Thinking of buying a Nook, but ? about library books

[Taya]

So after hours of research (mostly on this site btw, thanks everyone!) I've pretty much decided on the Nook instead of the Kindle (not interested in Sony/Kobo/etc.).

I've had a look in person at both of them, and while they look pretty much the same to me, I kind of prefer the touch screen on the Nook.

My reason for the Nook decision is because I want to mainly check out books from the library. (I do actually have a US address so I can always buy books from B&N if I have to).

1) However, my question is about the library itself really. When I checked out my library, they have lots of ebooks, but I would say probably 90% of them seemed to be checked out already! If you're allowed 14 days to have the book, that basically locks that book in to only 26 people per year if there is only one copy of that book.

My question is, how long do people usually wait for their ebooks from the library? If I am in the queue for a book, am I going to be waiting a year to read it? How fast is the turnover?

Why I put this question is this forum is because this info could sway my decision about the Nook. If I can't even GET the books out from the library, what's the point?

2) Also, my aunt and I trade books all the time. She is thinking of getting whatever I am getting, but she buys all her books. If she bought a Nook and bought all her books, is there any way I can get them from her without using that limited lending library thingie? (I am familiar with the concept of stripping DRM if that's the way you would do it).

Thanks in advance, sorry for the long first post!
- Taya

[SeaBookGuy]

The Overdrive catalog listing should tell you how many others are in the queue for that book. Also, it is possible to return e-books early, though I suspect few folks bother to do so.

[ATDrake]

Always nice to see a fellow Canadian around. And in my geographic area, too!

1) The BC Library is actually pretty well stocked (top 10 in the list!) and if something I'm interested when browsing the featured/new arrivals listings is not in, there's usually plenty of older titles available on my wishlist to make up for it, or I just hit the Advanced Search and tell it to only show me stuff that's not checked out.

When I do have to wait on a title I really want to read as soon as possible, it generally takes about 1-3 weeks for the hold notification to arrive, even if there are 2 people ahead of me in line.

The Overdrive system which manages e-book loans lets you set the checkout time, and I have mine at 7 days, and for ePub and PDF format books, you can return them early using the ADE software, which I do quite frequently (stuff that looked promising doesn't always turn out to be all that interesting, unfortunately).

If your library seems poorly stocked, then you might want to consider getting a card from the Philadelphia Free Library, which allows out-of-county patrons to use its digital library for an annual fee of $15.

And depending on where you live, you may be able to get extra cards for other libraries in area which have access to better e-book collections.

Technically as someone who also holds a Fraser Valley Regional Library card, I could go get one across the border for Whatcom County, who've got a reciprocal lending agreement and their own e-catalogue, though they don't have nearly as much stuff. It's different stuff, though, and one day I might try it.

2) There's a not-widely-broadcast trick that Nook users can do, where since the B&N-DRM copy-restriction scheme basically works like a glorified username/password combo, people who really trust each other can put their books on each others' Nooks.

What you do is you transfer your pre-downloaded e-book files directly to your aunt's Nook using the USB cable and then when you try to open it and it prompts you for authorization, either you or she put in her name and credit card # to unlock the book for reading on your Nook, and vice versa when she lets you share her books.

After the first time, the Nook is supposed to store a hash of the name/CC info so that it can unlock future books from the same account, although you may have to re-enter the unlock code at some point. This is described a bit in the manual, and people over on the Nook forum have reported success in doing so.

Hope this helps, and welcome to MobileRead!

ETA: I should point out that the B&N book-swapping trick only works on B&N-DRM books.

For ADE-DRM books such as you get at Sony and Kobo and elsewhere, you have the option of registering your respective Nooks both to the same Adobe Digital Editions ID, and then they'll be able to accept any ADE-DRMed books authorized for that account, regardless of how far apart you might be located. Adobe allows up to 6 devices per ID.

[The Joker]

I went with the Nook (ended up with the nookcolor) for the same reason....the library feature......My library allows up to 21 days (or 7 or 14, it's my choice)

I put an order in a couple days ago for 3 (new releases)......was #3 and #5 in the queue for 2 of them (15 on the other)......just got an email that they are now available.....Now I think I've got more books than I can read.....

Prior to buying mine......I had a few discussions with the librarians.....they typically have more than 1 to loan out.....In my county, they typically have 20+ available for hot books.....

I can have upto 10 ebooks checked out at any one time......

Different library's may have different rules.....

I did notice in the ADE software that they can be returned early.....haven't tried that yet though....hopefully people use that feature though....

[Taya]

Originally Posted by SeaBookGuy

The Overdrive catalog listing should tell you how many others are in the queue for that book. Also, it is possible to return e-books early, though I suspect few folks bother to do so.

Thank you! I didn't even see that option until you told me, now I see it.

Originally Posted by ATDrake

When I do have to wait on a title I really want to read as soon as possible, it generally takes about 1-3 weeks for the hold notification to arrive, even if there are 2 people ahead of me in line.

****

Technically as someone who also holds a Fraser Valley Regional Library card, I could go get one across the border for Whatcom County, who've got a reciprocal lending agreement and their own e-catalogue, though they don't have nearly as much stuff. It's different stuff, though, and one day I might try it.

2) There's a not-widely-broadcast trick that Nook users can do, where since the B&N-DRM copy-restriction scheme basically works like a glorified username/password combo, people who really trust each other can put their books on each others' Nooks.

