Hot take: When did you last visit a library?

When was the last time you visited a library? Did you pick up any exciting books?

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Probably this past Saturday or Sunday. Today is Thursday, and I'll probably go again today. I'm so lucky that the main branch is only a block away!

Visit the library? All the time! In fact I think I'll swing by again tonight! Nine thousand unread books at home, you say, plus half a dozen already borrowed??? Who cares! I am Scrooge McDuck and they are my gold coins! I must WALLOW in book goodness or life isn't worth living.

You might say that time spent at the public library is at fault for the mountains unread at home. My curiosity ranges in all directions. The librarians snicker at my piles of holds.

Also, during my lucky stint working there, I had first dibs on the weeded materials.

Last visit - Friday last. Next visit - today most likely.

I will be swinging by the library this evening to return some books that are due and to also hopefully pick up a copy of my book group's February book (they should be in at the desk now).

This month I have actually been spending less time at the library than usual because I am working hard to read books I already own, and library books have a funny way of jumping to the top of the stack thanks to due dates. But I have been making a list of books I want to borrow come February or March. :D

It's completely out of character for me, but I haven't been to the library in ... 10 days? Maybe 11. Usually I'm in one branch or another at least weekly, but work has interrupted my reading this month and so I'm only halfway through the last stack.

Yesterday. Spent some time using the wi-fi then picked up a bunch of things I had sent from other locations. We have a great system here in the Wisconsin River Valley. I'm usually at one of the locations at least once a month.

I just got back from the library! It's a block from where I work so I can just scoot up there whenever I need to. Not that I needed to because I still have books I got for Christmas that need read, along with the other books on my shelves, but I hadn't been to the library for a couple weeks and was feeling guilty like I needed to visit an old friend.

It's been a few days since I was at the physical library, but I have to go today - a bunch of my holds have come in :)

I also visit their website nearly daily for everything from checking to see if they have a book I want to read (and putting a hold on it if they do) to borrowing e-books and e-audiobooks, to researching things on Consumer Reports or in other databases.

I LOVE my library.

I was there a week ago. We'll be going back tomorrow. It would probably have been yesterday, but my husband was still looking at one of the books I had borrowed, and it seemed better to wait because he was almost done with it.

I almost never go to the library, but I actually went last week to pick up three books that aren't available for purchase any longer.
I usually buy books these days, for three reasons;
Avarice (i want to own books), sloth (i forget to return timely, so it ends up costing costing me as much to loan as to purchase), and pickyness (English language fantasy is not very much in demand in the public library system in Denmark)

I seldom go to the library. The last time I was there was perhaps November (2018) or earlier. I go only when I have books to donate, and I'm aware of which books are useful to donate (i.e. someone will buy them, since donated books are only sold, or tossed, depending on condition). On the other hand, I make very clear to elected officials that my tax money that supports libraries is VERY important, and that I would be *displeased* to see it reduced.

I do love libraries, but the rule about returning books you check out keeps me from doing so. If I like a book, I want to keep it. Forever. :-}

At least 10 years ago.

Two weeks ago - l’ll go in to change my books tomorrow or Monday.
I usually go in every ten days or so, when I’m at home.

May 2018. I stopped by to sign up for an eMembership for $10 (I was outside of their jurisdiction for a free membership). I read 133 books in 2018. Best $10 I have ever spent!

>15 perennialreader: I pay €30 a year for library membership. Last year I read 83 ebooks and 105 paper books, plus watched many DVDs. So far this year it's been 7 ebooks and 4 paper books. I think I get my money's worth too.

I went to the Durham NC East Regional Library 6 days ago and will go again in 3-4 days because I book I ordered from another branch has come in.

I visited my local library last Wednesday. I don't generally go on a week day, but for some reason, they were on strike last Saturday, so I had to, to collect my orders. Next visit will be tomorrow, for National Book Night. They've put on a shadow play based on the Odyssey. For children aged 10 and up. Well, I'm older than 10...

I must admit that I "visit" the library website pretty much every morning to check on books that I have on hold. I may have a problem...

Drat. Took back 4 books and 3 DVDs. Borrowed 5 books and 3 DVDs. Since had to reserve sequel ebook to one book I borrowed.

Over a year ago, mainly because a once brilliant award-winning library service is now crap.

Non-British members of LT may not be aware that the public library service in the UK has been significantly downgraded due to the austerity cuts. Many libraries are now run by unqualified volunteers, opening hours have been cut, bookstock downsized. Inter-library loan request fees have become extortionate - I'm on a very low income and can't afford them.

