Comments on: Freading? The Continuing Saga of EBooks and Library Lending

By: Ashley

Ashley — Sat, 24 Nov 2012 18:06:37 +0000

I work for a public library and we actually have both Overdrive and Freading. Our provincal government was actually payed for part of the buying of tokens so that an library in the province could use Freading. I find it’s good to have both because neither is perfect. I love Freading but I can see why some people don’t. You are not going to find a bestseller on Freading because it’s only smaller publishers that are involved with it and sometimes as publishers come and go, you miss out on books that were previously available and now are not. For example, there was a small selection of Jacquelyn Frank books for a very short while that is no longer there. The only other problem is that my library allows 6 tokens a week which is not enough for me. Between Freading and Overdrive, though, I’ve only bought 1 book since I got my Kobo Touch in June. And that was a self published one that I couldn’t get through either.

By: Heather W

Heather W — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 14:10:27 +0000

I don’t own an e-reader because I don’t pay for books. I do all my reading from the library, because my budget doesn’t allow me to purchase the 4 – 6 books I read per month, along with the dozen books my kids read. We are all avid readers! Also because I don’t want to keep all of those books. Where would I put them all?

Last Christmas my husband got me a Nook reader. I checked the e-books available at my library, and found the selection of romance books was paltry. So, the Nook got returned to the store! I would love to have an e-reader and I would be willing to pay a small fee to the library to have a good selection! I think that’s a great idea!

By: LeeB.

LeeB. — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 02:17:36 +0000

I do notice that my library tends to order ebooks of new books a few months after print books are ordered, but lately both the ebook and print books of some titles have been ordered at the same time.

Long waits for a book don’t bother me but I tend to be very proactive and check the library website on a daily basis to see if they have ordered new books or movie dvds. And the library is only a few blocks from where I work so I can go there several times a week and get lunchtime exercise at the same time.

As for paying a small amount for a book or dvd, I’d rather not.

By: Leigh

Leigh — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 20:18:02 +0000

VictoriaS: Leigh, I am one of those people who don’t go to libraries, for two reasons: (1)as soon as I became financially able, owning books is an absolute joy for me and (2) I am criminally negligent in returning books…no really. I once had a book for so long, and neglected to pay the fines, that a warrant was issued. I had to go to court, AND pay all fines and court costs. Needless to say, buying a book, even full price, is cheaper. But this idea of a small fee for lending an e-book appeals to me.There are books that I read, that I don’t particularly want to own, so being able to return them would be better than paying for it, then deleting it from my Kindle. Now, the only stipulation I would have is that the book auto-delete from my Kindle, as I am not looking forward to that whole fine, court thing again

Wow, at least you weren't arrested (grin) - or maybe you are the person that got arrested in Georgia for a library fine - just kidding. I have checked out e-books before and I didn't have to do anything to return them so I suspect you would be save. Checking - there are more than one incident of people getting arrested -

By: Morgan Garr

Morgan Garr — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 19:18:34 +0000

Ok so I am thinking about removing my website from Tumbler and get it to a WordPress site. I believe this is a wordpress site right? If it is, may I ask where you got the theme? Thanks a bunch!

By: VictoriaS

VictoriaS — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 15:28:06 +0000

Leigh, I am one of those people who don’t go to libraries, for two reasons: (1)as soon as I became financially able, owning books is an absolute joy for me and (2) I am criminally negligent in returning books…no really. I once had a book for so long, and neglected to pay the fines, that a warrant was issued. I had to go to court, AND pay all fines and court costs. Needless to say, buying a book, even full price, is cheaper. But this idea of a small fee for lending an e-book appeals to me. There are books that I read, that I don’t particularly want to own, so being able to return them would be better than paying for it, then deleting it from my Kindle.
Now, the only stipulation I would have is that the book auto-delete from my Kindle, as I am not looking forward to that whole fine, court thing again

By: maggie b.

maggie b. — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 14:11:08 +0000

I would be willing to pay a small fee for ebooks at the library if I really wanted the book. I used to do this for paper books under the red hot rental program. In that case, new releases that were in popular demand could be checked out for $2.00 for two weeks. That’s how i used to read the “In Death” books. Unfortunately, my library stopped the program. Now I just buy the books at Walmart since the alternative is a three month wait.