What you do is you transfer your pre-downloaded e-book files directly to your aunt's Nook using the USB cable and then when you try to open it and it prompts you for authorization, either you or she put in her name and credit card # to unlock the book for reading on your Nook, and vice versa when she lets you share her books.

Thanks fellow Canadian That's exactly the info I needed. It helps to have an idea of how long I would wait for a library book I wanted.

I checked out Bellingham's library, there's a lot more selection it seems and fewer people waiting. I think that may be an option for me too.

As for sharing with my aunt, I'm sure what you describe will make more sense to me when I actually get the Nook. She lives in Toronto though, is what you're describing something we would have to do in person? I know that probably sounds dumb, but forgive me as I am completely new to this!

Thank you!
- Taya

[ATDrake]

Originally Posted by Taya

As for sharing with my aunt, I'm sure what you describe will make more sense to me when I actually get the Nook. She lives in Toronto though, is what you're describing something we would have to do in person?

No, not at all. You can do it perfectly well via e-mail, and just send the book files you download from your My NOOK Library at B&N's website to her so that she can transfer them herself, and vice versa. You should be able to do a similar thing with ADE-DRM files as long as the devices are authorized to the same ID, and she just imports them into ADE on her computer to place on the Nook.

The real issue is trust, and you'd have to give her the name and credit card # you have entered as your billing info on B&N's website, and vice versa, so that you can each unlock the others' books by typing in the "code". Very few people would do that, which is part of why B&N allows it (and also people might have bought B&N-DRM-style books from other ebookstores using different CC#s).

I should probably also mention that my loan-wait times are mostly for non-fiction, since I'm more likely to put a hold on those because the library gets fewer copies.

I think fiction might be more popular and take longer, even though they have more copies. I think it's more like 2-5 weeks for the ones that I've put my name down for, even if they've got 3 copies.

[Taya]

Originally Posted by ATDrake

The real issue is trust, and you'd have to give her the name and credit card # you have entered as your billing info on B&N's website, and vice versa, so that you can each unlock the others' books by typing in the "code". Very few people would do that, which is part of why B&N allows it (and also people might have bought B&N-DRM-style books from other ebookstores using different CC#s).

***

I think fiction might be more popular and take longer, even though they have more copies. I think it's more like 2-5 weeks for the ones that I've put my name down for, even if they've got 3 copies.

Oh yes, no issue with trust whatsoever, so that should work out great for us.

Yes, the books I would be looking at would be fiction, so probably a longer wait time, but I could always buy it if I'm impatient or get something from my aunt.

Thank you everyone, you've answered all my questions and it has been a big help! My brain can take a rest now and have Christmas dinner!

- Taya

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Taya

Oh yes, no issue with trust whatsoever, so that should work out great for us.

Since trust isn't an issue, why not share the same account? You're allowed 5 or 6 devices on the same account and all of those devices share all of the books on that account. What shows up on one Nook automatically shows up on the other Nook; plus, both of you can even read the same book at the same time.

[Taya]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Since trust isn't an issue, why not share the same account? You're allowed 5 or 6 devices on the same account and all of those devices share all of the books on that account. What shows up on one Nook automatically shows up on the other Nook; plus, both of you can even read the same book at the same time.

Really??? That's fabulous, we will for sure do that. Thank you so much! I'm sooo excited to get my Nook now!

- Taya

[ATDrake]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Since trust isn't an issue, why not share the same account?

Well, sometimes people just like to keep their preferences and purchases separate.

And there've been moderately frequent questions in the B&N and Amazon discussion boards from people who want to keep their kids/parents from seeing certain books in the Archives which they feel age-inappropriate/embarrased about having their family members know they read.

Trust is one thing, privacy another.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Taya

Really??? That's fabulous, we will for sure do that. Thank you so much! I'm sooo excited to get my Nook now!

- Taya

Since you're the one with the US address, I'm assuming you'll use your credit card to set up the account. Just keep in mind that your aunt (or anyone else on the same account) will be able to order books using your credit card and you won't find out until after the fact. From reading your posts, I don't think you'll see this as a problem.

Also, you two should be able to access each others' library accounts for an even greater selection, since OverDrive allows books to be downloaded on multiple devices.

Good luck

[MsCG1]

Something else to point out--at the libraries I use (I belong to several), you have so many days to check out the ebook, or else you lose the download. At one library it's 48 hours, and at another, it's 3 days. So if a patron doesn't check his email too often or if she ignores it, the book goes back into queue and you are bumped up.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by ATDrake

Well, sometimes people just like to keep their preferences and purchases separate.

And there've been moderately frequent questions in the B&N and Amazon discussion boards from people who want to keep their kids/parents from seeing certain books in the Archives which they feel age-inappropriate/embarrased about having their family members know they read.

Trust is one thing, privacy another.

That doesn't sound like it's an issue for her. They trade books all the time, so they have the same tastes in reading.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by MsCG1

Something else to point out--at the libraries I use (I belong to several), you have so many days to check out the ebook, or else you lose the download. At one library it's 48 hours, and at another, it's 3 days. So if a patron doesn't check his email too often or if she ignores it, the book goes back into queue and you are bumped up.

I have 7 days.

[ATDrake]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

That doesn't sound like it's an issue for her. They trade books all the time, so they have the same tastes in reading.

I know, I was just answering your question in the abstract since it's sometimes a consideration for others. <-- I guess this is as close as we have to a "pedant" smiley?