I belong to a library system that has something like 6 branches in as many different towns. They have a system in place where you can order any book in any of the libraries in the system, and they will bring it to your branch to check out.
Here is the dilemma: When you check out a book, and then return it, it stays at your branch unless or until someone from another branch reserves it. Given that my particular branch has a pretty mediocre selection, would I be naughty to reserve bunches of books that I know to be good but have no intention of reading simply to improve the selection of my home branch when I return them?
Personally, I’d say it strikes me as petty and a bit obsessive, but it’s unlikely to cause immediate harm to anyone. I’d advise simply going to a library with better selection if that’s your beef with the library in question rather than attempting to reallocate resources via cute little tricks.
i’d think it’s rather neutral, myself. so you order them and don’t read them… this is different from actually picking a book, starting it and deciding it’s not worth the effort – how?
and it’s not like you’ve stolen the books to hoard for yourself. the minute someone else requests them, they’ll be gone.
Ethics-neutral regarding the books, ethically questionable regarding the waste of resources involved in transporting the books, and nearly pointless. If someone wants a book they can order it just as well as you can.
That’s a very unusual situation. Most libraries send back the books that belong to other branches when the patrons are finished with them (one way or the other).
Just remember, if your library really doesn’t send back the books, someone on their staff still has to go find the books you ordered, and deliver them to the branch you had the books sent to, and someone has to shelve all those books you don’t want. So you’re creating extra work for the library staff, and those books will still be sent back to their originating branch eventually (where someone will have to sort and re-shelve them).
I’ve found, sorted, and shelved enough books in my time working at the public library, can ya tell?
Petty and a bit obsessive? Yeah, that would be me from time to time.
I guess that I somehow have this thought that the authors and/or genres of books are in a database somewhere and that they will try to take a look at what it coming in and going out when it comes time to acquire books. Also, while I could simply go to a different branch, it is the difference between sauntering down to my local library on foot or hopping in a car and going to a different town and/or county.
Libraries around here hold the loaned books behind the desk for you, until you pick them up, or they will eventually send them back to the original library. Are you saying that if you don’t pick it up, they will actually put it out in the general area for anyone to check out?
One thing you might want to try—ask someone at your library to purchase some of the books you want. I’ve done this for new books I wanted, and the library was happy to accomodate the request.
Actually, I can’t see the point. You already know (or at least believe/think) that these books are good. Anybody wanting to read them can order them from another branch.
The only advantage would be apparently that people in your neighborhood (and unknown to you, or else you could directly recommand the books to them) will have access to a better selection and maybe will discover good books (according to you) that they never heard about. But at the same time, you’ll be depriving people living in another neighborhood and similarily unknown to you from the same advantage. I’m not sure why you would want to do that, and what difference it could make to you.
And for this net result of zero, you’d be wasting the time of the libraries’ workers, as pointed out by previous posters. Oh! And also while you’re borrowing these good books you have no intent to read, and while they’re hauled around, they aren’t available to other readers. So, actually, the net result isn’t zero, it is negative<;
So, this scheme appears pointless and wasteful to me. Probably remotely unethical too…
Hmmm. Improving the selection with books you don’t want to read. I’d say that’s beyond petty, obsessive, pointless, and wasteful. That’s stupid. And causing people to put time, money, and effort into doing something stupid is unethical.
I don’t really have an opinion about the ethics of your plan. I just don’t see the utility of it. But I guess everyone needs a hobby, so I’ll wish you luck.
Here is some clarification of the way that things work with my specific library system. There are 4 branches that are a part of my region. All books are collectively owned by the system, not any one branch. Should one wish to borrow a book that is in the system, but not at a particular branch, one requests it via a computer terminal. Once it arrives, it is placed on a shelf (accessible to all) with your name sticking out of it on a bookmark thing. When you have finished reading the book, and return it, it is placed back on the shelf of the particular branch that you returned it to, unless or until someone at another branch requests it (similarly, if I happened to return it to another branch in the system because I happened to be in the neighborhood it would count as “returned” even though I had checked it out at a different branch).
In talking to a Library Staff person yesterday, it seems that it is true that when they are in their book acquisition mode that they do look at the sorts of books at each branch that are being requested and/or checked out the most.
So, given that books are already going back and forth between the branches every day and that the amount of work that I would hypothetically be creating is minute, my thinking was that I could improve the selection at my local branch in some small but measurable way.
I know that, personally, I don’t usually go to the library with a specific book in mind. I usually just go to the particular section or genre that I am in the mood to read and browse. I sort of thought that if I can improve the selection that I would be perhaps making books that I know and love available for others to discover.
In any event, I am sensitive to the issue of making work for others and so I will think on this
It seems very odd to me for a library to leave a book you requested on a shelf “accessible to all,” with a bookmark having your name on it. I assume no one else can take your books if they have your name on them? Although I think I understand your plan now, it seems to me you’d have to go to the library and remove the bookmarks, then return it for re-shelving. The fact that you never actually checked the book out could create a problem, if the next person who picks it out is told that the book is still reserved for you.
It seems you’ve come up with an interesting way to try and redistribute the literary wealth in your community. Unfortunately, it also seems that the forces of supply and demand are working against you. Since most people will avoid going to substandard libraries if they can, the inter-library sytem you are describing seems like a surefire way to suck all the good books to the largest, most popular libraries. Really poor design, if you ask me. I applaud your efforts at trying to address this problem.
Sounds like this could make a good (though wasteful) game. You’ll need one player per library, each player attempts to get whole sets of books into there library, if they can get the whole set they score a point per book - 2 points for each possible set member they missed that is found by another member in their library. Sets should be stuff like books with blue in the title, books about Africa, chosen secretly by each player.Might take a few goes to get good at deciding what set you will go for, and hiding that decision from other players (who can check inter library loans to see what you are ordering) but any day a player can declare a set and specify its criteria leaving the other players a day to find other examples in their own libraries.
Are you the only one who can request these books? If so, you have a duty to your fellow citizens to spread the joy of fine literature to your podunk library. If not, this is nonsensical. Anyone can request anything at any time. If people in your neighborhood aren’t requesting good books, it’s not the library’s fault, it just isn’t what they want to read.
Personally, I do all my library browsing online, and my closest library is the “good one.”
(Note: My county library system has also started doing this. And since the books are listed online by which branch’s stamp is on them rather than where they are, this is a problem.)
I look at many ethics questions from the point of view of “what if a lot of people did this?” E.g., some people try to rationalize letting their dog crap on other people’s property when walking them by the “it’s just little old Fido” but multiply by hundreds of times and you see that it really is a big deal.
So what if hundred’s of people in the system did this? It would be a freaking disaster to the library. Huge waste of time and money. These places are usually way underfunded anyway.
So under no circumstances do this. It is a bad, bad thing.
If you find yourself thinking “It’s just little old me…” it means you are aware that it is indeed wrong and trying to gloss over your unethical thoughts.
