if you don't read library ebooks , why not?

[Tarana]

I can still afford to buy books and audiobooks and don't have to wait weeks or months for a book to become available when reading a series. Buying books puts money in the author's hands. The books I do get from the library these days are primarily dead authors who don't benefit anyway. That's not to say I don't use the library. I will be using it far more in the future as my discretionary funds are now becoming quite limited and my TBR gets smaller.

[tempest@de]

Is it because the library in your area doesn't offer ebooks, or has a poor selection?
I used the library a lot when I read paper books, but the libraries here don’t offer ebooks, if they did I would use it.

Do you like to reread a lot?
Rarely, I did when I was younger and bought paper books, the money didn’t stretch enough for me to buy all that I read. Now I don’t, many times a book that I loved when I first read it now is just ok, I find that some books are tied to memories and that is part of what made them memorable then, and sometimes it is beter to leave them there and still think fondly of them than reread and think «why did I love this book?»

Do you make a lot of annotations?
Never, I read fiction and don’t do annotions or bookmarks.

Do you like to read the latest best-sellers without waiting on a hold list?
Not really, I read what looks good or appeals to me, I don’t choose a book base on his popularity. That being said when I was able to use the Free Library of Philadelphia I did wait for some books, but that didn’t bothered me, if I was not ready for a specific book I just passed it on and it would be available again soon.

[Fbone]

I use my library regularly. My usual method is checking there first before purchasing.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by tempest@de

many times a book that I loved when I first read it now is just ok, I find that some books are tied to memories and that is part of what made them memorable then, and sometimes it is beter to leave them there and still think fondly of them than reread and think «why did I love this book?»

I also don’t reread much; mostly because of the “so many books” syndrome. But I also can mostly tell in advance if a reread will be pleasurable or whether it will just destroy fond memories. That is to say, I don’t have to expect to think a reread will be good or that I’d like it if I read it now. Sometimes it’s fun because I’m channeling the younger me and I can read it on two levels, what I thought then and what I think now. Sometimes it’s fun just to find the flaws in something I liked before I reached my current level of discernment.

However, sometimes there’s not enough heft to stand picking flaws. Worst is when it’s a book I loved but I have the sense of having gone to the well too often and a reread would be the proverbial camel-back-breaking straw. When the New Leaf Book Club here read Anne of Green Gables, I knew it was probably going to be a bad idea for my fond memories and it was. I thought it mostly terrible; love had flown. Similarly, I can’t bear the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder any more. It’s not even the weight of the godawful and ridiculous tv show, which I ignored. But I now know too much about Laura, and Rose, and their politics, and how the books were written as an expression of that and where they diverged from the truth* to enjoy them. Usually background info and depth of knowledge adds to my appreciation; in this case, it killed it.

*In fairness to LIW and RWL, the books were written and sold as fiction. For the sake of my fond memories, it would have been better had they remained so instead of the foundation of the huge industry that’s grown up around them.

[crane3]

I use my library but haven't gone to the library for a very long time; last time was to renew the library card. With Covid, the library now offers renewal online. A "problem" is that the selection at the physical library had become limited because lots of books are now ebooks.

The library does not just have books but is also a research portal; yes, one can do lots via the internet BUT not for stuff that is available only with a subscription. e.g. Consumers' Reports is available in the library as well online; still an interesting mag to check on various items. There are various publications also as wikipedia mainly written by people who may not full knowledge of the subject.

The best thing is if the library is part of a consortium that includes various librarys & universities and be able to borrow books from them.

[theducks]

Long waiting list,

And I tend to have a lot of books in progress (I'm a in the mood for reader. I might read a chapter or 2, then switch books). Some books were started months ago, by not abandoned I read to be entertained

I do re-read (especially when a new book appears after a long dry spell in a series)

[haertig]

A lot of the negatives of libraries mentioned above I have agreed with in the past. But I found several ways around the problems.

Problem: Selection. That has never been an issue for me, since I am a slow reader and there are tons of books I have never read. I don't require the newest releases that have the waiting lists.

When I do want a new release, I do much better at finding it without a long wait by being a member of multiple library districts. I know that not everybody has this luxury, but I do. I am currently a member of eight different library districts (each district being composed of multiple different libraries in different towns). This is one of the benefits of living in a metro area (I would rather live off by myself in the woods, but that's not my situation).

Problem: Books coming available at the wrong time (when you're in the middle of another book). My libraries use Overdrive, and I handle this by always using Amazon's "Download and Transfer via USB" option. Then I sideload it to my Paperwhite that is always, ALWAYS, in airplane mode. So the rented ebook sits there on the Kindle for as long as needed. I haven't had to make use of this long term storage method for a while, but I assume it still works. I don't see why it wouldn't, because with my PaperWhilte always in airplane mode, it never updates it's firmware either, so I wouldn't expect the behavior to change.

Problem: The book I'm reading is in a series, and the library does not have all the books in the series. This is mitigated by being a member of several library districts as well. You are not guaranteed to find 100% of the books in a series, but with multiple libraries to work with your odds are much better.

