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

[ownedbycats]

A few times I've popped myself onto a waitlist for a library book and completely forgotten about it by the time it becomes available. Usually it's either a nice surprise or "wait why the hell did I waitlist this?"

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by 4691mls

Or they have random ones, like books 2, 5, 7.... I hate that too.

I sometimes wonder if they just bought those on sale and didn't want to pay full price for the rest....

If they're going to have only a few, I'd prefer they have the earliest books. Then if I decide I like the series I might be motivated to buy later books.

Many libraries acquire books that were requested by patrons. Perhaps those were books that someone else asked for.

If you want a book and your library doesn't carry it then ask for it. Many OverDrive libraries have a request book feature that submits a request and also puts it on hold for you automatically if the library chooses to obtain it.

[leebase]

Originally Posted by 4691mls

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 loved libraries as a kid growing up. I was a library cadet all through school and hung out at the library during the summers.

I live in a town with an excellent library system. I took my kids with they were school age and interested.

But no - I do not use the library any more. I just buy what I want to read and read it when I want without waiting lists and without worrying about whether I've finished the book in time.

[4691mls]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

A few times I've popped myself onto a waitlist for a library book and completely forgotten about it by the time it becomes available. Usually it's either a nice surprise or "wait why the hell did I waitlist this?"

A couple of times when browsing Overdrive on my phone I've accidentally tapped Place a Hold on a book I had no interest in. Maybe this happened to you

[catsknit]

I use my library a LOT, but lately it seems I'm getting more and more paper books vs ebooks there. Their ebooks tend to be either best-sellers or classics, as someone mentioned, and a lot of what I am currently reading are not in that category. Some are out of print but my library can usually find it through ILL, often from a university library.

I used to use Overdrive quite a bit but now if I put a book on hold, it will show me how long the wait is for ebook and how long for paper book. Since ebooks have become more popular I find the paper book list is often much shorter. (even shorter is the Large Print edition if they have one!) If it's something I really am itching to read soon, I'll sign up for both ebook and print (as well as LP if available) and just see which one comes quickest.
My library also has Hoopla and i often check that as well, since their books are always available. But then I have to read on my tablet, which is OK but not as enjoyable as the Libra.
Most of the ebooks I buy are ones that I reread frequently - for example, I reread the entire LOTR series every other year, without fail. I often reread the Harry Potter series too, though not on an particular schedule like LOTR. I have also downloaded a lot of free or $1-$3 books on sale from Amazon, just things that look interesting and then sometimes I'll find a new-to-me author or even series and then I will look for the rest at the library.
I read on average about 3-4 books per week, so buying everything is just not feasible for my budget! But, if my library had less selection I'd definitely buy ebooks over paperbooks. I'm in the process of downsizing my paper books to keep only about 1/10 of what I currently have. I try not to buy any new paper books unless they are reference type books (gardening, crafts, etc.) Even then I check out the used bookstores first.

[batpuppy]

My library uses axis360 which I hate, Have to read on my tablet or phone.
Selection is very very poor so I never use it.
If I could use my ereader and they had anything worth reading then I would use it.
I check it out every few years and so far no improvement at all.

Added:
I notice they seldom have much of a wait list so i doubt anyone else around here uses it.

[monophoto]

I'm a big fan of mysteries, and many years ago I started in the 'A' section of the mystery shelves in our public library, and simply worked my way along the shelves. Before I retired, my job required that I travel quite a bit, so I also collected quite a few paperbacks that I bought to read on planes - I wasn't comfortable taking library book on trips out of concern that they might get lost.

The one Friday in March 2020, I visited the library to check out another batch of books, and the following day the library closed - for two months!

Our computer-geek son had purchased Kindle after he moved to Silicon Valley. I remembered that he had strongly recommended that approach, so when I completed the books I checked out on that fateful day, I went on-line and purchased a Kindle which I was able to set up to download books from our public library during the lockdown. The only time I've been back to the library since that day was when I had to physically appear to renew my library card. I recently upgraded from OverDrive to Libby - quite a different experience, but something I suspect I will eventually learn to like. [UPDATE: I very quickly concluded that Libby is a seriously flawed app, and went back to using a browser to access the OverDrive web site.]

I've bought a few e-books for my Kindle, but mainly books that I especially like and want to include in a permanent collection because I re-read them occasionally - classics like LeCarre's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

The retirement gift that my wife received from her fellow school librarians was a Nook. I set it up so that she could download books, but it never actually caught on - to this day, she insists on going to the library for a physical book. But she also doesn't know how to use her cell phone - some people are like that!

[Fat Abe]

I'll give you a few reasons why some people, including me, occasionally prefer paper books and magazines. First my brother-in-law hates computers and e-readers. For years, he resisted the conversion of hospital records to digital. When James Kestrel's novel, Five Decembers, was released, I could not get him to read an epub or kindle version of the novel. He had to wait for a paper version of the novel to be ordered by his library. Second, any novel printed on acid-free paper and bound correctly can survive for centuries. It is doubtful that any novels bound under the constraints of DRM and sitting inside an e-reader will survive for more than one or two decades. The reader will die before then, or the user will lose access to the book. It means your ownership of the book will be like a subscription, i.e., finite. Even if you back up the file on numerous usb drives, this does not guarantee you can retrieve it. I love Amazon, but who says they will always be in the ebook distribution business? Third, I abhor digital magazines. The human eye can discern images of 8000 pixels resolution. Yet, a page from any digital magazine seems to be presented with at most one-eighth of this limit. Now Playboy isn't around in any form, but I would sorely miss reading the magazine if it were only offered in digital. (There are still people like me who read the articles).

