When I first moved back to my hometown, my sister gave me one of the Lillian Jackson Braun books "The Cat Who......." . I found it light and charming. She had a few others that she also gave to me and then I started the hunt to get the complete set. It was exciting to find those books. I have the complete set - 29 books. Some hard cover, most paperbacks. Since they range from 1966 to 2007, it is fascinating to see the characters age and mature but more importantly it is super interesting to see how technology evolves. I don't hold out much hope that whoever gets my stuff will even for one moment consider keeping them. That will be a shame, in my opinion.

I absolutely love physical books and although I tried, could not develop the same reading enjoyment by using ebooks. I would definitely not be the same person as I am were it not for reading. I learned to read at an early age in a household that had virtually no reading material. My older sister began school by which I became exposed to reading and I have read voraciously ever since. It's no exaggeration to say that books, and the public library, have uncovered untold treasures for me in every aspect of life. I have many books in our home and I plan to keep them as long as possible.

Murraysmom, I have been collecting the Cat Who… books too! They were so fun! I do it old school, the way I collect most things: I have to come across it ”in the wild”, at some kind of sale: book, rummage, garage, estate, etc. That means I have a ways to go, but it makes it all the more delightful when I find one I don’t have. I wish I hadn’t read the final one, though. I wonder if you feel the same.

I remember getting my first library card. I had to stand on a stepstool, because I was only 4 and couldn't reach the desk. I had to promise to always have clean hands when I read my book, to not eat or drink when I was reading, to never hurt the book by tearing it or losing it, and to treat it as a treasure. Then, I had to write my name in a big book, on the line, and, only then, did I get my card. I still feel that way.

bpath, how fun!! The books my sister gave me were mostly from the middle of the series. I mostly went to Half Price Books and found some there. I have forgotten where I found the others. I think probably mentioning my interest and then other people would have one or two of the series and give them to me. Good luck in your quest. It's nice to have something in mind when shopping yard sales and such. You might still find another treasure while on the track of The Cat!!

I love them, but they're heavy......Every move I've made, I have whittled down the number of books I have. Now I have very, very few, and the ones I have are mostly non-fiction that I couldn't get from the library. I probably will get rid of the remaining books in my next move.

I can't say I'm happy about it, but moving and downsizing requires tough choices. When I take a cruise, I enjoy reading real paper books from their library collection, if they have one; I occasionally take a book and leave it there for another reader.

I don't much like the e-readers I've tried (Kobo) so they're not worth an extra piece of tech, but will read on my phone. I also listen to a lot of audiobooks. I miss paper, but I don't miss moving it around.

I moved more than 150 boxes of books back and forth across the country several times when I relocated for my career. I always had many, many bookcases to hold them all. About 15 years ago, I gave away the majority of my library as I had replaced many of the books with an e-version. I only kept my art and design books because those sorts of books usually lose image quality in an electronic format.

In 2003, when I downsized to a smaller house, I gave away the rest of my physical books with the exception of a few treasured volumes...treasured for content, not for monetary value.

I love using the Kindle app on my tablet and phone. I'm never without a book to read.

I wish I could enjoy audiobooks so I could listen to them while doing other activities, but my brain doesn't like them for some reason. I think it's because the voices aren't the voices I would imagine if I were reading the book. The only times I've ever enjoyed an audiobook were when an autobiographical author was narrating their own book.

DH and I are both voracious readers and have probably 3,000 books scattered around the house and are constantly adding to the pile. We do reread many so if we like them we keep them. The few we haven’t liked get donated or sold. I don’t recall ever throwing out a book. @sushipup2’s falling apart book would have been carefully reglued by me- I used to repair books in various libraries :-)

I do have a Kindle I use for travel but I still prefer books as they suit my style of reading.

Our local library is small and run by non-readers and so fairly limited.

The really weird thing is that from time to time when perusing our shelves, I find a book or two that neither of us can recall acquiring. I guess we’ve reached some kind of critical mass where they start generating themselves.

