Do you think you would be more well read if you didn't go to the library?

[Old Dominion Heather]

Here is my late night question (and then I am off to bed.)

 

After my (horrific) experience(for anyone who hasn't heard) at the library last week:glare:, I have not been back. I just can't go in there without having to try to keep from openly displaying my gag reflex... and really, I am a bit of a germaphobe... just a bit.

 

I was thinking about how the wealthy in previous centuries had a family library that was passed down from generation to generation, and also thinking how much less "fluff" there was out there to read at that point.

 

Now don't get me wrong, I am not anti-fluff. Fluff is relaxing, fluff is nice, fluff is available in great abundance at my local (nasty, dirty) library:nopity:. There is room in my heart for fluff. But, since the library now triggers my gag reflex:ack2:, I have been thinking about how much less fluff my kids are reading because they haven't been back to the library since. I don't purchase fluff, and I am willing to mooch (or purchase) good books for them to read.

 

The boys and I will read whatever is available, from literature to the back of a cereal box, if that is all there is. If there is no fluff, I can see that we would be forced to improve our reading, simply from an economic standpoint.

 

So the burning question: Are public libraries the root of all evil? Should we stamp them out in an effort to force the masses to purchase good books? :smash: We could at least keep the books free from bodily fluids.

 

Please, understand that I am (mostly) joking here. Really. (except for the gag reflex part)

 

Really though, has anyone here stopped using the library? How has that affected your life and how do you make up for the books, particularly non-fiction?

[j.griff]

I read online. A lot. :D I am :lol: at your post though, thanks for the cheer before bed.

[OnTheBrink]

If I didn't use the library, I'd spend more money at Barnes and Noble, thereby decreasing our grocery budget significantly.

 

Hey, wait. If I reduced the grocery budget significantly, I'd be thinner.

 

It's all the library's fault I'm fat. Ha! I now have someone to blame!

[Vida Winter]

especially for the kids. But I also enjoy my own home library and have been reading more of the classics because I have no room on my shelves for fluff. Our town library is not very big, and not open many hours. I never have time to finish books I check out, anyway. I much prefer to own my books if possible.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I think that in the last eighteen months I've checked out around 1000 books. A good number of these were fluff. But a lot were non-fiction, politics, homeschooling support, education theory and religion. Books that I probably would have either spent a lot of money on or had to go without. Some were lovely books that I wouldn't even have discovered without the library.

We do have a major home library. But I love the library too. Three years with very limited access to English books makes me really appreciate this.

But I would be creeped out by your experience too.

[Shelly in VA]

I love that!! You made me laugh. I think the library keeps me from cleaning my house, too - you know, all that time I have to spend checking to see what's due, finding the books, driving there to return them or pick up requests...

 

We are fortunate to live VERY near a decent library, but I have gradually started to use the library ONLY for fluff reading. For instance, dd6 is in a Magic Tree House phase, and while we own about a dozen of the books, I don't feel the need to spend $$ on all 40 titles, so I'm thankful she can feed her reading frenzy at the library! It isn't as if she'll re-read these when she's 14.

 

I sometimes check out a book if I am trying to decide whether or not to buy it.

 

But when it comes to books for school, I don't like the extra aggravation of having to make sure the title is available when I need it. I used to use the library more for school books, but as life has gotten more hectic, that has become unrealistic. I like having quality books around, available whenever someone wants/needs to look at them.

 

Hope that makes sense... it's awfully late here, and I may be incoherently typing!

 

Shelly

[Ravin]

Most people already don't read many books at all. Go to Wal-Mart and see what books are for sale. Harlequin novels are about a third of it. Ugh. Fluff devotional books make up a big percentage, and how-to guides for idiots and dummies...

 

At least you can FIND good books along with the fluff at the library. They're free, and frankly you don't know where the book at the bookstore's been, either. People have handled it, it's not pristine.

 

If you're worried about germs, use hand sanitizer or something.

 

Rich families had libraries. Poor families had maybe one or two books besides a Bible, if that. Many simply couldn't read. Public libraries were founded to make good books available to the masses.

[Nestof3]

I own a TON of books and still rent alot. Germs are everywhere so I don't get too worked up about that.

