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Interesting.
Way back in the late 60s I volunteered at my local library and a patron could have a maximum of 4 items checked out at any given time, and the loan period was 4 weeks -- a 4 week renewal was available for any item that was not "on hold" by another patron. New items that were in high demand had a 2 week loan period and could not be renewed. Items lent out by the library were almost exclusively books -- in 1969 the library had a small collection of LPs, but they couldn't be removed from the listening room. We used a paper card system to track items.
I never bothered to check my county library's limits until today. The library policy allows "a maximum of 75 items checked out at any given time." There are 18 categories of physical "items" alone -- including books, audiobooks, music CDs, video games, etc. Loan periods vary from 1 week to 4 weeks, depending on the category of the item, and some reference materials may be borrowed "overnight." Most are eligible for renewal.
I suppose the large limit reflects the expectation that the average patron will be borrowing a mix of items, not 75 books. I do strip DRM from purchased items, but I've never tried on a borrowed item -- in fact, I only borrow physical media from the library. I had heard that the "tools" wouldn't work on library ebooks.
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