I'm a voracious reader, 81 years old now, and have been all my life. I've moved too many times, to ever smaller houses, and have had to get rid of too many books. I need more book shelving now, but at my age and with a limited income, I'm not going to have built in shelving done. So, more decisions to get rid of books--and I still find myself now and then looking for a book I no longer have.

I can't use kindles. The light coming from the screen hurts my eyes. I need a book. And besides, many of the books I read--fairly obscure history books--are never going to be on kindles.

colleenoz, it seems unfathomable that a non-reader would be working at a library. That is a new one to me. I guess a job is a job but libraries are usually full of people who love books and love to read. What can a non-reader contribute?

Books have always been a big part of my life, thanks to my parents. I remember going to the library often, and getting a used set of encyclopedias from someone, and I looked at every picture before I was old enough to read. I still collect books now, but I see my shelves have been slowly taken over by photos. Photos mean a lot too as you get old. My grands get a weekly trip to library, and I pick up books at thrift stores for them.

In my opinion its the story itself or the information contained in a book that is important. So True!

I have almost always had a ’book in progress’ and read all the time as a kid in the car when my parents took us on road trips. Still do when we’re driving through long boring stretches.

When I was working and traveling a lot, e-readers were a game-changer for me and i’ve rarely looked back. I could download 4-5 books, sometimes more when I was on long-term trips. It saved so much space and weight in my carryon. Yes, we still have a lot of hardback and a few paperbacks in boxes and a few on shelves. I have several hardbacks in my reading queue. The ones I still have in bookcases are mostly reference books (mostly gardening, bird and tree references, cookbooks, some Fodors guides, and a few favorites that are old and were given to me that are more sentimental than anything. I even have a dozen paperbacks that I might read again. In the past 10 years I have gradually given many away a bit at a time and still have some to go. My DH hates ro get rid of anything, including books he will never open again. I’ve had a hard time convincing him all those textbooks and instruction book references he used when teaching in the Army are outdated and of no use to anyone. I’ve managed to haul a few of his away to the library.

Back before ebooks, we had a bookshelf in a small empty office for us to leave our paperbacks for others to take on travel. It’s how I found out about several authors I might not have considered reading had a co-worker not told me more about them. I also ’discovered’ a couple of Harry Potter books while browsing a bookstore in England on a trip. At that time no one in the US had a clue. Yes, I still have those first two bought there.

And i agree with @tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱ , young children should be encouraged to read real books. There is something about seeing young children sitting and being wrapped up in a book. Thankfully my niece who lives nearby has always encouraged her 3 kids (now 5 thru 13) to read a lot and you can see the payoff.

When I was a kid, maybe 7 or 8, my aunt gave me a book about the animals of the tundra! I was fascinated and I loved that book so much. I had it for what seems like forever. I don't think we had a library anywhere near us but we did have the bookmobile come to our grade school and I never missed going to that. So many dog and horse stories to read!

As I got older, I started collecting mostly the old horse story books. Whenever I found a duplicate I would send them to my niece for her three girls. Not too long ago one of them thanked me for doing that and that they loved them so much. Funnily enough when they were growing up, they lived in the little city within a big city where I live now and we have a very good library. So fortunate to have that.

I spend so.much.time on my laptop. I use my laptop for work, for reference, to read newspapers and periodicals, for the calendar, for travel, for recipes, for shopping, for trip planning, for health tracking, for socializing and to watch entertainment (ad infinitum).

I like to read a physical book so as to demarcate time spent reading from the ROL (rest of life, so much of which is digital). I also do like the tactile experience.

As far as wanting a book in electronic form so that i have something to read while waiting, I just go to the NYT on my phone ... always something there. Of if I can't bear even to see the headlines, which happens a lot lately, I go to NYT games.

But a book itself is special, and should be given undivided attention. I feel the same way about film.

Growing up, my parents were very pro-book. Anywhere, anytime, they would always be up for buying us a book, entirely of our choice. We went to the library often. For our kids, our deal was that everyone always have a book on the go. When you finished it you started a new one. Any topic any format. We also had reading hours when the whole house was silent and you sat down with your book.

