Library Question

[Caz]

First of all, do many of you use your local libraries, or do you normally buy them? I know there's already a thread on this, but my question is more aimed at library users?

What do you do when a book you want to read isn't owned by your local library, but you don't want to buy it as you don't have much spare cash, and there's not much room in your house for more books?
You see I often look on amazon to find books I would like, and then search for them on our libraries webpage (it is a county library service so our library is one of about 20 and they can ship books back and forward for you), but quite a few of the books I have been looking for recently haven't been on the library system at all, so I'm not sure what to do.
Like I said I don't have much money to spend on books, and also don't have much room in my house?
Just looking for suggestions really?
Thanks xx

[Caz]

I'm not sure if our library does inter-library loans, and I think they can get quite pricey, can't they?

My birthday was back in february, so thats no use :P

Book-swapping sites, can you recommend any? And if you've used one could you explain how they work, and if they're worth the cost etc, or point me in the direction of a good thread?
Thanks again xx

[El]

I was about to start screaming about how there is no charge for inter-library loans, but then I realized you're both from the UK, so never mind. I didn't know you guys had to pay. I use inter-library loans frequently here, but there's no charge. I also live in a city that has one of the largest library systems, so if the main branch doesn't have what I'm looking for it's almost guaranteed one of the other libraries does.

But occasionally there are things that I'm looking for that no one has. I also don't have much money, so I just wait. Like Fiona said there's the chance that if you ask your library to order a copy, they might do it once they realize there's interest in a book. Other times I just have to wait until a newer title gets purchased and circulated by the library - that can sometimes take a while. I don't want to pay for it new, so I just wait.

Barring all of that, if I feel I must buy it, I'll check a used bookstore and give in that way. Or hope a friend has a copy that I can borrow.



Fiona, what's a reservation cost? Do you mean if you request a book to be held for you, you have to pay for that? (I feel like I'm learning about a whole new culture, lol!)

[Caz]

El, At my library as reservation cost is 60p if they have to get you the book from a different library, its mostly to cover some of the postage of getting the book to you I think. There are no reservation costs for children or teen books though, just adult ones.

And Louise, thanks very much for explaining bookmooch. How often do you seem to send/receive books from it? x

[Caz]

I have no idea where I got louise from. I'm going bonkers :P
Anyway thanks for the advice, and also which method do you use to ship? First or second class? And can you count it as a letter or is it a small parcel? xx

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads]

I use both my local public library, and the one of a local university (mostly for non-fiction so far - big fat history books can be prohibitively expensive).

That said, I think our house has over a thousand books in it. And growing! (These things happen when a house is inhabited by a professor of literature, a historian, and a railroad fanatic.)

[Abigail (42stitches)]

I used to use the public library a lot, but then I moved to a small town rural area and the libraries here suck. They rarely have what I'm looking for, so I quit checking. I don't buy a lot of books right now. I have a large collection stashed up so I'm mostly working through that.

There is www.half.com where you can get books really cheap. I have never personally used it, but I had a room mate a couple of years ago who bought all the books for an English class we both happened to be in for almost a quarter of the store price from that site. They were all in pretty good condition as I recall.

[Beck]

well maybe you could recomend these books to your library and ask them to buy the books. thats what i do.

[Timothy]

HI,
You were talking about shipping costs, I'm always sending books through the post in the U.K.
I send them in a bubble lined envelope, for U.K 1st class it usually costs £1.08p, but this is calculated on the weight. This is for P.O.D books of 200 to 250 pages roughly equal to a 350 page standard paper back, these are usually delivered within 48hrs.
Identical books going to the 'States, cost £5.18p and take about 7 working days, I hope this helps.
All the best Paul Rix [oldgeezer:]