The economy is killing my library (and my book budget). (Vent)

[Disneefun]

I love to read and I've always relied on my library for cheap reading. They used to carry a huge selection and I could always count on the fact that they'd get at least one copy of almost anything. It was huge. Thanks to years of budget cuts, they've drastically cut down what they get. Add to that they've been clearing out lots of old stuff and the selection is getting rather pitiful. Whole shelves and sections are just empty. This is county-wide, so it's not like I can just go to another branch. Even inter-library holds don't help b/c the books just aren't there.

I have a kindle so I've been getting a lot of fiction for free, but when it comes to non-fiction I'm buying a lot more. I love non-fiction, plus I need to read and research a lot for my job (and with a lot online, sometimes there's just no substitute for the information in a book) and whether I get it for the kindle or paper, it costs. Some of these can go down as tax deductions, but most can't. These aren't they types of books that turn up in used or thrift stores, either.

There's nothing anyone can do, but after placing yet another $$$$ order from Amazon, I just needed to vent at the sad state of our library and the economy that is slowly killing it. It's awful to watch, to see something I loved just die a slow death. I'm fortunate that I can afford books (even though I complain about it and hate it), but a lot of people can't. I hate it for them.

 

[mrspaha]

Not sure where you're located, but I've been using the library for years for all of my reading. Around here, as long as you have a library card, you can request just about any book, and if your local library doesn't have it, they'll get it from another library for you.

I go through the best seller list, pick out books I might be interested in, and request them online from my local library. When it comes in, they call me to let me know. It's been great.

 

[Friendly Frog]

Library's have been hit hard everywhere. What everyone can do to help is; when you buy an actual book donate it to the library after you read it. If you ever want to read it again it will be there for you. I think of it as paying it forward. Also, my library has a recycle bin for old magazines and paper and they sell it once a month to raise a little extra cash.

 

[superme80]

I am supporting my local library in fines! They are making a killing off of me!!!! I totally understand. Is there another county near by you could sign up with as well? Sometimes you have to live in the county, but some counties will let you get a card. Also are there any good used book stores near you. Thankfully there are several near me so I can save on books without paying shipping.

 

[Sadie22]

We can get books from any library in the county on interlibrary loan and from any library in the state through a separate online request system. The books are picked up at the local library branch. Do other states not have this?

Budget cuts have meant shorter hours for the libraries to be open but usage overall is up.

 

[SandrA9810]

I guess it depends on the economy in your city. Some cities are seeing higher usage, just because they provide free internet. The library in Kissimmee was always full, the large and small branches. It was sad to see the Celebration branch close down, just because the leasers of the shopping center wouldn't drop the price. Hopefully they get a better building that's not overpriced just cause they're in a part of Celebration.

Have you tried thrift stores? Sometimes they wind up with a huge selection of books. You might have to search for them, and buy them when they show up, but anything is possible. Sometimes people don't think anything about donating to a library when they're clearing out a bunch of stuff.

 

[angierae]

We also have interlibrary loan, and I love it. I've never yet found a book I couldn't get my hands on.

 

[jodifla]

A millage was put to a vote to support our town's library recently, and it was overwhelmingly supported.

We have one of the top libraries in the country. We're there more than once a week!

This is the first place I've lived where the caliber has been this high, though. It's such a treat!

 

[Gigi22]

As a retired librarian, although from another country, I feel your pain. Even working for a major governmental library, our book budget was slashed. As a retiree, working on simplifying my life, DH and I are decluttering our home--the books that we no longer want to keep are donated to our local public library's bookstore.

 

[wide awake]

I hear you. I live in CA, our local libraries are pathetic, w/ hours to match. Sure, they are full w/ people using the internet, checking out DVDs and CDs...but the economy, w/ the lack of readers is taking a huge toll. I have a feeling libraries are going the way of the daily paper...still here but basically worthless.

 

[crisi]

There's nothing anyone can do, but after placing yet another $$$$ order from Amazon, I just needed to vent at the sad state of our library and the economy that is slowly killing it. It's awful to watch, to see something I loved just die a slow death. I'm fortunate that I can afford books (even though I complain about it and hate it), but a lot of people can't. I hate it for them.

There IS something people can do. Join or found a Friends of the Library. Find out from the librarians what they need. Coordinate book drives and donations and book sales. Host charitable events. Lobby for additional funds. Remind parents of kids that the library is a great resource for their kids and provide them with letters to write to those that control the funds. Help apply for grants.

I suspect we are moving to a late 19th century model regarding a lot of this stuff - where some public services are going to need to be community funded and run - a small handful of professional librarians with volunteers filling gaps. A smaller amount of public funding, with the library needing to spend time fundraising. I think its really unfortunate - but we've turned such a corner societally into a very selfish "well, I don't use the library, why should I pay for it?"

