Quote:
Originally Posted by AnemicOak
It's not just books for most libraries I'm familiar with, but audiobooks, videos and music as well and each counts against your borrowed total. 20 does still seem like a lot, but I suppose the libraries that offer that many know most people won't reach that total and are just covering all their bases.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by speakingtohe
15 is enough for me an my mother, but if I had six or eight smallish children, maybe not.
5 is a little tight for many. You can not use them all if you are waiting for a hold to be available. Imagine waiting for a month or two for a hold and all of your slots are full and cannot be returned  It's not that many that borrow 20 books a week I am sure, but nice to have a few extra slots. |
I know it will cover different formats but still seems an awful lot. I guess its fine if people are considerate enough to make sure they return them early once they've read/listened to them, but people can forget or not bother and so 20 titles at the one time... well it's no wonder there are such long waiting lists in that case!
As for having kids and needing to be able to borrow more, in the UK you would normally have kids with their own library card, because they often have different terms on what they can borrow, longer lending periods and no fees to pay on overdue items. Plus for things like CDs, DVDs & Bluerays, Under-5s can get them for free & kids at a reduced price of the adult cost.
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Originally Posted by medard
There are people that like to read the first pages of the book, or that would like to see the book design.
When you like science-fiction literature, you can borrow 20 titles, have a look at all of them, and then you choose one of these. Freedom is getting the most out of freedom of choice and to maximise the possibilities. More choice, more freedom.
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As Loosheesh points out, you can view a sample (at least with Overdrive), besides, borrowing 20 books just to open the first few pages to see if you like it is a bit like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut is it not? You can easily borrow a few books and if you don't like it, return it early and borrow another one. So no need to have 20 books borrowed at the one time?