Went to the library this evening to get the next few installments in the Aubrey/Maturin series. OK, so it's not as nice as the Chapel Hill library, with their downloadable audio books and their swanky new building, but I still really like the Durham library.
Today was a bit of a bummer though, because the next book in the series (The Letter of the Marque) was checked out. And the one before, Reversal of the Medal, ended with a major cliffhanger. I finished it late last night and had been looking forward to Letter of the Marque all day. I put a hold on it and discovered that it was due back yesterday. This annoyed me mightily until I remembered that I had just finished paying the fines on my own overdue books.
Somehow I never manage to return library books on time. I start out with the best of intentions, even using the receipt as a bookmark so I'll remember when they're due. But I always forget, lose the bookmark, and am inevitably caught by surprise when I get that automated call about my overdue books. Still, I can't complain. Even with the fine it's a bargain. Four novels for $5.25! You can't get prices like that in a used bookstore.
I wonder how published authors feel about public libraries? I'd like to think they'd be all for them as a way to encourage reading. Lots of people read books from the library that they couldn't afford to buy. I'm not a huge reader but I would be far less if I had to pay retail, or even Amazon.com prices, for all my reading material. And many times I've read a book from the library and gone on to buy other books on the same topic or by the same author. On occasion I've even bought a new copy of the same book. So I would like to think that libraries are good for the book industry.
Then again, if one were a published author, one could easily look at a library as taking money out of one's pocket. On the rare occasions that I've talked to an author whose work I have read, I have definitely not mentioned that I got it from the library. But I've always wondered if the reaction would be "you go to the library? Cool!" or "You cheap bastard, why didn't you buy my book if you liked it so much?"
Either way it's a fair cop. Libraries are cool, and yet, I am a cheap bastard.
Speaking as a published author, I like libraries. On the other hand I'm in the UK where we have the PLR, Public Lending Right, which means that every time a book is borrowed from a public library, the author get a small amount of money. It's capped at £6000 per author so that J K Rowling doesn't walk away with the bulk of the pot every year, but it's definitely worth having.
So yeah, public libraries, woo and yay.
at last year's ALA, david sedaris commented that he loves libraries, and his publisher would kill him for saying it, but he has no idea why people buy books when they could read them for free.
At the Durham library you can put a hold on the book you want online, y'know, and they will call you and tell you when it's waiting for you at the front desk, eliminating the need to make a fruitless trip to the library. (You can also check to see if a given book is checked out or not, but a checked-in book doesn't mean you'll be able to find it on the shelves when you go--I prefer to put everything on hold and let the library staff track it down for me.)
Go here: (Have your library card handy): http://catalog.durhamcountylibrary.org/#focus
If you have trouble with overdues you might google on library elf and see if your library participates. They'll send you email reminders before the book is due.
Most authors love libraries. And publishers like them too, what's ordered from us stays ordered.
i stopped letting myself check books out of the library many years ago because i had such a severe problem returning them. (a couple of years ago, i finally returned the last one-- something i'd checked out in the early 90's.)
i wonder if i should dip my toes back into those dangerous waters? i'm a different person now, and we didn't have all these great internet gadgets and automated phone calls and whatnot back then.
i think there are two kinds of people: those who buy books and those who borrow them from the library. i think those who buy are so nutty about purchasing books that they far and away make up for us cheap bastards who borrow them. seriously -- book buyers are CRAZY.
that said, the only books i really justify buying anymore are reference books. or novels i've checked out from the library but was so moved by that i needed to own my own copy. (not that i ever go back and read the copy i bought. i don't think i've EVER re-read a single novel that's on my bookshelf.)
Lisa B: The trip wasn't wasted because I had to return my overdue books. Besides, I couldn't wait so I skipped The Letter of the Marque and got the next books in the series, and the four after that. They're fast reads.
Cathy: Library Elf sounds really convenient, and the Durham library is available, but my Google search turned up some pages on a library law blog with privacy concerns. I'm going to have to read their privacy policy before I sign up.
Lisa L: Surely after all that time they'd charged you the replacement fee for the book? The phone calls do make it easier to return books without racking up too much of a fine. On the downside, they call you when the grace period is over, and it's 25 cents a day, so if you return the books the day you get the call you already owe $1 per book.
Christa: There are two kinds of people: those who divide people into two kinds of people, and those who don't. I'm in the latter group :) I buy and borrow books about equally -- well no, I probably borrow more books than I buy, but not that much more. I'm mainly with David Sedaris, why pay money for a book you can read for free. But then again, I do like to reread novels, so if I really love a novel I'll buy it. Or if I want to read something that the library doesn't have, I don't mind buying it. Unless it's really expensive.
back in my 20's i moved about once a year, often to a different town, so they would lose track of me i guess.
my solution at one point was to become a regular patron of nice price books. used sci-fi paperbacks are so cheap, they come out cheaper than a library fine a lot of the time.
but mostly now i don't read books much.