I like them for decor but you have to have enough of them. I Marie Kondo'd my collection and now it is too meager for impact. I donate my books.

I am always surpised what libraries accept as donations -- what a mess those bins can be!

Books have a sacred quality in my mind too. I read almost exclusively on my Kindle these days, but I still have two 8' bookshelves filled with favorites. I donated all my other books, but find I can't part with these. I feel much better about donating than I do tossing, and just can't be bothered reselling them. I've heard other people complain that they don't have places to donate books in their area, which is a shame. We have a really terrific nonprofit here that sends donations to South America when they aren't needed locally. I'll never forget reading "Leaving Microsoft to Change the World," which was filled with stories of book scarcity around the world.

I read constantly as a child. I asked my mother once if she knew I read under the covers with a flashlight. She said of course she knew,but there was no way she was going to discourage me from reading. There was an amazing bookstore that was in the same shopping center as a Mexican restaurant we liked. Such a treat to go there for dinner and then to buy books. And an ice cream cone after that!

I didn’t read much for pleasure in high school and college. Too much required reading! I picked it back up after I graduated. I had a pretty serious head injury (skiing accident) in 2019. It took me a long time to be able to read again, and for some reason I now only read my book clubs’ books. I’m in two, so It’s a decent amount but not as much as before.

I love books but read almost exclusively on my iPad with the kindle app.

I prefer to read a real book, but the Kindle is just too convenient. Especially when traveling. It's not practical to take actual books on vacation. And I always worried about finishing them all. So easy to just download something if I run out.

I am not the least bit emotional about books. I've donated/recycled many books in my time. Before Kindle, if I'm not passing it on, it got donated/recycled. There are a few exceptions, of course.

My in-laws have so many books. Their very long living room is lined with book shelves, and they are filled completely with books. And there are many other bookcases around the apartment all filled to the brim with books. No decor. My father-in-law collected books about art and architecture. It's going to be quite the chore to deal with that one day (father-in-law passed away 2 years ago; mother-in-law is 93).

I’ve enjoyed reading the many comments in this thread about our personal childhood reading experiences and the ways in which many of us currently enrich the lives of children by providing them with books. Both Elmer & I commented about the bright side of seeing children of all ages using our public libraries. Thinking about all this reminded me of another benefit for a child who learns to appreciate the value of reading at an early age. I think it’s their ability to use their imagination and learn how to visualize. That ability to visualize is so important to development of so many life skills.

@murraysmom, our library is funded by the local Shire Council (think ”county”), who call the shots where it comes to stocking the library and hiring the single librarian. Sadly, few of the Councillors are readers and they don’t really care much about the library.

I used to donate two monthly periodicals, National Geographic and Choice consumer magazine, as I knew they wouldn’t allocate funds for them and I thought others would benefit from having access to them. After nearly ten years of doing this, I went to the library to look up something in a back issue. I found about six random copies on the shelf and as the librarian wasn’t in no one could tell me where all the others were. I felt gutted. I felt that if they cared so little for my donation, that was the last copy of anything they would ever receive from me. Then it dawned on me that not once in all that time had the Council ever sent a letter to thank me for donating about $200 worth of magazines every year. Not a good look.

I don't have much shelf space and I usually don't keep books after I've read them, except for some rare old books and a few indie comics. We have a bookshelf in my building's basement laundry room and I often leave books there. Occasionally I'l leave a book that I've just finished on a public bench, like in a subway station, for someone else to find.

I'm also fortunate to live right next door to a very nice library. Whenever I read about a book that sounds interesting, often on Gardenweb, I request it over the internet and just pick it up there.

A friend of mine who has since passed had been an antique book dealer and also an artist. She used to create the most exquisite tiny fantasy dioramas using pages from old books.

Wow, can it really make sense to send something as heavy as physical books to South America, unless an shipping entity has donated the shipping costs? People like to donate things they longer need a lot more than just donating money, I get that, but I have been involved in a lot of misguided donation drives. As a result I am pretty direct about it.