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Fat Abe

I'll give you a few reasons why some people, including me, occasionally prefer paper books and magazines. First my brother-in-law hates computers and e-readers. For years, he resisted the conversion of hospital records to digital. When James Kestrel's novel, Five Decembers, was released, I could not get him to read an epub or kindle version of the novel. He had to wait for a paper version of the novel to be ordered by his library. Second, any novel printed on acid-free paper and bound correctly can survive for centuries. It is doubtful that any novels bound under the constraints of DRM and sitting inside an e-reader will survive for more than one or two decades. The reader will die before then, or the user will lose access to the book. It means your ownership of the book will be like a subscription, i.e., finite. Even if you back up the file on numerous usb drives, this does not guarantee you can retrieve it. I love Amazon, but who says they will always be in the ebook distribution business? Third, I abhor digital magazines. The human eye can discern images of 8000 pixels resolution. Yet, a page from any digital magazine seems to be presented with at most one-eighth of this limit. Now Playboy isn't around in any form, but I would sorely miss reading the magazine if it were only offered in digital. (There are still people like me who read the articles).

DRM can be removed, you know. All the thousands of ebooks I've purchased from various vendors in the last 11 years are still perfectly accessible and I've read them on many different ereaders.

As to magazines, I agree with you there. I rarely read paper books these days, but I still subscribe to a few paper magazines.

[JBaby]

Originally Posted by Fat Abe

I'll give you a few reasons why some people, including me, occasionally prefer paper books and magazines. First my brother-in-law hates computers and e-readers. For years, he resisted the conversion of hospital records to digital. When James Kestrel's novel, Five Decembers, was released, I could not get him to read an epub or kindle version of the novel. He had to wait for a paper version of the novel to be ordered by his library. Second, any novel printed on acid-free paper and bound correctly can survive for centuries. It is doubtful that any novels bound under the constraints of DRM and sitting inside an e-reader will survive for more than one or two decades. The reader will die before then, or the user will lose access to the book. It means your ownership of the book will be like a subscription, i.e., finite. Even if you back up the file on numerous usb drives, this does not guarantee you can retrieve it. I love Amazon, but who says they will always be in the ebook distribution business? Third, I abhor digital magazines. The human eye can discern images of 8000 pixels resolution. Yet, a page from any digital magazine seems to be presented with at most one-eighth of this limit. Now Playboy isn't around in any form, but I would sorely miss reading the magazine if it were only offered in digital. (There are still people like me who read the articles).

I still have access to ebooks I bought in 1999. I have multiple backups both on and off-site. I don’t read paper anything. I subscribe to a couple magazines digitally and I don’t find anything wrong with the experience.

[HLS]

Well, The wait is usually very long or the book is not in stock. Also i have almost 2000 ebooks between my Kindles, nooks and Kobos so i never going to run out of reads

[DuskyRose]

Originally Posted by Fat Abe

Second, any novel printed on acid-free paper and bound correctly can survive for centuries.

I've moved a lot in the past, (military family) and there's one thing I learned, is that books don't travel well. Nor do they survive floods, fires, or drastic weight restrictions on moves.

Moving to Japan, I had to give most of my books away, because we had kids and weight restrictions on packed items going overseas. The ONE box I had of a dozen books, that made it to our house in Japan nine months later was the ONLY box that had gotten wet and molded.

I've also helped pack up my grandparents to move to smaller and smaller places. Fewer and fewer books they'd saved for years, a lot never read, didn't make the cut. Some willingly tossed out or given away because they just couldn't read the small print anymore.

While I know nothing is forever, and both physical and ebook have storage issues, I have kept about 200 of my paperbacks and have gone to ebooks years and years ago. I love being able to adjust the fonts and stuff, and now adore night mode.

And my kids have given me their word that when I get to that future nursing home, they'll gladly maintain my library on what ever current device I can have with me. If they can load it up, and prop it up in front of me, and keep my eyeglass perscription up-to-date, I'll be as happy a camper as I can be in that situation. Because I know all the physical books will be gone some day. One way or the other.

[John F]

I do use libraries (notice the plural). If I only could use my local libraries, I would use them very, very little; I only read ebooks and their selection is very poor.

[dublincheri]

Since moving I haven’t managed to get a library card. The library is located in a bad area with very limited parking and they insist on you turning up in person. I have no idea what their ebook selection is like and since they make it difficult to get a card I’m not going to look. (My old one from home no longer works because they replaced the system).

[Fat Abe]

I treat the acquisition of books as a supply chain issue. First, I do not need to be the first in my neighborhood to read David Baldacci's [substitute your own preferred writer] latest novel. Just put the desired book on hold at the Overdrive libraries where you have a membership. As long as you own a later Kindle model beyond { Kindle 1- Kindle 2- Kindle DX- Kindle Keyboard- Kindle 4- Kindle Touch- Kindle 5- Kindle Paperwhite- Kindle 7- Kindle Voyage }. it is highly likely you can request that a borrowed (available) title be ported to a Kindle. Just select the title on your Amazon Content & Devices page, and it will be pushed to your Kindle/Fire reader. I can't think of anything simpler in life. Why throw away money on a purchased ebook, if you're not stressed by the waiting period? Save your money to purchase rare/htf books, or books that are heavily discounted. In the good old days people would wait for months to borrow a hardcover book from their public library. Why are people into instant gratification? Buying a hardcover makes sense until your home is overstuffed with heavy books. Buying just released ebooks is an expensive proposition since they have no residual value. Buy only if you need to read it asap, and no library has the ebook in their inventory.