The biggest thing I guess is keeping the Kindle in airplane mode. Another benefit of this is that it eventually runs out of ads, and your ad-supported Kindle becomes an ad-free Kindle.

You can do the same thing with library audiobooks, but it's actually simpler for those. You don't need to stay in airplane mode. A good thing, because I listen to audiobooks on my tablet or cellphone and you don't want one of those stuck in airplane mode. Audiobooks from Overdrive download in MP3 format. Library audiobooks in MP3 format do not contain DRM, so there is none of that to worry about. When you download an audiobook, after the library loan period expires, the MP3 files will be removed from your tablet/phone at some point in time (assuming internet connectivity). But all's you have to do is when you initially download them, MOVE or COPY them to a different directory and then they will stay there until you get around to listening to them, they won't automatically be removed. You will have to remove them manually when you are done with them.

First you have to find where Overdrive stores the audiobooks, so that you can move/copy them. On my device, the default Overdrive storage location is:

<internal_storage>/Android/data/com.overdrive.mobile.android.mediaconsole/files/Overdrive This default location is the same on all three of my Android devices that I use Overdrive on, and they all run different versions of Android. But yours may be a different location - I don't know that it is always guaranteed to be where I have found mine.

There, you will find a directory for each audiobook. Just move/copy that directory to some other place. Then tell SmartAudiobookPlayer, or whatever local audiobook app you use, where the files are. You will need a "file manager" application on your Android device to do this move/copy. There are several of those (free) available to install. I have no idea how to do this on an iPhone. Apple is so tightly controlling that you probably don't even have access to a file manager, so you may be out of luck. But you can research it on your own to see if it's possible.

Note: There is a setting in Overdrive where you can specify a different download directory (I have seen this setting mentioned online, but have not verified it myself). But this change only goes into effect for future downloads, existing downloads are not automatically moved. I haven't bothered to change the default download location. I know where it is, and that's good enough for me.

[maddz]

My UK county library has a very poor selection of SFF in ebook and not much better in pbook (the best selection was in the central library). I did look into the library when we went into the first lockdown and most of what they had in SFF were books written for the teen market or books I already own. I do read some YA, but it needs some depth for me to enjoy it, and most haven't got any depth.

So I don't bother and haven't done so in at least 10 years. We had a very good SFF bookstore in town so I now have a far better selection of physical and ebooks in my personal library.

I'm not going to run out of reading material for at least 10 years...

[cajunrph]

No overdrive at my local library system.

[GlenBarrington]

Originally Posted by 4691mls

Easy access to library ebooks was one of the main reasons I bought an ereader. I would never be able to afford to buy as many books as I read "free" from the library. My taxes help subsidize the library so I might as well enjoy the benefits.

I know there are people here on Mobileread who say they rarely or never read library books. I'm curious as to why. Is it because the library in your area doesn't offer ebooks, or has a poor selection? Do you like to reread a lot? Do you make a lot of annotations? Do you like to read the latest best-sellers without waiting on a hold list?

I'm 20 miles away from the rural library my taxes pay for. A tiny little thing, really designed for researching homework from encyclopedias. I live about 4 miles from a much larger library system with an absurd out of district fee. I live in a very high property tax state and such considerations carry weight with many of us. I'm not complaining, just explaining.

[hobnail]

I sort of can't believe it but I simply forgot about the library. But that was back when I was among the gainfully employed and a) didn't read that much, mainly nonfiction, and b) could afford to buy books. Now when I hear about a new author I first check the library and if they have it I get it from there. If it's a series and they're missing any and I like the author I don't hesitate to buy the missing ones when I get to that point in the series, or I'll buy an author's books if it's not part of a series and I like the author.

For me the library is crucial because I have a problem where if the author doesn't make me care about the character(s), I just can't finish the book. So for at least 90% I'll read a few chapters and go "meh" (just before I fall asleep from boredom) and delete it and start the next one.

My library uses OverDrive and Enki. I did a search category and for fiction Enki has 54,497 (English) while for OverDrive it says 34,801 (all languages I think). I have no idea how much overlap there is.

If I use the library's main/combined search it often doesn't find an ebook that the OverDrive and Enki search pages will find.

[4691mls]

Hobnail, I am similar in that I start with the library but will occasionally buy books that are missing from a series or other books by the same author. And library books are great for trying out a new author - if it turns out you don't like their writing you can just return the book early and move on to something else.

My county's library system is part of an Overdrive consortium with a number of other counties in my state so they do have a pretty large selection.

I've never heard of Enki.

[hobnail]

Originally Posted by 4691mls

I've never heard of Enki.

http://enkilibrary.org/

Looking at the list of libraries in the drop down, top right, they appear to all be California. (Who else would name a county You Only Live Once?)

[Apache]

I like to reread and our library is abysmal for the size of the town.
Apache

[cfrizz]

I would use the library to get big name writers books, but now most of them have changed over to you can only download to a tablet or device and read on app. So I have basically stopped using the library.