[Crissy]

 

At least you can FIND good books along with the fluff at the library.

If you're worried about germs, use hand sanitizer or something.

 

 

So true. The state of our bookstores these days is so sad. And I recently heard that Borders has plans to reduce their stock further so they can display books with the covers facing out. :confused:

[Peek a Boo]

I love teh library, but am horrible at returning or renewing them. If it's in my possession, then well, it's mine, lol.

 

I LOVE the library in Waxahachie, but the fines there are EXpenSIVE, so we only go a few times a year. Every few months seems to be enough to feed our "what else is out there" seasons.

 

Our little library here in town has about as many books as i do at home, and the selection isn't that great. i just joined the library board, so I hope to see what i can DO to make it better. wish me luck ;)

 

But like j.griff, we read online A LOT. And i build my library from used curriculum sales, amazon used, thrift stores, library sales, and super great sales elsewhere.

 

Do I think I would be more well read if I didn't go to the library?

nope. i don't think one necessitates the other :)

[dangermom]

I have to say that I have probably learned more from library books than anything else, ever. (Of course, I'm a librarian, and I tend to spend more time than most people in a library...) My very favorite thing is to wander the non-fiction shelves and pick up random books that look interesting. I've learned much more history, geography, and so on that way than I did in school.

 

In fact I worked for a few hours this evening as an emergency sub and picked up a book on the Taj Mahal, one on India, one of classical stories and one of medieval stories. And a Ngaio Marsh mystery! I need a little fluff.

 

Lately I've been checking out a lot of poetry collections as well as some excellent high fantasy--I just discovered Brandon Sanderson. I also tracked down a book called "The Young Lady's Friend," which was quoted last year by SWB in a seminar. I loved the quotation ("Self-education begins where school education ends, and it is the duty of every woman to educate her mind.") and looked for the book. Yay ILL!

 

I also appreciate the opportunity to let my kids read every Magic Tree House and My Secret Unicorn book without having to buy them! That way I save my money for books that we really want to keep forever. Still, most of our books come from the library (and our house is overflowing with our books).

 

Whatever you're looking for at the library, you will probably find it (bookwise, not disgusting finds-wise). I bet that if you set a goal to get, say, 3 solid good books next time you go, you will find them easily--just don't hit the mystery section until after you've found them.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Using the library is how I am able to homeschool my kids with the wealth of good in-depth living books that we use. I go to the library 2x a week. Each time I take a wheeled suitcase. Almost every time we leave the library with a full suitcase. Yes, there is some fluff in there: some Mickey Mouse comics for the kids, some silly picture books, easy reading mystery "cozies" for me. But yesterday we picked up 10 books on Ancient Greece, some books we are using for art and some cook-books on a subject I'm researching for myself. There is no way I could afford to buy all those books!

[freethinkermom]

I just want to say that you are not the only one that gets germaphobia thinking about the library.

 

We have had a couple of incidents in the last year that have made us feel uncomfortable safety-wise at both of our local libraries. Combine that with DH's severe allergy to the mold that causes the musty smell in books, and you get a family that buys new or gets e-books online.

 

 

We have been reading e-books on our PDA's for years. Trust me we read plenty of fluff that we own :) I am upgrading from a Palm pda (screen is dying) to a Sony Reader Digital Book next month for Mother's Day. If I like it we will get DH one for Father's Day.

[Kate CA]

I own a TON of books and still rent alot. Germs are everywhere so I don't get too worked up about that.

 

Not the kind of germs she encountered!! If you have not read the post she linked to above then when you might do it. What she encountered was seriously disturbing. I would probably never go back to that library if I was her. :ack2:

[pixelroper]

So true. The state of our bookstores these days is so sad. And I recently heard that Borders has plans to reduce their stock further so they can display books with the covers facing out. :confused:

 

 

But you can't judge a book by its cover! :eek:

 

 

[unless its fabulous cover has been recently released and it is written by SWB, can't wait to read! :D]

[pixelroper]

On a serious note.... for SoTW1&2 I was lucky to find one book in our library district from a chapter's list in the AG. I expanded my search & joined the library in the next county over and had a teeny weeny bit more luck. Now the library has gone co-op and I'm getting a healthy stack of books but I have to reserve them a month ahead to make sure they are here when we need them. UGH.

