Do you use your public library?

[TickTockMan]

For anything they offer?



I try to check out books, but they just did a reorg and got rid of a lot of stuff. The book I like and need, like large print, got way down sized. Also one of my favorite authors they no longer carry. The library was how I found him in the first place.

 

[LeicsDom]

Sadly, no. I like to buy the books I want to read. I then pass them on to a friend who either donates them to his work 'library' or keeps them for himself
When I was at school I would devour books. One place we lived there was a mobile library parked up nearby and I would take out 2-3 books a week.
When we moved there was a proper library nearby so it was a weekly treat to go and spend an hour deciding which books I wanted to borrow

 

[Kahaih]

Not this century, no.

But I hear tell it's uphill both ways to get there, pushing through snow up to your chin, and their outhouse is almost two blocks away.

 

[Natello4]

I hear, libraries are good places to meet a gay partner. Are there any success stories among forumers?

 

[unloadonme]

No. Like LeicsDom, I buy books I want to read, but, unlike him, I don't give them away afterwards and accumulate them instead.

 

[lockeroomguy]

Not since the internet. Information I need to find is so much easier to find, and up to date. Books I want to read I buy, usually on kindle,

 

[USEDCAR]

I would go there to study or take practice tests, when i wanted to go somewhere with no distractions.

 

[MusicMan321]

I use to go but not anymore

 

[rareboy]

We also just buy the books we want to read...and although we are involved as 'Friends of the Library'...we don't use it.

 

[TickTockMan]

We also just buy the books we want to read...and although we are involved as 'Friends of the Library'...we don't use it.

For the books I buy I demand they be in perfect condition most of the time. The few I am willing to buy used would be too hard to find most places so I just buy off Amazon.

 

[EJMichaels]

I sometimes go in person to borrow DVDs or audiobooks. More often I use the online version of my local libraries to borrow audiobooks. I also visit in person to donate books. They sell some of them and also have racks of free-to-anyone books.

 

[Natello4]

We also just buy the books we want to read...and although we are involved as 'Friends of the Library'...we don't use it.

What kind of books do you like to read?

 

[LilBit]

My union has started holding its meetings at the public library. For books, I tend to buy them myself, but I do use my university library for work purposes.

 

[LeicsDom]

No. Like LeicsDom, I buy books I want to read, but, unlike him, I don't give them away afterwards and accumulate them instead.

I used to keep them but sadly I have no room now. Last time I moved I donated about 300+ to charity

 

[Peloso]

I live in south Brooklyn, which culturally and intellectually is the Bottom Of The World. The closest branch is thirty minutes away and smells like urine.

 

[Rickrock]

Like TickTockMan said, our local library has gotten rid of many of its books and I am not interested in what they still have. I occasionally use it to get tax forms or other things. I usually read romance novels as an escape, and now am reading mostly gay romance novels, and I don't think the local library would carry this type of book. But I haven't really tried, I just buy them on Amazon. I have turned in some of the books I am through with to the store, Half Price Books, and they give me pennies on the dollar, but I am thankful if other people can get some use of my used books.

 

[jjonn3]

I have not used the library in a long time - most of what I was looking for they did not carry and had to get then trough inter-library loan and it could take weeks.

But I do know what the library is used for...

 

[Yooper]

I do, especially when I'm trying to find out about something pre-internet days, local history in particular. Much historical information is not yet online and probably never will be due to costs and limited appeal.

That said, my new very rural location has only one library for the entire county (population density 1.2 persons per square mile) and it is shared with the Junior/Senior High School, and only has very limited hours outside of school hours. It closed on December 15 and will not reopen until January 3. So if I want to check out some obscure historical question I'm going to have to wait.

 

[Yooper]

Last time I lived in the UP, the town's local library was a gem, one of the old Carnegie libraries, and NOTHING had ever been thrown away. It still is going strong, and hasn't changed much. I found a record of my Grandmother living in the town from 1931-1933!

 

[Latimer]

The Beverly Hills Public Library is a stone's throw from the Department of Building and Safety and adjacent to the parking garage I use when I visit the latter. More often than not, on my way back to my car, I visit there, first getting an expresso in the library cafe' to revive my flagging spirits after another session with well-meaning idiots who can't make up their minds about the true meaning of obscurely written codes. The cafe' is adjacent to a splendid used-book section which I never fail to browse, and which is my downfall, as I invariably leave with two or three more books for my own already over-stocked library. One day I really need to stop in the magazine section. This is always my intent, but I end up spending so much time looking at used books that I then rush off to get back to work.