My mom just returned from the local public library, with five VHS tapes, two DVDs, and Nintendo 64 game. While I personally believe that libraries should be used for entertainment as well as research, and while my mom does use the library primarily for books, it got me to thinking, that libraries are used for some unorthodox stuff now.
Honestly, I don’t use the library as much as I’d like to, because I don’t read as much as I’d like to. Typically I usually get weird things like sheet music, or textbooks like 10,000 Calculus Problems. Seldom do I get a book to read, and about half the time when I do, I’m in mad scientist mode and I want to learn more about harnessing geothermal energy or something like that. In the end, I probably don’t get more than two or three run-of-the-mill, respectable pieces of literature or nonfiction a year.
Anyway, my questions are: how often do people use the library, and what do you use it for? Does anyone here not have a library card (or account)? If so, why not?
I never use the library. Or almost never, seeing that I checked out some old newspaper clippings about a month ago. That was the first time in 15 years that I entered a library.
I buy my books, music, DVD’s or whatever.
I use the library regularly - both the public library and, during the semester, my University library.
Both are for entertainment as well as education. When I move to a new town, I get a new library card within a week of being there (at least normally).
I checked out three books yesterday - one for basic reading, two on subjects I’m just interested in.
I don’t normally head for videos and stuff - there’s not a wide selection at the local branches, and I’m not highly motivated to head down to the main branch on a regular basis.
I go to the library once every week or two and have since I got my first library card at 11 years old. Whenever I move to a new town I find the nearest library and get a card within the first week of moving in. By the time I’ve lived somewhere for 6 months I’ll be familiar with every library branch within easy driving distance. Mostly I check out books to read, but occasionally I’ll get a VHS tape to watch. Very, VERY occasionally I’ll check out a music CD. Before I had a computer I also used the library for research. Nowadays I do most of my research on the 'net although I often go to the library to check out a book that I’ve read about on the internet.
I just got my library card last week and I’m 29 does that help? I had one when I was a kid but stopped going after High school. It’s goten to the point where I just can’t afford to pay so much for books any more. I have noticed one thing though that the librarys now use computers for their card catalogs, which is ok I guess but everyone uses them for the internet so how am I supposed to look up books I want?
I never go to the library. Like The Gaspode, if I want a book, I buy it. I rent DVDs at the video stores, or buy the ones I want. For information I use the internet. If I want more information, I browse one of the bookstores on my lunch break, or go to Amazon, and buy a book about it.
I like to be comfortable when I read, and when I have a book or a magazine I like to stretch out on the floor. That’s not really appropriate behaviour in a library. Also, I can dress how I want at home, whereas I’d have to be somewhat decent in a public place.
Then there’s parking. If I’ve found a good parking place at home, I’m loth to drive off somewhere. The Yamaha’s chain and tyres are a little tentative, and I haven’t been able to get them replaced yet. The Willys is a bit slow for driving any distance.
And it takes time to go to the library. At home I can be reading a good book and immediately switch to a movie or hop on the computer if I want to. I can go to the fridge for a sandwich, or I can make myself a cuppa joe or tea. It’s just more convenient to do my reading and research at home.
Maybe I should start hanging out at a library though. I’ve always liked the stereotypical “girl at the library” types they depict in films.
I’m at the library twice a week, sometimes more. My 17 year old and 12 year old each go at least once a week as well, both for pleasure and school work. It’s in walking distance–one of the reasons we chose this house.
We check out fiction, non-fiction, videos, CDs, and bring home a lot of magazines from the “magazine swap table.” It’s a wonderful frugal feeling!
We make extensive use of the on-line catalog accessible at home via the internet, which allows us to request materials from all the county libraries. There are usually books or movies waiting for us when we get to the library.
What can I say? We’re on a first-name basis with the librarians, know our library card numbers by heart, and my daughter is searching for colleges offering a minor in (gasp!) library science.
I think we support an entire librarian with our library fines too.
Also, and this is very important to me: A book is a dead thing, till I read it. It’s just a collection of glued or bound sheets of paper. When read, it’s become a part of me. It doesn’t matter if it’s a good or bad read, I really learn something from every book I read. So it becomes a friend. That means it’s always around, I can pick it up at my convenience, if I want to check something. I can let it rest, read another book or magazine, with having to return it on a specific date. I often read 2-3 books at the same time, going back and forth depending on my mood, where I read and why.
Also important is to stack the books in proper shelves: Alphabetically by author and then by publication date. If I have the English and Swedish version, whichever is published first, goes first on the shelf.
This also means moving around some 1500 books every 6 months, to keep it neat and orderly.
And I never lend anyone a book.
Although your post does get a little, ahem, eccentric by the end, I can see what you mean by this point. Let me say, though, that 10,000 Calculus Problems is not my friend.
In my youth (ha!), I used to go to the library constantly, and take out 5 or 6 books every few weeks. I finished most of them by the due date too.
Nowadays, most interesting books I hear about are from the Internet, and I’ve found that half the time when I look them up at the library, they don’t have them. For instance, my library has 2 books in the Discworld series, which doesn’t really cut it. And it turned out that 4 weeks was no longer enough time to read a book, if I didn’t really work at it. Damn work. So I started getting fines on the books, and they can really add up. Also our library shares a parking lot with the municipal building, which means that if you go during business hours, there’s no parking. Good thinking there.