 

So now thanks to your story which dredged up from my memory all the traumas I witnessed working in my campus library...I too, am questioning the state of libraries these days. Sterilizing every book just won't fit into my schedule, **sigh**

[readwithem]

:biggrinjester:

[Sue G in PA]

I love books...good books. For our home library...I refuse to buy "fluff" books. I want good literature, worthy children's books, etc. on our shelves for the dc to choose from, KWIM? The library is where I let the dc choose the "fluff" occasionally to read at night before bed. So, b/c I'm so choosy about our own personal library of books, I don't mind the "fluff" from the library. Books today just aren't what they used to be. AND, I couldn't get by w/out our local library...too expensive to buy all the books we would need for school, KWIM? I do hear you re: the "fluff", don't get me wrong! There is a lot of it there. I'd just rather it be THERE than cluttering up my shelves HERE!

[Peela]

I avoid a lot of fluff by ordering all my library books online. I rarely browse in the library. I spend a lot of time online, and I pick up book recommendations, and I see if my library system has the book or can get it through ILL. Then I duck into the library on my way home from shopping, and park in the 15 minutes parking zone, and return books and pick up a new bunch. The librarians only see me coming now and scuttle to the reserved book shelf for my latest orders.

This system has the disadvantage that my children do not often browse the library. However, it has the advantage that I bring home to the poor,book starved waifs wonderful literature that has been through the mummy filter. Even at their ages. They haven't complained yet....of course, if they have requests, because of friends' recommendations or whatever, I usually comply.

[In The Great White North]

Our library is on the small side (but very clean!) and feels the need to update their collection way too often. As a result, most of their fiction is fluff. It does have a decent collection of children's non-fiction, which would cost us dearly if we had to buy!

 

I thought inter-library loan was wonderful when I first discovered it. Apparently, there is a "state library" which hasn't been updated in generations! (I want to be at that library sale!):001_smile: I've gotten books from hundreds of miles away.

 

Lately though, it's fallen down on the job. Books can take a month or two to arrive and I've requested several books that have never come at all.

 

We get an incredible amount of good books at the dump. Years ago, a fourth grade project created a "book shed." People bring the books they don't want and I get to take home the ones I want. Life is good.

 

I started building our library when the first dc was born and now I have almost as many as the library!

[Punkinelly]

I buy used books online and at a used book store, so they are germy too, right? Guess I don't care! LOL

 

Mary

[KS_]

I guess for all intents and purposes, we've stopped using our library. I can't remember when we were there last. It's literally a couple times a year, maybe a little more in the summer when we aren't doing school. But it's really a challenge to find good books that my kids can bring home, and even when we do, my ds (especially) has read through all of them by the next day anyway. It's much easier to have a home library with a selection of really good books. Thankfully, he'll re-read books over and over again (I don't know what I'd do if he didn't - lol), but we have over 1300 books, and I'd guess at least half or more of those are on their bookshelves.

[WTMindy]

I find that I browse less and less at the library than when the kids were younger. We, more often than not, put books on hold online and pick them up. Especially for me since I have an 888 booklist I'm working through. But, I did just pick up a couple random books at the library.

[OH Kim]

[kicks under the bed the several fluffy books checked out yesterday]

 

My dh is a librarian, so it's part of our civic duty, yeah, civic and moral duty, to keep those circulation stats up. Right. :smilielol5:

 

I rarely browse the stacks anymore. I find book referrals all over the place and put holds on them for dh to bring them home. I think we get close to 50 books per month from either our local library or my dh's library (different systems.)

[6packofun]

I thought about this for a bit and realized that I go to the library mainly to pick up books that I've either specifically reserved or to look for specific titles that have been recommended to me or that I've read about online. :)

 

That's not to say that I don't bring home things that I've found while browsing, but with the internet, I find that I have more of a purposeful agenda of some sort when I go to the library now. I rarely just go to look around, although I do a bit of that while I'm there for the items I came for, of course. :D

 

So I think that my answer is that I'm more well read with the library OR bookstore now that I have the internet. LOL!!!