Public Libraries

[shaneystar]

I use my library all the time and we have a superb library service here in Norfolk.Do others use their local library or does everyone buy books these days.Of course people have to have books for studies and so on which they would tend to buy...but for general reading,fiction and so forth would you borrow from the library or buy a book ?

[Piper-AK]

I tend to get my books wherever I find them - Library or shop.   My house would feel naked without creaking, overloaded bookshelves all over the place.  I use my library all the time too, though.  I just love reading!  I'm not sure if I prefer to borrow or buy - but if I buy, I will have it to read whenever I want to, or to lend to people, so on the whole, I'm probably a buyer. 

[mycatis]

I use charity shops, car boot sales, proper bookshops, anything to get my hands on books. I love reading, but I also love books (hope that makes sense)  I do use my local library but to be honest it's pretty rubbish, not a good selection at all. Though I have borrowed books from there then gone on to buy them if I like them.

[Glossopswift]

Our public library (Derbyshire Libraries) gets battered for kids books every week by the little Swifts. I usually get my novels from car boots, charity shops or pressies and the public library is useful when you�ve got the first book in a series and can�t be bothered to find/buy the rest in that series. Both Manchester and Derbyshire have their catalogues online and with Derbyshire you can reserve books from the comfort of your pc. I also use Manchester Central Library as that has some excellent collections (language and literature, Art). Public libraries are also great for CD, DVD and video borrowing too. Manchester libraries DVDs cost �1 for a week!

[shaneystar]

Thanks for your replies.I know what you mean about groaning bookshelves piper-AK !
Since retiring I have given up buying a lot books and only buy reference books or books on subjects that I have a particular interest in. To feed my murder mystery fetish I now reserve these from the library.
Like you Glossopswift Norfolk County Council have their whole catalogue on line and I love to browse through the Fantastic Fiction website to see what's new and reserve it from the library for a small fee.
Charity shops and car boots are great for picking up books mycatis and I have often come across some gems.
Having said that since we moved here two years ago we still have boxfuls of books in the loft which we haven't unpacked yet !

[Glossopswift]

Tell me about it, Shaney! We were really ruthless a few months ago and got rid of about a quarter of our book collection (some 300 books) and took them to a car boot in August. We sold about half so I still have boxes in the shed that I really should get round to taking down to the charity shop. I ought to declare my bias towards libraries � I graduated as a librarian and still work in a related information role, but I have never worked in the public library sector. We all show solidarity to each other!

[kaktus]

Both. I live in Copenhagen so I close to all the biggest libraries in Denmark, but I love to browse bookshops. I have way too many books for my apartment and at this point some of them are stacked beside the bookcases because they're a bit too stressed, it's not very neat... I'm a student, so I don't buy as many books as I did when I worked in a bookshop, but I just have to own some books. Like you shaney the library mostly takes care of my crime fetish, but then when I see a new book from one of my favourite authors and it isn't in library yet...

All in all it depends on which author, how old the book is and how much money I got...

 

ps. when I was kid the libraries were heaven, all those books waiting to be read!

[kaktus]

Lots of words missing from my post, I'm sure it's AB's fault not mine... ;0)

[shaneystar]

Wonderful wonderful Copenhagen.!! So the song goes.Spent a weekend there many years ago when we lived in Norway.Lovely city. Yes sometimes it dificult to get a book kaktus . And ...scandavian crime fiction is becoming the new genre.I have had difficulty getting books by Henning Mankell, Karin Fossum and Arnaldur Indridson.I suppose because it takes a long time to translate them into English.This is when I give in and end up buying the book !!

[Guinevere]

I have just started using the local library again due to financial constraints and lack of space on the bookshelves!  I didn't even think to look if they have online catalogue - they do, so I'm going to check that out now!
It's so nice to hear from people who really love their books as well!  I find it so strange visiting someone's house and they have no books!

[mimififi]

I homeschool my kids are we would be just lost without books. As it is I have a whole house full of books, which is the bain of my hubby's life. I swear everyday that I'm gonna get rid of all books that I don't love and re-read and only use the library, but I just find book shops just tooooo tempting and I have very little self control.
I buy loads of books from charity shops, esp the really old ladybird books because my tinies just love the pictures in books like Wise Robin and Beaky the Greedy duck and all the 1970's talk about books....Great stuff. I hate the modern reprints.
I am also teaching the children how to use the reference library at the library too because not only is all the microfilm just so cool, with the infiltration of the internet into everywalk of our life, kids are growing up not knowing how to use a research library and expecting the answers to their questions to just appear at the touch of a google button. Research is a dying art and something that kids then have to learn when at uni...There is also the whole newspaper archive at the library that is so cool and the local history section. Wickid! SOme kids these days don't even kknow how to use a set of encyclopeadias. (and I don't know how to spell it...!)
So, I guess Im an all rounder, but my kids beg every wekk for library day and the day we are too busy to go they moan and whine like billy-oh.

[kaktus]

Thanks shaney I do love "my" city! I'm glad you had a good time when you and your husband were here.

 I think especially the Swedish crime authors are excellent, my newest hooby is to re-read many of them in Swedish so I can get a bigger Swedish vocabulary, so I can understand more when I visit my boyfriends family and sits there as the lone Dane. :0) My favourite authors by the way is Sj�wahl og Wahl��, can most definitely be recommended to those who like crime fiction.

mimififi the encyclopedia problems reminds me of when I worked in the bookshop. At that time the new Danish encyclopedia was being released and every month a new volume would come out. Encyclopedia is a mean word to say in Danish and it was quite funny when both customers and newshop assistants had to say it because we all look like we could use a trip to a speech therapist. One colleague had to say it in French otherwise she couldn't get it over her lips.

BTW shaney, where did you live in Norway?

[lindapinda]

Like the rest of you,mostly get my books from,either library or charity shops.I believe we should all use our libraries as much as possible,cos those that have a generally low,usage,are in danger of being closed permanently. Until we got our laptop,I was always using computer facilities too. I never order books though,I just go and see what takes my fancy that day,serendipity rules!!

[shaneystar]

Hi again kaktus
We used to live in Stavanger.Spent two years there.Lovely place but I never got used to the early dark days in winter and the fact that it never got really dark in summer !! We did a lot of travelling around while we there.The fjords are beautiful and we visited Bergen and Oslo.Lovely country.

[shaneystar]

Thank you all once again for your interest in this thread.
I am a great believer in that great institution ,the Public Library, and have been using them since I started out on Janet and John books !! And these days they offer so much.As you say Lindapinda computer access,films music and so on.
And you are right Guinevere I cannot imagine a house without books.
When we viewed the house we live in now there was not a book to be seen in fact it was very minimal.I dread to think what the previous owner would say now if she could see our tottering bookshelves!!

[lindapinda]

Bless those tottering bookshelves,shaneystar,quite a comforting image there!

[lissyl78]

Hey Shaneystar - I'm from Norwich! Where you from? x

[shaneystar]

Hi lissyl78
We live in Gorleston. We moved back here from London when Mr.S retired. I was amazed to find this great library service.Even my library back in Wimbledon didn't have half as much on offer as they do here.

[kaktus]

Norway is such a beautiful country. I'm used to the very dark winters and very looong summerdays, but last summer I went to Troms� that took a bit getting used to, but lovely it was. I've always thought that the guy getting a prize for Norway in "hitchhiker's guide" deserved it very much :0)