A library, how do I love thee, let me count the ways

By Lonnie Cruse

I love buying books, both print versions and e-books for my Kindle. I love holding and reading both. However, it gets expensive, and print versions take up room on my shelves. There is always the library for books I want to read but probably won't want to keep. Except, sigh, I FORGET to check the library. Until recently.

I'd been hearing about a book by an author I know and like on the DorothyL discussion list. Someone gave it a favorable review. I immediately went into Amazon to check out the price. The paperback was fairly cheap, which meant the Kindle version would be cheaper. NOT! Argh, I was so irritated by that. It doesn't happen often, but it does happen. I want to read that book! What to do, what to do?

The light dawns and I click into my local library, do a search, and there are seven copies! Yea! I order one. They will call me when my copy is available. I'm in business!

You notice I'm not mentioning the author or the book title? That's because it is not the author's fault that the Kindle edition is higher than the paperback, nor is it Amazon's fault. Publishers determine the price of a book on Amazon. I don't want to embarrass the author by naming names. But the publisher lost a sale for the author. IF I bought the book cheaper as a paperback, I'd have to pay shipping. I could get it at a book store, but there aren't any close to me. I do a LOT of shopping for books and movies on Amazon. Sigh.

Point is, I do forget about my local library AND the library in Paducah. Shame on me. They have tons of great stuff to read, movies for check-out, etc. Because I'm not inside either city, I have to pay for my card each year. Therefore I need to give it a work-out. I need to get more book and movies from there. I need to support the libraries because libraries are struggling to stay alive.

Do you use your local library? If so, what is your favorite part? The print books? Audio books? DVDs? Computers? Etc? Please share with us.