“Our New Bookstore is the Library”

We consider the library (also within walking distance) as an extension of our home.

The best part is having a paid staff to store, organize, and maintain our inventory!

I wholeheartedly agree! I’m someone who loves to read but generally doesnt read the same text twice (barring my favs and how to books.) I hated the thought of books just sitting dusty and lonely on a shelf so I stopped buying and began borrowing. Patronize your local library everyone! When consumption goes up, more funds are funneled to the library system allowing it to bring in more reading/music and DVD/ and language learning materials. Most systems offer free events for kids as well as free computer training classes. I love libraries

I am a huge fan of my public library. I have to walk past it almost every day to get to work. Besides books they have an excellent DVD collection. I used to spend a ton of money on books.

Mr Chiot’s and I are HUGE library fans. We most of our DVD’s and books from them. Mr Chiot’s listens to books on CD while he works. We always say we’re getting good money from our tax dollars this way.

I still buy an occational books, especially one that I’ve checked out and renewed multiple times from the library. It provides a great way to try before you buy though. Sometimes I think I want to buy a book, but when I get it from the library I realize it’s not all that great.

It’s not quite within walking distance for us (8 miles each way), so we maximize our trips by heading in to town for the bank, post office and library runs all at once.

I use the heck out of my local library.I can order any book in the Phoenix library system via the Internet. I’m a book hound. It saves me a bunch of money; that and avoiding the book aisle at Costco…the most dangerous place there for me. The downside to the library is that I live in a very “interesting” neighborhood and the people who gather on the walkway can be scary. I’ve only been accosted a couple of times, but it still limits the times that I’m willing to go to the library. Even though I could walk or ride my bike there, I take my car for safety reasons.

I have to say I’ve had some difficult thoughts about you, J.D., since you admitted the other day that you give very little to charity. (Though I do appreciate your honesty.) After all, what has been one of the great traditions of wealth in our country if not philanthropy? May I suggest, since you do not have a religious commitment, that you consider the local library a good place to start? Andrew Carnegie thought it was.

Oh, I love my library! Because it’s right next to my son’s school I have to go by it every weekday and can walk there. We often go over after school. (They know me and I know most of them by name.)

I am my friends’ (boyfriend’s, mum’s…) library and they are mine. Sometimes I lend and sometimes I give them books. It’s much more fun.
But then, I work in publishing and I find it important to support publishers, especially the small ones.

My family also loves the library.

In our town, the “Friends of the Library” accept donated books, which are sold in enormous book sales held twice a year. Books sell for $1 (50 cents for paperback). We load up on books at the sales, and donate them back to the FOTL when we are through. The book sale proceeds fund special events like storytellers for the kids and museum passes. What a win/win situation!

I grew up going to the library weekly with my Dad, and yet as a young professional I felt a compulsion to “own” and “collect” all my books. Finally this year when I hired an organizer, and realized I live in a NYC apartment with four six-foot tall bookshelves overflowing (including many books I hadn’t yet read!!), I had to put a stop to it and become a library user again!

This year I have also gotten serious about my finances, and I cannot tell you how great its been when I take a hardcover book from the library, realize I don’t like it, and don’t have to feel guilty about what I spent on it!!! I can take out as many murder mysteries as I want and not feel bad that I will never read them again!

I have a library reserve list, and when things become free they e-mail me and I pick them up – its like shopping, only free!

And I have compromised with myself that when I take something out, read it, and really love it, I buy myself a copy (used if possible).

Its been great for clutter, great for my budget, and the weekly trip on Saturdays (or Tuesday nights after work) has brought back many memories of my weekly trips with Dad.

Yay Brooklyn library!
http://www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org

I love the library! I have donated books, but the volunteers grab all the good ones before the sales and sell them themselves. I’ve seen it repeatedly over the years. So, it’s not so good to donate in my neighborhood- a real shame…..

Interlibrary loan is a real blessing, they get anything I want. And it’s a safe place to go.

I’ve found that a good way to get into the library habit is to use their website to order books that you’re interested in. Often when I see an interview with an author or read a review, I’ll put it on hold. Sometimes new/popular books take a while to come in, but then when I get the notice, it’s almost like a surprise gift to myself from the past. And when you go in to pick up your hold(s), you get a bunch of other stuff that looks interesting that you wouldn’t have thought of. Or at least that’s what happens to me.

Unfortunately I live far away from the library. But I compensate with e-books, many can be downloaded for free or peanuts and, on my phone, they are convenient to read to.

I’m a professional librarian, and it’s a joy to read so many positive comments about libraries. It’s been demonstrated that public library use goes up during economic downturns.

Beyond professional pride, I always encourage people to use your libraries–your taxes pay for them, they’re there for you.

