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My local library is right beside my place of work. In fact when I park my car in my designated car park I am closer to the library than I am to my office. However the library's hours meant that it was always closed before and after work. That left my lunch break when it was quite crowded. It was never a relaxed experience trying to find something to read.
The books I wanted to borrow were almost never available so I would go on a waitlist. That meant I would need to go to the library 3 times: once to order a book, once to collect it and once to return it. For some reason I regularly forgot to return my books. They do have an afterhours slot but I never seemed to remember to use it. A few years ago they put their catalogue online so I could order books online and eliminate one of the visits. That increased my borrowing but I still had problems with returns.
However now that I borrow ebooks it couldn't be easier. I can browse for books any time of the day or night. If they're available I download them, if not (more often the case) then I go on the list and wait for the email. When the email arrives I have 2 or 3 days to download. When I finish reading I can return them with a few clicks. Or if I forget they get returned automatically - that is my favourite part!
I am now a member of 4 libraries - I currently have 4 books that I have borrowed and I normally keep each book for about 2 to 4 days. I have about 12 on hold.
My only problem is when too many of my holds arrive at the one time.
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