM

Love libraries! I have cards at 5 different library systems all over my city (and one out in the country) and each of THOSE have between 4 and 11 branches! Then there's the uni library which you could just get lost in and which I adore exploring when I have the time. And of course there's more than one library I can use at uni too

wanderer78 · 09-10-2004, 01:43 AM

I loved libraries when I was young. And I have to credit them (and the wonderful librarians) for my love of reading.

Since I left my university I rarely go to them. I live in Chicago, and they're large and up-to-date. But I don't feel like waiting on lists. Plus, I'm such a procrastinator that I rack up huge late/loss fees. It's almost cheaper to buy books.

Quote:

One factor is simply that I have more disposable income than I did back then

pixiedude, you hit the nail on the head. Books are expensive, but I'll buy them from time to time. And it forces me to have more discriminating tastes.

Again, that's just me personally.

Soz · 09-10-2004, 02:08 AM

I also have the disposable income now that I didn't have when I was younger. I also used to live in a town with no used bookstore and the one bookstore in town fired me, so I didn't shop there much.

Needless to say, I spent a lot of time at my local library. I've since moved to an area with tons of bookstores and there's a used bookstore right up the road. Even though I have disposable income, I still prefer to buy new to me authors' books used since even paperbacks are pretty expensive now. My main problem is that I live in a tiny apartment with virtually no storage space so all those weekly forays to the used bookstore have resulted in a TBR pile the size of Mt. Everest. I've decided to forgo buying books for the time being and if I hear great things about a book, I just put it on my library list instead of looking to buy it.

wanderer78 · 09-10-2004, 02:29 AM

There are so many used bookstores in my area. Sometimes I find the newest books at half price or less. It's the best of both worlds. I don't have to wait for a library to get it, or pay high prices.

Sunnyolaf · 09-11-2004, 02:55 AM

I love going to the library. I go through phases where I like to read childrens books. I'll go and check out loke 20 books and have them finished by the end of the week. There is no way I am going out and spending money on something I will read that fast, even from the used bookstore. Lately I can't seem to focus on lenghty books so even if it's a book I want to buy I highly doubt I'll read it all the way through and again the library is the best option.

Stars_And_Sunsets · 09-11-2004, 09:41 AM

I use the local library quite often, but I'd rather buy a book so I can read it at my own pace, because usually I'm reading two or even three books at once and I don't like being rushed.

The library is good for books that you're not sure you'll like, so you don't have to waste your money on something that you may not enjoy.