Quote:
Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg
Hardly anyone today has friends with private libraries more extensive, in any genre, than public ones, and whose doors are open to them, without invitation, more hours a week than public libraries. Your book-borrowing experience sounds like something more typical of a servant in one of the stately homes of nineteenth century England than of a late twentieth century American. I'm not saying that your story is incorrect, just that it describes something rarely seen in modern times.
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What? Libraries are open during standard business hours and some weekend hours. My friends and I were at school or working during most of those hours, but getting together at 7-10pm was always an option. (What "without invitation?" These were my D&D gaming buddies. We showed up at each others' houses as often as we could squeeze time out of the week to do so.)
Their selections weren't more expansive than the libraries'--but it was more to my tastes. Most libraries have very sparse (or nonexistent) collections of Pagan books, and their science fiction is often hit-or-miss; they have the current bestsellers but not 10-year-old midlist complete series. Libraries don't usually have
Elizabethan Costuming (For The Years 1550 - 1580), even if there's a local renfaire community; it had a small print run from an obscure publishing house.
Libraries had more books, but not *the one I want today.* Odds of someone in my group of friends having that book are a lot higher than the public library having it.
Libraries were always great for "I want to read something new; I'll go look at what's there." They weren't great for "I've finished the Chtorr series; what else has Gerrold written that I'd like?"