Flights of Fantasy discussion
Randomnessosity
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Randomnessosity
Mike, I know what your feeling!!My library lately keeps telling me the books I am looking for are 'unavailable'. Which means that they should have them, but have lost or misplaced them. Oh fun!
Or someone "liberated" them...I think our library's budget has been slashed.
Thanks.
My library has had books in their catalog but set as "On Order" or "Processing" for months. It's incredibly frustrating. How long does it take to "Process" (put a barcode sticker) on a book! UGH!
I know. I asked about that once and they told me that a book that's being "processed" may still not even be there. A lot has to do with the money the city or whatever has budgeted for the "fiscal year". The people at our library told me they sometimes end up spending all they have within the first month or two then everything lays "on order" or "in process". I got spoiled. A few mayors ago we had a man who made it a point to have a good well supplied library. Of late we're long on "flash" (money spent on nice buildings and a head of the library with an impressive set of degrees and a big salary) and skimpy on books and materials. Or at least more so. We have a large beautiful main library downtown that has an also impressive amount of empty shelf-room.I guess I'm not being totally fair...but it is frustrating as "back when" I used to find almost everything I searched.
Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "You know, "more and more the library has less and less". I found two more books today I'd like to get to but as has become usual lately the library doesn't have them in any form. Worse in both case..."Yeah. I know those feels.
I usually just do the interloan and wait for it to show. A lot of times I've been pleasantly surprised by the quick turnaround.
I have one book that has been on the ILL list at our library for months. It just says "request sent".
Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "I have one book that has been on the ILL list at our library for months. It just says "request sent"."I had one get caught up like that. I ended up calling the library and there was something wrong. I had to request it again.
One of my requests was held up over a month in "shipping." I called my local library and they ignored me and basically told me to wait. Ugh. Very discouraging especially since I knew something was wrong.
So I called the main branch and spoke with someone there. Turns out the book got lost somewhere between the two libraries. She cancelled my request and put me back on the list.
I've just assumed that the book is out at the other end (the library that owns it). It's not urgent, so I just wait. So often by the time I get a book I have forgotten why I was interested enough to send off for it.
My library charges me quite some money for interloans! Then I am better off buying a second hand version or an ebook.
I'm almost ashamed to say I never use the library any more :(But there is (I think) a good
Where are you from, DoodlePanda?I think I am lucky then with my library having two whole bookcases!! ;)
I'm from Norway. So the the books are mainly in norwegian. Weird, huh? :P
Well let me tell you that I think my library does not have any book in Norwegian ;)But yes, I know how you feel. Most books here are in Dutch and even if I wanted to read them in Dutch, a lot of books won't even get translated.
And if they do they take ages to get it translated, right?That's why I started reading in English in the first place, I didn't want to wait to read the new books of my favorite authors :)
Yes that, but also because a lot of subtleties disappear with translation. (The perfect example being Discworld!)
Elise wrote: "Yes that, but also because a lot of subtleties disappear with translation. (The perfect example being Discworld!)"Yes, absolutely!! I would never read Discworld in any other language as there is no way anyone can translate them in an acceptable way!
I think most of the books in our library are in American.... That's an obscure language much like English.
Elise wrote: "My library charges me quite some money for interloans! Then I am better off buying a second hand version or an ebook."They charge you??
Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "I think most of the books in our library are in American.... That's an obscure language much like English."LOL
I suspect Netherlands is a bit different library system wise to. It's simply a service most libraries provide here.
I don't use the library anymore either. I should - it's less than a mile away so I could easily walk it... but I usually have no idea what to take out from the library when I get there because if I want to read a book, I've usually already acquired it. LOL
"The United States and Great Britain are two countries separated by a common language."Attributed to George Bernard Shaw
:)
I'm lazy. I go on line, search for a book at the library, have it sent to my local branch and pick it up.I used to love to spend hours wandering through the stacks. Times have changed.
