How many books in your library?

[Mr_H_Poirot]

I am fascinated by how people use Calibre in different ways and how some people have large libraries. Out of interest, how many books are in your library?

[Sirtel]

Over 35,000

[DNSB]

Around 18,000.

[Mr_H_Poirot]

I'm guessing you guys with 5000+ can't buy all your books (unless you're seriously rich); so am assuming there's a lot of standard ebooks and Gutenberg in there

I like standard ebooks. Haven't really explored Gutenberg yet

[theducks]

My Library includes 950 paperbacks (empty books in Calibre), Users guides for equipments, Baen Free Library from around when I joined MR, All the books on Baen CD's (about 60% landed in those empty books), and I am a sucker for Boxed sets when Amazon allowed Download and transfer by USB (I am wading thru many and have not added in over a year. My TBR pile is insane and will never be done in my lifetime).

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Mr_H_Poirot

I'm guessing you guys with 5000+ can't buy all your books (unless you're seriously rich); so am assuming there's a lot of standard ebooks and Gutenberg in there

I like standard ebooks. Haven't really explored Gutenberg yet

Part of my collection is public domain, part has been accumulated over the decades and another part is technical manuals, most of which were free. I have collected ebooks for quite a few years with the first big boost to my collection being the CDs that Baen placed in some of their hard covers. Then there are the books that are virtually in my library—library and other loans where I keep an entry in my library though not the book itself.

At one time, I worked out that the average cost for my ebooks was ~$1.56 Cdn so $28,000 over 20 years or $1,400 per year. For me, that is not in seriously rich territory.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Mr_H_Poirot

I'm guessing you guys with 5000+ can't buy all your books (unless you're seriously rich); so am assuming there's a lot of standard ebooks and Gutenberg in there

I like standard ebooks. Haven't really explored Gutenberg yet

Not all, but I have bought most in my library. I'm not rich or even well off - it's just that I live a very modest life, have no kids and most of my disposable income is spent on books. Plus, I've been buying ebooks for 15-20 years.

I don't have a car or a house, just a small apartment. I don't travel. I don't eat out. I have no other expensive hobbies. And so on.

[Mr_H_Poirot]

Sorry, it was a flippant remark. Didn't mean to make people think I was judging them

[pdurrant]

Currently 5,559 books, 4,606 bought books, bought from 29 Jan 2002 through to this month.

The non-bought books are all legitimate - either out-of-copyright, or a free copy given away by the publisher or author.

I have 724 unread books, 578 of them are bought books.

[Karellen]

683 books
4 unread.

[AnnieQuinn]

Over 60,000.
The majority are romance novels. These ebooks are hand-typed and used for personal purposes.
The rest are professional books, reference books, educational materials, and comics.

[DNSB]

My TBR pile is currently 2 books.

[sgmoore]

Originally Posted by Mr_H_Poirot

I'm guessing you guys with 5000+ can't buy all your books (unless you're seriously rich); so am assuming there's a lot of standard ebooks and Gutenberg in there

Only a couple of hundred.

I never considered myself seriously rich, but I have been buying books for over 50 years. Most of them were paperbacks or ebooks at around 99p each. At that rate I could have bought 5000 books for under £10 a month.

But years ago I signed up with Bookbub and EreaderIQ which can monitor and alert me of books that are free (on Amazon/google or Apple books). I did not expect these services to last very long and so began collecting any free books that interested me (so that I could read them when I retired.) My tastes must not be very discerning but I have 'bought' over 2000 free books over the years and have enough unread books to last me nearly 30 years!

I also use calibre to record books that I have read which I don't own (i.e. loans from library or from friends) although that only covers recent years.

[Mr_H_Poirot]

Yes. My comment about 'seriously rich' was not very wise. I hadn't appreciated both how cheap some ebooks can be, the time period over which people have acquired them etc. And it could come across as judgemental for which I regret

I just have been surprised by the size of others collections. I do read a lot from standard ebooks. I find their books superbly formatted and have enjoyed reading some classics. I tend not to record the books I borrow from Libby/overdrive

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Mr_H_Poirot

I just have been surprised by the size of others collections. I do read a lot from standard ebooks. I find their books superbly formatted and have enjoyed reading some classics. I tend not to record the books I borrow from Libby/overdrive

I've found I mostly prefer modern authors to public domain ones. There are exceptions, but not many. My classics reading period was in my late teens/early twenties (paper books then, of course), then I lost interest in them and it never really returned.

As to library books, not available on my Kobo readers in my country. All libraries use proprietary apps and websites here. Besides, I've never enjoyed borrowing books; I prefer to own them. Otherwise there would be a return date and I'd get stressed, reading would no longer be a complete relaxation as it is for me now. And I edit the formatting of my ebooks to suit my preferences - couldn't do it with DRMed library books.