As for the shire, is it really a $200 donation to drop off magazines after you've read them? Our local library does not generally keep out of date periodicals in physical form. They have subscriptions to the ones they find most in demand and just keep current issues out. They would not accept old magazines as a donation, and neither does the local thrift store. But maybe they should have at least told you to save you the effort!

Books were regular gifts as a child, and my mom still buys books for my kids--usually biographies of historical figures. When my youngest moved last year, he had more books than anything else. He uses public transportation, and we often meet along the train line for brunch--he always has a hard copy book in hand.

I spent too many years lugging college textbooks around, and about 10 years ago, stopped buying books, for the most part. My local library is 2 blocks away, so that's my resource. I'm one, too, who spends a lot of time on a screen, so I prefer hard-copy books at this point in my life. The only disadvantage to the library, for me, is that I don't feel pressure to finish books. It's too easy to return and find something else. Very low commitment. ;-)

We have a used bookstore in my downtown area, and it must be where people donate their unwanted books. The owner regularly has sales where you can fill up a paper bag of books for $20. I took part once, and that was enough for me to realize how easily I could rack up a collection again.

I had no idea about what to do with my life after high school, so I went right to work. When I was 37 I started college while working full time because I was finally ready and excited to do so. It took me six years. I graduated in 1994. I could have had a double major in English and Hstory, but didn't know that existed. It wasn't important anyway. But I kept every single book I used for every class and I have them on bookshelves upstairs in my house. With the English major, I have lots of books as you might expect. But the bonus History classes got me a lot of books I wouldn't have read on my own. Black History and Women in History classes got me lots of good books and I treasure them all. I am proud that I pursued my education and did it just to please myself. I had a good job and didn't need any classes for that purpose. It is just so satisfying and I am thankful for the experience.

I’ve always enjoyed reading, but never liked to own books, so I’m a library user. If I do buy a book (new or used) I pass it along once I have finished it. I offer it to my family, then my friends, and if no takers, I donate it to the library book sale (quite possibly where I bought it, the circle of life 📚).

My first choice is a physical book, but sometimes I can get a library e-book faster than waiting for the physical book. I’ll read those on my ipad. I don’t read on my phone, the screen is too small for reading things longer than a text. If I think I might have a wait at an appoitment, I’ll bring a physical book.

@mtnrdredux_gw, I was saving the Shire $200 per year on periodicals that they weren't budgeting for (they weren't budgeting for any). I get that not all of the magazines would be out on the shelf, but those that were on the shelf were not the most recent or even close to one another in date. They were totally random. And at any time, when I dropped off the magazines, the person accepting them could have said, "We're not accepting these any more" and I would have been fine with that.

Colleen- that must be so disappointing. Do your schools have libraries that the students can use?

FWIW, our public libraries here usually have a pile of donated magazines for patrons to take for free - in addition to the subscribed periodicals they keep in their reading room. They also have a little shop with donated books to buy for a pittance - I think many of those are donations too - the folks that manage that are called 'Friends of The Library'.

Hoopla, the digital app our library uses, has free access to many periodicals for library members.

And who else knows about Little Free Libraries? They're all over the place here and we have one in front of our rec center too. You put your unwanted books in them, and others can come and help themselves and leave their own books. Lots of folks create their own, but ours is purchased. We had a home made one but it disintegrated so they replaced it with the premade one.

My sister had one down the block from their house, and she and her kids made very good use of it.

P.S. I still can recall a marvelous dream when I was little - that I lived in a secret alcove in the children's section of our public library - hidden away between the stacks. That library was my favorite place in the world 🙂

Carol, there is a Little Free Library a few blocks from me. The family in whose yard it is has middle/high school students, and that’s the general genre of the books. They do turn over… I take a peek once in a while on my evening walks, and there are always new selections.