(Btw, Lily, do you have any idea how much libraries buy? Mine spends a million dollars a year on books, and we’re SMALL.)

The library isn’t free! Everything in there was paid for by someone, whether by you or your fellow taxpayers. Even books that are donated by authors or manufacturers had SOME cost along the line that was paid by someone.

Maybe we should say, “we have access to a bookstore that we’ve already paid for.”

I agree with some previous comments. I have this vision of owning a wood-floored, tall-walled library with a fire place. This image has lead me to purchasing books that I enjoy and wouldn’t mind reading again. My collection is no where near where I would like it to be, but it’s getting there. I don’t, however, purchase magazines. I haven’t really fallen for that niche, but I’m sure that all publications are available for free at the library.

Caleb
http://www.mefinanciallyfree.blogspot.com

I also have a public library within about a 30-minute walk or 5-minute drive, but I save the time and get the exercise by making it about a 12-minute bike ride. Considering a hip that sometimes give me trouble, this is a fine alternative for me.

A few years ago I sat down to track my spending and realized I was going crazy with the books. Plus I’m still in an apartment and it is getting nuts to move 20 boxes of books every few years! Plus I’m a five minute block from a great local library. I love the library.

If I read something I must own, I post a wish request on PaperbackSwap.com — not only do I get credits when someone requests a book I don’t have, but books come free in the mail (the only cost is postage). I can’t recommend it enough!!

I enjoy using our local public library to access a wide variety of books for my young boys; we have quite a collection of books at home as well however the majority of books come from the public library – I might as well see where my taxes go! I don’t feel guilty about bringing twenty books home and reading them at night to the boys. The ones that visually enticed us with their cover art but turned out to be flops are easily returned the next day . . . the ones with great story lines stick around for a few more days and then we check for other books by the same author!

On a separate note, San Juan Island is absolutely beautiful! I included a link (http://www.mayaswhalewatch.biz/) for the whale-watching boat tour I took a couple of years ago with my dentist and some other acquaintances; I have some phenomenal photographs and memories of this trip. I’m curious if you took a boat tour to see the Orca pods while you were in the area?

I use the bookburro firefox extension. When you’re viewing books to buy on Amazon.com etc. it places a drop down menu for you to click on, then a list of which libraries in your area have the book. Totally awesome.

I visit my two local libraries almost weekly. I get all of my books from one or the other. I use an amazing little application for the Mac called “Library Books” to keep track of which books I have out and when they are due. I use another Mac app called “Delicious Library” to keep track of books I have read and books I want to pick up. I have donated almost all of my personal books to one of the libraries, which they sell in their little bookstore.

I used to spend an inordinate amount of time at the library. I’ve cut back on my “surf the library” time, but not my library checking out. Our library system allows you to reserve any book/dvd/cd in the system and have it held for you at your local branch. So what I do when surfing or reading my RSS feeds is keep a page open to my library handy, and search for and reserve any book I come across that sounds interesting. Every week or so I go pick up the handful of books I’ve reserved, and once I have them home I skim them at my leisure to see if I really want to read them.
This has saved me a fair bit of money in not buying books for research/writing projects that would’ve otherwise not had enough information. To be sure if I’m going to be using a book extensively in a project I’ll still go buy it, but this has kept me from buying half a dozen books that seemed good on first glance, but didn’t cut it. My order is generally Library first, then if time/gas will permit a trip up to my local used book store I purchase from there (inventory permitting), and if I can’t find it there I then turn to my former employer Amazon.com.

The main thing this has saved me from spending money on is novels and graphic novels. If I find a book I’d like to re-read I try and hunt it down at the used book store, or a paperback from Amazon, but for the plethora of books I enjoy, but don’t need to own, my library is my friend. It’s also a great resource for audiobooks. I love the TWiT podcasts, and keep wanting to support them and get an audible account, but 80% of the time if I want an audiobook I can get it from my library and until I start really bumping up against their inventory ceiling I just can’t justify spending the cash each month.

I’ve also had an addiction to buying books. I love finding a bargain at the used book store and the thrift stores. I enjoy reading and having the books available at home, but I’ve come to re-discover the library and am using that as a way to cut some of my expenses and also am slowly selling some of my books to clear some clutter. You can check out movies and we’ve been able to watch a few classics without costing any money. I think what I appreciate most is reading up on some of the personal finance books and not spending any money if I don’t happen to value one book over the other. So far, the only book I’ve purchased is Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover.

I absolutely agree with Rachel. I re-discovered the library this summer while there with kids I was nannying for. I get the same benefit as retail therapy, and buying something for my closet really doesn’t open my mind the way reading does:)