So now I mostly just order online. You can get pretty good deals, and I have a stack of books waiting to be read at any time. And when I’m done with them, I can add them to my bookcase and have access to them anytime. So win-win.
I don’t really use it much. Like others, I tend to buy stuff I’m interested in. I hit used book stores pretty regularly, but libraries only seldom. In addition, I have a stack as tall as me of books I haven’t yet read, so when I’m done with a book I try to pull something from that stack rather than add to it. I’m not the fastest reader in the world, and I can’t do what so many people on this board do - read four or five books at a time.
When it comes to non-reading stuff, I have used the library for CDs a few times and videos once or twice. I tried to get some math books from there, but their stuff was really slim pickings.
Hmmm, some of the posts have made me think of an additional question:
How good is the public library system in your area?
I remember one particular library I visited had, as its two largest sections, romance novels and children’s books. Not my kind of place. I have, though, been fairly pleased with the Jefferson County, AL system.
Blah. The library where I live is terrible. They have an incredibly high theft rate.
They also sell a lot of the books off the shelves at the library sale. They sold all the Philip K. Dick novels and most of the Maigret mysteries!
I did get to check out the new New Order CD last year. That was nice. I noticed they copy the CD, and loan out the copy. Considering their theft rate, that’s a very good idea.
It’s really depressing when I go to the library. Last time I went I came across an empty bookcase. Not one empty shelf, but an entirely empty case.
Also, they don’t catagorize by genre anymore. They don’t even put “Science Fiction” or “Mystery” stickers on the books anymore. So if I want a good mystery, I have to know exactly what I’m looking for. No more browsing and making a fun discovery.
Usually I go once every three or four months, scoop up a few Agatha Christie novels, look unsuccessfully for something else, then leave.
Whew. Thanks for letting me whine. When I was a kid, my fantasy was to be accidentally locked in the library overnight. But that was a different town and a different library.
Don’t use the library. Buy what I want - at one time, my book budget exceeded my grocery budget by a lot.
The library is too expensive for me. I’m always losing books - or at best, missing their due back date, and incurring fines. And I currently make enough money that buying books, movies and games isn’t an issue - and I figure it helps out the creators to sell more.
I tend to be a book distribution force unto myself. I finish books and then hand them off. I’ve bought “To Kill A Mockingbird” no less than six times, because I can never find it when I want to read it, usually because I’ve handed it off to someone the moment I’ve finished it with “Have you read this?!” I’m about to go buy my fifth copy of “A Handmaids Tale” for the SDMB Bookclub for the same reason. (Does that make me the anti-The Gaspode?)
I rarely use the local library. In fact, they use me more than I use them. As I have mentioned in other threads, I live in a very small town. My personal library is much larger than the public library. This is true in all areas (except children’s books), but it is especially true in regard to some specialized areas. Often (once a week or so) the town librarian will call me, and ask if I have information on this or that or have this or that book.
If I do, she’ll be over to borrow it to loan out or let a patron read. If I’m not at home or at the office she has permission to go through my books and look (She knows my organization methods). Nobody in town locks their doors.
For a while, I was donating books to the library, but they are running out of space and have no money to expand, so our current arrangement may continue for a while.
Like many other posters here, I like to own my own books, cds etc. (Movie ownership has not caught on with me yet, which is just as well since my book purchasing habits alone could drain a tinpot South American economy…)
Also, much like my esteemed bibliphile colleague The Gaspode, my need to have the books on the shelf is pretty strong (I don’t name them or take them for walks or anything…well, except for a select few that I keep in my bedroom…nevermind).
However, I still use the library once-twice month minimum. This doesnt make a lot of sense on the face of it since I already have literally 40-50 books queued up on my shelves plus I keep re-reading old favourites, and magazines keep showing up that the house that I subscribed to in a moment of weakness… Nevertheless I like the library for trashy fiction (I don’t tend to buy many pulpy p’backs, life’s too short to re-read most of 'em but there are exceptions: pterry for one) or to find OOP stuff (literary collections, biography, world history, collected journalistic works) OR just as another place to browse. I am guaranteed to come away with 1-2 pieces of interest in a 15 minute visit, and the best part is if I don’t like them, they did not cost me anything.
The corollary to this is that if I really did enjoy a particular volume, I get really itchy fingers until I have my own copy. It eats away at my soul, I can see the empty spot on the shelf where it should be. ABEBOOKS and amazon online have enabled this behaviour dangerously. Drives my wife up the wall…
I also get the chance to listen to music I would not otherwise buy at first (mostly classical and world beat stuff, libraries around here are not well known for their popular collection). My library also has a lot of spoken word and comedy stuff, which is a treat sometimes, esp for car trips.
And one final reason to visit the library? Three words: Seasonal Book Sales.
Once a week, 4-5 books a time. Also have joined Friends of the Library. Kids both in library groups. I’d love to buy every book I want, but have space and budgetary constraints.