Little Free Libraries are all over the place here too. I may have already posted this, but my fave is this one, the same style as the house behind it. A little bell rings when the doors are opened. Wall sconces! A place to sit and read.

Bunny - that is the sweetest & cutest little library house I’ve ever seen!

Wow, Bunny, how awesome is that? We have them around here too. One does have a bench but I have never seen anyone sit there. Sometimes there is a request for books when one empties out.

There is one near my friend's house that a man who does fabulous wood work made. It's a different style than yours but definitely a well built neat house.

They really make a neighborhood feel friendly.

I see them around here too. OT, I read somewhere about a group that has rubber duck houses. Take a duck, leave a duck. Fun.

faftris, what a fun idea!! It's nice to see these things happening locally.

Books! My favorite thing! This won't be short:

Yes, my siblings and I were raised to treat books well -- never write in a book, use a bookmark instead of turning down corners, store them neatly on a bookshelf.

We grew up in an old farmhouse without AC, so we were always up early for chores -- and mid-day (when it was too hot to be outside) we laid in the extra-wide hallway with bookshelves on both sides and read. Mom took us to the library every Wednesday, and heaven help you if you lost a book -- she had a tote bag in the hallway where library books were to be stored.

No, I have never thrown away a book. I have copied the few recipes I wanted into my cookbook /donated the full-sized book to Goodwill, and I've given books to friends or take one /leave one libraries, but I've never sent a book to the landfill.

However, today I MUCH PREFER to read my Kindle rather than a book-book. Turns out what I actually love is reading /not collecting books.

Reasons I love my Kindle:

- I never in my life had enough bookshelves. My dad went under the house and added extra support for our bookshelves -- now I can hold over 6000 books in one hand. No need to dust them either.

- I love that I can carry all my books when I travel -- or when I'm just going to the doctor's office. It's easy /lightweight /fits in my purse.

- It's easier /lighter to hold my Kindle in one hand -- it doesn't try to close, as books do in those first /last chapters.

- I'm an English teacher with 30+ years in the classroom, and I'd like to think I have a good vocabulary, but I love that I can "touch" a word /see a definition. I've become more exact with my vocabulary.

- I have over 70 categories created in my Kindle, and it's easy to locate the book I want -- whereas books get lost all over the house.

- I like being able to change the font size -- very nice to "bump up" the size late at night when I'm tired.

- I love that the Kindle "holds my place", even if I'm reading something myself + I'm reading a novel with my grandson.

- I get quite a few free books, and I can borrow digital library books.

Having said that, I prefer DTBooks in a couple applications:

- A paper bible is superior for church -- I can't turn to a chapter /verse in my Kindle as fast as I can find it in the paper bible.

- How-to books (gardening or textbooks) are often inferior on the Kindle -- the pictures or sidebars often pop up on the next page, and it's confusing.

- I was disappointed in the only graphic novel I ever bought -- the lettering was too small /hard to read.

- Kindles are genuinely really, really excellent at one thing: Novels.

About a month or so ago I signed up for BookBub. I'd never heard of it and honestly don't even remember how I came across it. You tell them your email, and answer a few questions about what types of books you like to read. Each day I get an email with a short list of Kindle books that are discounted. Usually $1-$2. Some are free. I have downloaded so many books to my Kindle since I started getting these. I am somewhat recently retired and I'm going to have to start dedicating a couple hours per day to read.

I remember when Kindle was new and the price of a Kindle book was significantly less expensive than the paperback on A-zon. That is often not the case anymore.

I know there are free services to borrow electronic books but I don't want to have to read it by a certain date so I have not looked into those. Very happy to pay a little bit of money for books.

I love Kindle, because it is easier for me to read than an actual book. But I do miss turing the page.

I tried online books. I do not like!

I even prefer printing a recipe.

" I know there are free services to borrow electronic books but I don't want to have to read it by a certain date "

With OverDrive/Libby, Kindle users can avoid loan expirations by checking out several books, downloading them, and then turning off Wi-Fi. The Kindle can't connect to Home Base Central to verify due dates if Wifi is turned off, so the books will remain available beyond the loan period.

