Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about library borrowing€¦
Do you restrict yourself on how many books you take out from the library at a time? Do you borrow books if you already have some out? Do you always reborrow books you don’t get to?
I don’t restrict my borrowing – the library does that for me! We’re allowed to borrow up to 15 items, but as my husband doesn’t use up his allocation I can have more using his ticket. But right now I’ve only got 14 books out. I’ve been trying to catch up reading from my own unread books, but the library is so convenient (ten minutes away by car) that I usually visit once a fortnight or so. I don’t wait until I’ve read all the books I have on loan but each time I go I take some books back and usually bring home more than I returned.
What is so good about borrowing books is that I can look at them in more detail that in a bookshop. Sometimes if I really like a book I’ll then buy a copy. If I haven’t read a book before it’s due back, sometimes that’s because I’ve decided not to read it and then I return it. Other times it’s because I haven’t got round to it, so I renew it. I can renew books on-line up to four times, provided no one else has reserved it, after that you have to take the book and have it re-issued. If someone has reserved it you can reserve it again without charge – pretty good really.
BooksPlease 
If I had a library so near my place, I would be visiting it all the time!
Monday whereabouts
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I also use my husband’s card to reserve more books 🙂
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15 isn’t very many, but being able to renew 4 times is great! I use our library for books, movies, music…at any given time I’ve got over 20 things checked out 🙂
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The most I borrow at a time is 3 or 4! I’ve never borrowed movies, but I think I’m going to look into that!
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I use my family’s card to request books too.
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I think the reason why I like the library so much is, if I happen to pick up a book and dislike it, there’s very little guilt when I stop reading it! 🙂
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The idea of a library limiting the amount of books a person can check out always baffles me, mostly because I was lucky enough not to have that problem growing up. I’m always a bit surprised when the library tries to limit the check-out list but I’ve learned to get used to it. Fifteen, though, seems like a fairly reasonable amount. I’ve encountered some public libraries that limit it to four books…
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We can check out an insane number of books (something like 28–or maybe more I can’t remember the exact number–but it’s very generous). I am trying to wean myself from requesting so many as I want to spend more time reading the books I’ve been so busy buying!
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I will return to borrowing from the library as soon as I finish reading all the unread books in my house.
I figure about 2015…lol
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I regularly borrow books from my local library (and, like you, then tend to buy my own copy if them if I love them!) It’s a great way to experiment with reading choices. I try not to have more then one out at a time, otherwise I feel the need to rush them to get them back in time – and they always take precedence over my bought books, given the finite time I have them. I seem to want books everyone else wants, so I rarely get the chance to renew, due to “high demand”. Sometimes I re-borrow books I don’t get too. Other times, I’ve moved on…
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I know I really should make more use of my library, especially since I’m a librarian and can borrow a book from anywhere, but I just don’t. When I borrow them, I don’t read them as quickly as I should and I end up having to return them unread. So, I usually end up buying all my books. But, that is going to have to stop or at least slow down, soon. I’m quickly running out of room to house them all.
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