Last Saturday - if I am not traveling, I visit the library every Saturday morning :)

>21 mlfhlibrarian: This fills me with sorrow. Libraries are (supposed to be) one of the places that promote equalization. Having access to information that you may not be able to afford, otherwise, is vital in a free society. It doesn't take much to destroy, and is hard to reinvent, once gone.

>23 Lyndatrue:
The trouble is a lot of council authorities regard libraries as leisure facilities rather than educational; apparently some councillors have assumed that 'nobody reads books anymore, you can Google for information' and they think libraries are a waste of time and money. They don't realise that people on low incomes and schoolchildren rely on library services.

There are many instances of libraries remaining open with only a lone member of staff or even staffless libraries which have been fitted with swipecard doorlocks...adult library members can apply for a card but under-18s can't (!) There are health and safety issues for both staff and users.

Given the number of library closures it's difficult to see how the library service can recover. I thought it was bad in the 80s when Margaret Thatcher's govt cut local authority budgets and councils responded by cutting library budgets, but this is far worse.

>24 mlfhlibrarian: Gah! As a former children's librarian, I am appalled. We need a culture of celebrating book reading.

I get audio books and books about genealogy usually. I have plenty of books for challenges. We have MNLINK in Minnesota so I can request books from any library in the state as well as the University of Minnesota. I just returned a book that was published in 1896 about the Dolomites, mountains in Italy near where my grandparents lived before they came to America. I was there in April and they are beautiful.

Yesterday Saturday, to collect a DVD that I have had on reserve and also a book by Sebastian Barry
Days Without End.

Gulp! I've been at home and sorting papers and books. Found a folder full of old clippings referencing books I thought might be interesting. (Does anyone else do that?) So, as I threw out the paper, I ordered titles from the library.
Yesterday I had to walk out to my car twice with the piles. I'm certainly enjoying them, but...

>28 2wonderY: Partly due to this thread having made me think about it, I also planned my last library visit, spending half an hour before setting off with the online catalogue and a few lists of things I wanted to follow up. The result was that I arrived with a list of specific books (arranged by floor and shelf-mark) and was in and out in about 20 minutes.

Very efficient, but very dull. I’d much rather do as I usually do, and forget half the books I was meant to be looking for, but come away with all sorts of things I never knew I wanted to read...

(On the plus side, if I’d not prepared, I’d never have realised that they had a secret second copy of A tale of love and darkness shelved in the Hebrew literature section...)

>29 thorold:

I do a mix and match of the two - I always have a list of books I know I want to get (either already reserved for me or knowing where they are) and then I spend some time just browsing shelves. My branch is very small so I can browse through all the shelf once a month without too much trouble (and I hit the new books shelves every week)

I'm on the board of my local library, so I'm there frequently. At least twice a month for board-related business. And at least once a week as a patron, sometimes twice in one week as a patron. I was there on Saturday, and am watching my hold list electronically every day, hoping for a particular book to arrive from a distant library. As soon as it comes in I'll go pick it up.

Oh ... and I also get e-audios via Overdrive ... the most recent download was on Sunday.

I was last in our library back in November, for the sole purpose of terminating my late wife's card.
Prior to that, for the past few years, I drove my wife there to check out books for her. She'd take an hour or more to browse the YA shelves (mostly), and I'd read the newspapers, scour the audio-book section for an anticipated very long drive, and occasionally check out some technical manual.
The thing is, I've got over 1,800 books at home and probably three quarters of them haven't been read.
I'm in the process of downsizing and plan to have no more than maybe 200 books to move when I sell the house.
I absolutely love going to my library; it's magnificent. I'd gleefully pay an extra thousand a year in property taxes if it were all earmarked for the library. I just don't have much of a need for it at this point in my life.

I'm going to say last Friday, and then going again (different branch) tomorrow. I may have a pile of holds on various children's books as I'm building an annotated bibliography for class. I have a decent rotating stack going.

Thank-you for sharing your thoughts. I found them very touching. How nice that you and your late wife were library people!

I go frequently to the public library (at least once a fortnight), even though I have a houseful of books (some still unread).
I also have access to the library in the local retirement village, and use that too.

I recently saw a post that said 'if you collect books, it's not hoarding' and I relate to that. I am not a collector, just a book addict!

Ouch!! That ought to be illegal. We've had cut backs in Georgia, but not that severe. I get as many books from rbdigital through our library system as I do from the physical building. We also have the Pines system which allows us to borrow from member counties through out the state without charge.