 

[clanmcculloch]

Library's have been hit hard everywhere. What everyone can do to help is; when you buy an actual book donate it to the library after you read it. If you ever want to read it again it will be there for you. I think of it as paying it forward. Also, my library has a recycle bin for old magazines and paper and they sell it once a month to raise a little extra cash.

Books that we donate to the library do not get put into circulation; they are added to the library's monthly book sale. All money from the sales go towards library expenses. Though, maybe if it was actually a new/newer book it might go into circulation but I never buy new books so I guess maybe I don't know for sure. I buy cheap books at garage sales, thrift stores and at the library book sale though I've got so many books that I haven't read that I really don't even buy those very often either, plus I borrow books from the library.

There IS something people can do. Join or found a Friends of the Library. Find out from the librarians what they need. Coordinate book drives and donations and book sales. Host charitable events. Lobby for additional funds. Remind parents of kids that the library is a great resource for their kids and provide them with letters to write to those that control the funds. Help apply for grants.

I suspect we are moving to a late 19th century model regarding a lot of this stuff - where some public services are going to need to be community funded and run - a small handful of professional librarians with volunteers filling gaps. A smaller amount of public funding, with the library needing to spend time fundraising. I think its really unfortunate - but we've turned such a corner societally into a very selfish "well, I don't use the library, why should I pay for it?"

Our library does have a Friends of the Library which we are members of. I should become more active; we really have a great library.

Something that surprised me when I was talking to our children's librarian this summer was that they have to meet quotas of books being checked out in order to secure different funding levels. This summer they were doing a reading program to encourage kids to read (DD11 won a set of Jack Sparrow books in the program) but in order to include a book on their reading logs they had to have actually checked the book out even if they have the book at home. The library needs their numbers.

It frustrates me that the Masons on the other side of their parking lot have put up a book collection box. Those books do not go to the library but it looks like they do since the box is at the edge of the library lot. The library has lost a lot of donations to that box.

We do have a share feature between libraries at least in our county. I go into the electronic card catelogue for our library and I can reserve books from many other libraries and it'll get delivered to ours.

We have some pockets of low income areas so I'm glad the library is available and that we have such a great one thats so accessible.

You know, because our library is publicly funded, I often don't think about them needing additional fundraising beyond the book sales. I do use the library. I really should do more to support it. It really is an important part of our community. I should also see if there's anything our Girl Scout troop can do to help them out since our troop is always looking for community service projects but we keep getting turned away as too young (I'm a leader of a group of 6th graders). I bet there are things they could do, even if it's just stuff like helping sort donated books so the librarians have more time to work on other things. Thanks for the kick in the pants/reminder!!

 

[RitaE]

Yeah, I don't know of any local libraries here which will accept used books for circulation. Nearly all the local library systems have used book sales and they'll accept your donations for that -- they end up getting about 25cents a book.

Now what you can do is contact your local library and donate the money for them to purchase the book and then you get to be the first check-out if they accept the donation. It is usually more expensive than buying the book through Amazon or whatever but you do get a little sticker in the cover that says "Donated to the Library by: ______"

 

[crisi]

Yeah, I don't know of any local libraries here which will accept used books for circulation. Nearly all the local library systems have used book sales and they'll accept your donations for that -- they end up getting about 25cents a book.

They may have to get less picky if they get less funding - many libraries who used to just accept donated books for book sales have started shelving the popular ones that are in decent condition.

 

[Jaime4004]

I wonder what ebook popularity has done to library budgets, also... I rent several books for the kids about once/week from the library, but for myself, I almost exclusively rent ebooks. Great program, I love it!

 

[Pigeon]

Be sure to let your elected officials know your opinion about library funding.

 

[sparklynails23]

Our library has all the newest books, and there's still nothing interesting to read. I blame the publishers. If you like historical fiction, good luck finding anything in that genre.

 

[crisi]

Our library has all the newest books, and there's still nothing interesting to read. I blame the publishers. If you like historical fiction, good luck finding anything in that genre.

Do you do historical romance? Have you read Georgette Heyer?

 

[AmandaNied]

I really like paperbackswap.com. Between this and my kindle, it keeps my library at home neat and tidy, and has 5,144,355 books posted as of today.

I can usually always find what I want and discover new authors.

 

[My2Pixies]

I really like paperbackswap.com. Between this and my kindle, it keeps my library at home neat and tidy, and has 5,144,355 books posted as of today.

I can usually always find what I want and discover new authors.

I was just about to post the same thing. I have had a very positive experience with this site. My (awesome!) library has not seen a huge cut in funding but I'm sure it's coming.