Libraries vs book stores

Jugglers buys balls.....

saliotthomas said:

Jugglers buys balls.....

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People who like balls don't... Unless they have too


I hate both book stores and libraries equally.

Libraries because I'd rather own the book, and both because I hate digging through 1000s of books with no idea where I should be looking, and them usually not having what I'm looking for anyway.

I buy everything online. The worlds biggest (bestest) book store! And the cheapest too.. usually.

I prefer libraries - cheaper, and I don't get irritated if I borrow something I don't like. I do still buy the occasional book, usually if it's part of a series I'm collecting, or an author that I like.

Libraries are vastly superior to any bookstore. Libraries have books that are out of print, rare, or even books that a person just wouldn't find in a bookstore.
A good example of this is a text I just picked up today. "Migration of Contaminants from Buried Oil-and-Gas Drilling Fluids Within the Glacial Sediments of North-Central North Dakota." I assure you that it's a compelling read and the character development and plot are unlike anything else you'll ever read.
Bookstores have new books. Gross. I don't want to have a virgin book, so unexperienced to the touch of human hands. I need something that's had its spine broken and becomes a two-bit whore-of-a-book. Something I can pick up at a booksale or second-hand store for a dollar. A "she'll do for now" kind of attitude toward it is always necessary.
Why buy the cow when you can get the beef when the farmer is done with her for a fraction of the cost? Or better yet, why buy either when the local butcher gives the meat away for free or a minimal fee?

Thumbs up to libraries and thumbs down to bookstores.

blurricus said:

Libraries are vastly superior to any bookstore. Libraries have books that are out of print, rare, or even books that a person just wouldn't find in a bookstore.
A good example of this is a text I just picked up today. "Migration of Contaminants from Buried Oil-and-Gas Drilling Fluids Within the Glacial Sediments of North-Central North Dakota." I assure you that it's a compelling read and the character development and plot are unlike anything else you'll ever read.
Bookstores have new books. Gross. I don't want to have a virgin book, so unexperienced to the touch of human hands. I need something that's had its spine broken and becomes a two-bit whore-of-a-book. Something I can pick up at a booksale or second-hand store for a dollar. A "she'll do for now" kind of attitude toward it is always necessary.
Why buy the cow when you can get the beef when the farmer is done with her for a fraction of the cost? Or better yet, why buy either when the local butcher gives the meat away for free or a minimal fee?

Thumbs up to libraries and thumbs down to bookstores.

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Well played.

I'm a terminal skinflint, so I'd love to get my books from libraries. However, all the libraries in my neck of the woods cater for the low-brow only. I swear that 50% of all the novels they have are by Danielle Steele. Besides, I like having a well stocked library I can dip into when the mood strikes.

it's just nice to own the book.. but libraries are great too, don't get me wrong!!

jbcohen said:

Ok, a friend asked me this question and I am curious what you all think. If there are public libraries just about everywhere why would one ever need to go to a book store? Why pay for a novel when you can read it for free?

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Because only the poor use the library.

Our public library has seven branches located in three counties, which makes it nearly impossible for me to get the book I want when I want to read it. It's easier just to order a copy and have it delivered to the house so it's on the shelf when I want it.

I borrow books and only buy the ones i want to keep so that i can pass them on when i have children later on in life. The most annoying thing about libraries is that you go there and find a book that you really enjoy, you then discover that it is the first of a series so you go back to the library to borrow the following books in the series only to find that they have the first book and the fourth book of the series but not the ones in between.

So while libraries are pretty good i think having a personal book collection that you can pass on or lend to friends is better than just borrowing books. But because i am currently a student it is far too expensive to buy every book that i read (also i don't want to keep every book i read, some i don't even finish after borrowing).

Long-term relationships rather than one-night stands

Guess I'm more into long-term relationships than one-night stands. And yes, the more long-term relationships the better.

But seriously, there is a place for both libraries and shops in the life of every book lover. Each to their own.

For libraries, I love the fact that you can get the large reference books out to browse through at your leisure, that you can get a great selection of (classic, not new release) CDs & DVDs and that you can even borrow pictures to hang on your wall (haven't indulged myself with this yet). However, when it comes to fiction, I find myself drawn towards only borrowing new books!! I agree fundamentally with the sentiment expressed in a number of the other posts, libraries allow you to sample for free but if you're seriously taken with something you need to own it.

I really have an obsession with possession (of books), owning the story or other material that they contain, having it at your beck-and-call 24 hours a day, every day of your life. Knowing you can pick it up at breakfast, lunch or lavatory time (sorry) and flick through to any page you want and devour the words strung to a symphony of story.

And I'm gonna keep buying until some sterile bank manager, who hasn't even heard of, don't mind read Carver or Dickens or Maugham or Munroe says the money is all the gone!!

Bart.

joderu95 said:

Because only the poor use the library.

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How about 'try before you buy'?

I'll accept that notion although I may not follow it. I kind of like taking the chance when I buy the book that is just might suck. That has certainly happened in the past and it will surely happen again. It is kind of like how you can preview an entire album now before you buy it. I do kind of appreciate this feature of the Information Age but then again music and books do not compare perfectly. I have yet to read any book twice but listen to my music over and over again. I guess I'll finish with this - buying a book that turns out to be worthwhile is a much stronger feeling of reward than is the feeling of disappointment from reading one I wish I would have previewed through the local library first.

Besides I may not be able to finish Animal Farm in three weeks.

I like to buy my books, so if it is a rainy day, and all I want to do is read a good book, I already have it in my home. I consider a library to be a place where I go for stuff with school, or if a friend has recommended a book, but I do not have enough money, then I would go to the library and read it there. I have only been to a library for school reasons for about the past eight years though. I have been buying too many good books!

I wish I had a library with thousands and thousands of english books to choose from....but I am stuck with french, so I end up buying anyways. Like angerball said it would be nice to try before you buy

Libra said:

I wish I had a library with thousands and thousands of english books to choose from....but I am stuck with french, so I end up buying anyways. Like angerball said it would be nice to try before you buy

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Try before you buy is good! I like to go the library for books I'm not sure I'll like.

Robert said:

Try before you buy is good! I like to go the library for books I'm not sure I'll like.

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Agreed! I've especially been doing this with romance novels. Too many bad purchases force me to these actions. Why waste money on bad books when I can save them for ones that I know that I will re-read?

I check out anything I can from the library. The expense, space, and waste of having shelves upon shevles crammed with books I won't read again makes this necessary. Unfortunately, I read a lot of obscure books on philosophy and other such brain rotting topics that no library in their right mind would carry. So I end up buying more than I want anyway. But whatever I can checkout, I do.

According to Bacon, "some books are to be tasted, others swallowed and some few to be chewed and digested". Thus, the Library serves to provide books of the first two sorts, those that I merely want to taste and sample. Books that may be a good read, but not necessarily momentous. Ah, but then there are those few books, those rare morsels which simply begged to be ravenously devoured, bit by bit, until there is nothing left! These I must have and own, that I can enjoy their substance for the rest of my years on earth!

Hence, its more than just "try before you buy" with me. Only the best books will make it to my shelf, the ones which I will re-read or want to pass down to my progeny someday. My personal library is too important to be stuffed full of trifles...after all, where would I put all my comic books?

Sometimes its just better to get that new book feeling! It may just be easier to find a book in a bookstore too. But a library is just as good...due to the free!