The tradeoff is that you can't download new library books on that device until Wi-Fi is turned back on, at which point expired loans are removed. Someone I know whose busy life doesn't allow periodic browsing to find books uses this approach. She sets aside time on one day and selects and downloads a good number of books all at once. Thus stocking up on books to read over the coming several months.

I've read you can do that (turn off wifi) but it feels wrong to me. Feels like cheating. I'd rather just pay for the books.

FWIW, I've been able to easily renew most e-books I have checked out from the library, except new releases, since there's usually a queue of folks waiting for those. I guess it depends on your library.

And people now do all kinds of mutual aid like the little free libraries nowadays - I've seen them for food and hygiene supplies as well.

No matter what, the loan expires in 3 weeks and becomes available for another person. In fact, doing it my way is being more considerate of others because renewing a book for an additional term denies its use to others.

My understanding of the library’s supply of ebooks is that they pay for X number of copies. Each copy that’s downloaded to a patron’s ereader is checked out. The library checks in back in on due date - whether the patron is finished with it or not. That makes that specific copy available to another patron. That’s why turning off WiFi to keep all my pile of downloaded books past some of the due dates wouldn’t feel ’right’ for me. I also strive to return my hard copy books by their due date. If no one else is in queue for that book, instead of an email reminder of my book’s due date I receive an auto renewed notice & I can keep it for another 3 weeks. I think I’m saying that I feel the same as @jsk does about that practice.

Mrs. Pete I so loved your description of your childhood in the farmhouse reading!

KW PNW, I seem to be missing what concern you and others have expressed but that's fine.

Your description of how Overdrive charges is roughly consistent with my understanding but I think there are a few wrinkles. I think there is a variable charge plan that libraries can pay to arrange in advance a high number of copies available (like a standby charge) at peak times (right after issuance for popular titles) that must scale back when an initial surge passes.

A recent example is the book Ironwood by Michael Connelly, released May 19th. The waitlist of my county's library for the audiobook was approaching 300 and they made available 58 copies. I was like 240, figured it would take a few months to work through. Fine with me, I have other books in my own queue. On about the 4th day, I got a message through the Libby app - "Psst, how would you like to jump the line and check out the book for 7 days?". Well, sure I would. I did, I read it in 3 days, and was a good citizen by returning it after I finished it, to shorten the wait for others.

The current list is 114 for 58 copies. In a few months, they won't need 58 copies and I don't believe they would have paid a full price for such a large number in perpetuity, knowing that the high demand after issuance would be fulfilled before year end. Similarly, Overdrive would rather offer customers a way to meet peak demand numbers (and earn more revenue it wouldn't otherwise have) without it being too expensive to do so.

Comparable numbers - LA Public Library has a waitlist of 703 people for 100 copies of the audiobook version, 1021 people waiting for 158 copies of the E-Book version. It similarly won't need so many copies once the initial surge passes.

Lastly, libraries don't seem as focused on enforcing timely returns as they once were. Maybe that's just in my area. My wife periodically checks out materials from a few different libraries and it seems they don't enforce due dates or impose late charges as they used to. Maybe I'm missing something. Perhaps use privileges are revoked for those who are chronically late, maybe even replacement cost fines are imposed too? I don't know, I don't spend time in that zone.

Elmer, My local libraries don’t charge late fees either. My bet is that’s standard library practice now. They do charge for lost books though. Damaged ones too. I know that from personal experience. My husband had an ovedue book that we looked high & low for around the house - couldn’t find it & so he told library he was sure he’d returned it. Library staffer was checking to see if he’d be asked to pay for book. They decided no payment.. We have a specific shelf in laundry room where all library books to be returned are placed. One day the floor cleaner hit something on the floor under that shelf. Investigation of blockage & voila’! That library book. Husband returned to library desk & handed it over so they could clear his record & resurrect the book record. Nice of him. Now my experience was different. I knocked a glass of red wine over the pages of a new Michael Connolley book. Oops. No hiding that damage even after mopping it up. When I returned the book I gave it to front desk & said I was willing to pay for book - assuming of course that they’d say not necessary. Imagine my surprise when they said great that’ll be $26. Wow! Not even a bulk purchase discount rate to pass along to me?