My library generally has squat, so I use the ILL a lot. Since timing varies, especially for newer books, I usually put a few on hold at a time and just pick them up as they come in, often swapping out read ones for new pick ups. If the timing's off and I have nothing on hand, I read one of my few owned-unread books, or get an eBook. (Most of what I get as eBooks are either group reads or books the library doesn't have that I'm not keen enough to buy.)I just randomly go through my to-read list, lick a variety of stuff based on my mood, and place a bunch of holds online. It does tend to be a bit feast or famine at times, and sometimes I run into the problem that I'm not in the same mood when a book arrives as I was when i ordered it. But usually I get enough at a time that I can pick one which suits.
The waiting can be annoying, but I've mostly just gotten used to it.
MrsJoseph wrote: "Elise wrote: "My library charges me quite some money for interloans! Then I am better off buying a second hand version or an ebook."They charge you??"
Yes! 6 euros per book for interloans.
That is outrageous... Might as well just buy them then, like you said! That way you have them to read again if you feel like it.
Yeah, if I had to pay for my library I'd probably just buy the books, too.
Me to. Good old Benjamin Franklin.
colleen the contrarian ± (... never stop fighting) ± wrote: "Yeah, if I had to pay for my library I'd probably just buy the books, too."^This
I have the feeling I should leave the country ;)
Elise wrote: "MrsJoseph wrote: "Elise wrote: "My library charges me quite some money for interloans! Then I am better off buying a second hand version or an ebook."They charge you??"
Yes! 6 euros per book for..."
6 euros is out of control!
colleen the contrarian ± (... never stop fighting) ± wrote: "Yeah, if I had to pay for my library I'd probably just buy the books, too."For sure. Hell, I DON'T have to pay my library for books and I still just buy them anyway.
Hmm here you have to become a member of the library, before you can take books home. This is about 40 euros for a year. Which is cheaper than buying all books, but it is still annoying.Getting books from different libraries is 6 euros each.
Some libraries have a lower membership fee, but then you have to pay for every book you take home. Somehow the library system in The Netherlands does not work properly!!
We have public libraries in most cities and counties. There are private libraries where people pay to join and belong but they're usually about specific topics or rare books.There are also college libraries and so on. The theology library at Vanderbilt is a very good one but it's for the theology students. HOWEVER the local clergy is also allowed to use it...this I can if I want. Still if they have a book someone not a student or clergy wants they will send it out through interlibrary loan so it can be checked out through local libraries.
Ben Franklin founded the public library system in America.
Elise wrote: "Hmm here you have to become a member of the library, before you can take books home. This is about 40 euros for a year. Which is cheaper than buying all books, but it is still annoying.Getting boo..."
O_O
That is...outrageous.
I honestly have never heard of a library charging for membership, unless the member lives outside of its local "zone".
I am pretty lucky that we have a good library system, locally. There are several County branches and two city branches. Within the County, I log in online and have them deliver the book to the branch that is practically across the street.What is funny is that I had not used the public library in years. I had this mental hang up of how it used to be, and who has time to go digging for books? My neighbor talked me into getting a library card because of the availability of Kindle books, from there I discovered that our library has great tech. I like the new lazy girl library format.
Having said that, living in the Southern US, scifi and fantasy are not priority genres, so the books that I want are not always available. However, I can put in a request, and my library will acquire titles based on funds. It may take several months, but they have never NOT gotten in a title that I've requested.
Yep, I am totally spoiled now.
Our library used to do that, it's a much longer wait now even if they do get it. Like you may have to wait for next year's budget.
Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "I have one book that has been on the ILL list at our library for months. It just says "request sent"."Always follow up. I've done that for books I've requested and they magically show up almost instantaneously. Obviously there's a problem in the system somewhere and I think it's PEBKAC.
Homeinmyshoes wrote: "Always follow up. I've done that for books I've requested and they magically show up almost instantaneously. Obviously there's a problem in the system somewhere and I think it's PEBKAC."SOOOOO This
Wishing everyone here at FoF a Very Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year!
:-)Happy New Year!
Chris wrote: "Random. And scary.Mac Sabbath"
O_o
Flights of Fantasy
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So if I read them I have to try interlibrary loan (usually a bit of a hassle) or buy them. So they will get added to my own books... Then while browsing the library books I'll take out other reads and my own books will continue to languish waiting for me to get to them.
I tell you, life is hard.
sigh.