>17 vpfluke: Durham East Regional was my home library for several years before our move to PA last year.

I go to the library frequently, because even though I have a number of unread books, sometimes I want the latest shiny thing that I've heard about, but don't want to buy it. I also borrow lots of music to try it out. I live in the far western end of Chester County, and the libraries near me are quite small, so once in a while when I need to shop for something I'll go by the central county library, bring in my cloth grocery bag, and leave with about 40 CDs. The number that are fabulous is fairly small, but it's great to be able to try lots of new music without buying it.

I think it was November or December, but I mainly use the library to reserve books I want to read but don't particularly want to buy, or books I will buy eventually but I want to read them RIGHT NOW.

I've been trying not to reserve as many books as usual recently because I have so many unread books at home, but I'm in the queue for 4 or 5 at the moment and I think one is due in this week, so off I shall trot :o)

I'm very lucky because I live in a city with a good library network, and the main library in the city centre is beautiful and not far from where I work. It makes me so sad to see libraries elsewhere in the UK suffering because of the government's hands-off approach to local issues (while also starving local authorities of the funding they need to deal with said local issues!).

>33 WholeHouseLibrary: I am sorry to hear of your loss. My husband has also passed but he used to say "do you need to stop at the library" when we were driving in the area.
I see you are in Round Rick. We used to live on Sam Bass Road.

Yesterday but it was literally walk in, collect reserved book, check it out, walk out. Like lots of other people I'm trying to read the many books I already own. Semi-successfully - of the seven books I've read this year so far three were from the library.

Yesterday someone put a reserve on a book that was due today, so I couldn't renew it online as I had planned. I have now finished it, but nothing else to go back, so tomorrow I will return it at a small branch near here, just in and out.

I go at least once a week solely to let my toddler experience it. The library is her favorite outing because of all the activities they have (train table, doll house, toy kitchen, coloring, legos...). Picking out a few books for her at the end of our visit is just the icing on the cake. Occasionally I will get a book to read for myself, but with the unread masses at home, I try not to. I do enjoy the Libby app that lets me access audio books with my library card.

Yesterday - and just for once I didn't bring out more books to replace the three I returned as I have decided I really must read more of my own books as well as those in the library. I tend to visit the library every three or four days but don't exactly have far to go as our flat overlooks the library entrance! I'm also extremely lucky in that Worcester (UK) has a joint university/city library so we have a much better stock available than we would if it was just a public library and long opening hours (8.30am to 10pm 7 days a week!). The proximity of the library and a good pub very close in the other direction were among the factors that encouraged us to buy where we did!

I did check where you lived mooningzelda as I was fairly certain it wasn't Birmingham, whose library I also sometimes use. Although the central library is fairly impressive architecturally I find it fairly frustrating with its limited opening hours and the fact that so many of the non-fiction books on the shelves cannot be borrowed - I would prefer to sit in comfort at home to browse through them.

Yesterday. Our library is encouraging reading by giving tickets for a drawing for every five books read in January & February. I'm working on #6.

It is with great pleasure that I get to work at a library! So everyday I get to gawk at the lines of shelves wishing I could take them all home. However, I do visit my local branch (I work at a private school) which is only walking distance from my home from time to time to catch up on what's new and just visit the place I practically grew up in.
I'm a little embarrassed to say I still have a large to-read pile lining my walls that I need to catch up on though. One can't help oneself when so many used bookstores exist!

I am there at least twice a week. I do audiobooks during my commutes during the week, and I go through them pretty quickly. I also like to get craft and other hobby books. I love love love my library.

I was there a couple of hours ago! I’m a frequent flyer! I am working at reading everything I already own (most were gifts from my daughter who worked at a bookstore). I am borrowing many through Libby and Hoopla, but I love the paper and smell of books! Trying to read three a month from library!

Washoe County Nevada has a great library system and I visit both the physical & electronic frequently. In fact headed there today! Additionally supported by a very dedicated "Friends of the Library" group that fundraises, including well attended book sales
I've lived in at least ten states and always try out the local library, while the locations differ in quality, they are all well loved.

There again but missed opening hours so just dropped off some books. Last year I was buying more books than getting things from the library, but I've noticed that with this book splurge I'm in to find an appropriate selection of kid's books, I've been spending a lot more time in the library. It's not just to search for books for the project, but the more I investigate books, for any reason, the more I start to find other things to be interested in, such that my bank account would not survive if I was was buying like before. It seems the more I'm in the library, the more books I want to read.