Our local (council run) library is completely crap. On the offchance that it is open, it’s almost a given that the book that you want is either not stocked, out on loan or in such a poor condition that it’s unreadable.
It seems to me that there’s a huge gap in the market for a Blockbuster type private establishment which stocks books. Does such a thing exist? Is there a legal reason why such a company doesn’t exist, perhaps to do with copyrights?
Of course, private libraries exist at universities and schools, but I’m talking about a commercial enterprise akin to Blockbuster. Thought I should make that clear.
Sounds as though your local public library service is particularly bad if it is that hard to find it open.
Public libraries are such a bloody wonderful IDEA, but I must admit the reality these days is not always terribly good.
No, I don’t think three is any real legal problem involved. Of course, thereused to be many privately run libraries prior to the establishment and development of the public library service. And the London Library still exists. http://www.londonlibrary.co.uk/membership/membership.htm
You idea is one that has previously occurred to me, but as is usual, the idea is one thing, but having the capital to set it up …
So, as soon as one of us wins the lottery, we can go into business - how about it?
Celyn the disgruntled former librarian (No, not in public libraries 
)
Most large cities have a few private libraries, e.g. the Mechanics Institute in San Francisco, the Morgan Library in NYC. Also most colleges and universities will allow you to purchase a “community membership” to their libraries for a nominal fee.
Yes, it is. The library in my village is completely useless, it’s just a waste of tax money. It has some of the most archaic opening times ever known, basically only opening when everyone else is at work.
The library in my local town has better opening times, and a larger range of books, but if you’re looking for a “specialised” book, i.e. one on maths above A level, forget it.
You know that you can request them to have any book in the local council library service fetched to your library for you? THerre is likely to be a small fee, and cynical Celyn says don’t even bother if it’s a book you want any time soon. (Sorry, but the amount of incompetence in public libraries often leaves me growling.)
If there’s a specialist book you really need, ask them about Inter-library loans - basically they should be able to get you any damn book, but ILL does incur a cost to the library which they are likely to pass on to you. The sort of thing that is sometimes worth it, and sometimes not.
[Dominic], if you have a degree of some kind, it is often possible to become a member of whatever university libraries you have nearby.
The fee isn’t always that nominal.
The private university where i go to grad school allows members of the public to join the library for an annual fee of $200.
And the last time i was in Boston doing research at Harvard, they wouldn’t even let me set foot inside the Widener Library unless i could provide a formal letter saying that the books i wanted to look at were not available at any Boston-area public library.
In Indiana at the Ball State library I didn’t even need to buy a membership when I wanted to check out books. I just needed to show that I was over 18. When you are an in state taxpayer they let you check out books for free since taxes funded the library.
There is a large public library in our city that isn’t associated with any universities. It has large archives of legal and historical stuff, and you have to pay a membership fee and borrowing fees like at Blockbuster. But if you mean large-chain libraries, well, probably due to a lack of demand. How many people do you know would pay to rent a book? And the presence of public libraries probably kills off what little demand there was in the first place.
I’m a member of Edinburgh University’s library, but when I’m at home I’m forced to either buy my own books or use the local libraries. The nearest big universities to my home are in Manchester and Liverpool, both quite a distance away. I did try requesting a book from another local library be brought to the main one, but after a few weeks of hearing nothing from them, I gave up.
In spite of the cases where private university libraries charge the public hundreds of dollars to use them, or–as in the case of the Huntington Library completely deny access–I’m sure that most populated areas have some sort of public university nearby, and they tend to have easier terms. For example, at UCLA you can join the Friends of the Library for $35 annually. So like charp said, there’s just not a large enough gap of unmet demand to make the idea feasible.
There used to be private lending libraries in quite a few towns in the UK. Many were operated by Boots The Chemists (a chain of pharmacies) . In the Oxfam bookshop where I work we still get the odd book with their labels in them. Details Here . I also notice from this article that W.H.Smith ( the newsagents and booksellers) also operated a chain of libraries.
Woe and gnashing of teeth. You’re pretty much stuck if the nearest univ. libraries are too far to make travel financially feasible. If term hasn’t started yet, though, surely it must soon. (That is, I’m quite out of touch since so many places changed to this funny semester thingy).
And its been downhill ever since as booksellers for WH Smiths.
If I want to use the library in my village I have to wait until it’s Wednesday, because that’s the day the mobile library gets here.
I’d imagine it’s because the cost involved is quite large, whereas the possibility for actually making money isn’t very much. For a reasonable slice of the population to be willing to give you a decent bit of cash, you’d have to be demonstrably worth it, with books that cover the interests of thousands of people. Not easy.
Plus there’d always be the competition of local public libraries, who even if they suck, would be a first choice based on cost alone. (Plus some are quite good. I’m always thankful for the Edmonton Public Library system in these threads. Hey, I asked them to stock a copy of Bad Astronomy and they did. :))
Back in the 40’s and maybe 50’s, Johnson’s Book Store in Springfield Mass., had its own lending library. Something like 5¢ a day to rent a title. Even as a kid I loved that store. And not just because I rented books there. The the clerks were wondrously courteous and whether you were an adult or a youngster, you enjoyed your visit there.
The local public libraries aroiund here are sensational. The selection’s great, the customer service is terrific. It’s certainly possible for a municipality to run a good library system.
We’ve got an excellent public library service, too…extremely good stock, a decent purchasing budget to accomodate requests, seven day opening (even for tiny village libraries), etc. It’s certainly possible. (Of course, the new Tory administration are now implementing ‘efficiency savings’ and suchlike…)
I remember them well, I used the Boots library extensively when in my teens as the books they had there were far superior to the local public library. There was a small joining fee and a loan fee but it was practically nothing. Smiths also had a library but it wasn’t up to much.
Some U.S. muncipalities have tried contracting out their libraries to private firms. But it’s met with mixed success. Librarians don’t like it because they like their civil service protection and higher salaries. Municipalities like the lower costs, but they worry about the service being up to the same level.
A Blockbuster-like business model for libraries could work if there was a big city with really bad public libraries, but the bigger cities have the wherewithal to keep the libraries maintained. Big city mayors like libraries because they look nice ribbon cutting ceremonies and neighborhoods like them.