Back to the download ebook & turn off WiFi to prevent library from deleting a person’s copy on due date. My ’concern’ is that my guess is that practice keeps that copy out of circulation & slows down the ability of others to get the book. If a person is going to load up on books for an extended period of reading, the right thing to do is buy their own books. Otherwise they’re gaming the system.

Question about your experience with the Libby app - was there a charge for that ability to get the book sooner for a shorter period of time? I was wondering how the app determines which users in queue receive that offer & if it’s a revenue generator or simply a service to move the queue along faster by shortening it.

My library charges late fees. They’re nominal, but definitely a nuisance. It also doesn’t allow extensions of loans if the book or item has a waitlist. This makes sense—don’t borrow a book if you cannot finish it in a reasonable amount of time, when others can. This is just common courtesy.

The part of the 5 or 6 at once tale is that the person tends to take long vacations in remote, out of the way places reached by long plane flights. Internet availability can't always to be counted on. If the same person remained home during the same period and checked out the books one at a time, their "use" of the library's resources would be no greater a load.

You're concerned about turning off Wi-Fi, which simply results in a book remaining checked out for the normal three-week loan and makes it available to the next patron immediately thereafter. But not concerned about telling the library a book was returned when both the library's records and the patron know that perhaps isn't the case? And turned out to be not true?

There was no charge to "Jump the line." I believe the IT system is owned by and run by OverDrive and it handles checkouts, returns, holds, and content delivery for all its library customers (and by extension, for their library patrons). I suspect "Jump the line" is an optional feature libraries are asked if they wish to enable for some number of their available copies, to help manage and speed up long wait lists. In my case, the Jump offer was only a 7-day loan. I was given the option to keep my existing hold in place, which I did.

The reason why I think OverDrive operates the platform is how the Libby app works when one has multiple library cards. Account and PIN info for all of my many library cards have been entered in Libby. When entering card info, the app asks, "Do you have another card to enter?" When I search for a book, Libby shows which of my libraries have it. For ones with the book but also a hold line, the app shoes approximately how long the wait will be. That level of integration wouldn't be practical if every library ran a separate content system.

For those who think I'm exploiting a loophole, two additional points: first, in my state, libraries that receive state funding must offer full-privilege library cards to any state resident who requests one. Most libraries do use state funding so many cards can be obtained. I have a card for most of the larger library systems. Most keep a lid on how many they issue by requiring applicants to show up in person when applying. No problem for me, I've always been one to roam around my state and the large, major libraries are also the places one is likely to visit or pass through. Second, I also pay for an Audible membership. No free lunches, I'm not getting anything I haven't paid for one way (taxes) or the other (subscription fees).

What kind of people don't just follow the simple rules that they agreed to, that other users follow, who think they've found a loophole because they are "special," whether it inconveniences others or not? On full display right here.

Elmer -

You said to me “You're concerned about turning off Wi-Fi, which simply results in a book remaining checked out for the normal three-week loan and makes it available to the next patron immediately thereafter.“ I said I thought doing this kept that one copy out of circulation until the library could access that customer’s copy to delete it from their e-reader via WiFi. Maybe it doesn’t but then why would libraries delete a person’s copy if they don’t ”need it back on their virtual shelf”?

You also said ”But not concerned about telling the library a book was returned when both the library's records and the patron know that perhaps isn't the case? And turned out to be not true?” My point was that we were certain that we had indeed returned that book as we have a set process for storing books to be returned. So we did not know the book hadn’t been returned. When we very unexpectedly found the book, instead of saying oh well, library isn’t charging us, my husband turned the book in & owned up to what had happened. I fail to see how a person can find fault with that.

KW PNW, I sent you a message responding to your most recent comment.