Valentine's day has to go away forever

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

What would be best is to more evenly buy different genres.

Right. I'm just trying to see where Valentine's Day is getting your goat. Your implication is that it causes the library to load up on romance novels, yet the evidence seems to imply that one has little to do with the other (aside from a library highlighting romances in February in the same way they might highlight scary stories in October).

[JSWolf]

Valentines Day is causing the libraries to load up on romance. I've seen this at more than one library.

[hildea]

Originally Posted by Blossom

Years ago remember they offered veterans and elderly people free library cards.

Wow, library cards cost money in the US?
Subscription libraries are, ironically enough, something I've until now only come across in regency romance novels.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by hildea

Wow, library cards cost money in the US?
Subscription libraries are, ironically enough, something I've until now only come across in regency romance novels.

If you don't live in the area they do. My local library is free but selection unless you're under 10 is poor.

Sent from my XT1528

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by hildea

Wow, library cards cost money in the US?
Subscription libraries are, ironically enough, something I've until now only come across in regency romance novels.

They can if you want access to a library from out of your immediate area or country. Some libraries offer it as an option for folks they wouldn't normally service.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by hildea

Wow, library cards cost money in the US?
Subscription libraries are, ironically enough, something I've until now only come across in regency romance novels.

Libraries are funded by local tax dollars, so anyone who lives within that taxing district doesn't have to pay extra for a library card. They've already paid for it with their taxes. If you live outside the area, you'll need to pay for a library card if the library allows it.

I'm assuming libraries in Norway are funded by tax dollars and that you pay taxes. So you're paying for your library card just like I'm paying for my library card.

[hildea]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Libraries are funded by local tax dollars, so anyone who lives within that taxing district doesn't have to pay extra for a library card. They've already paid for it with their taxes. If you live outside the area, you'll need to pay for a library card if the library allows it.

Ah, that's reassuring. It's not so bad as I thought, then. But it seems like the free library service isn't very good, if many of you decide to pay for some extended service?

I'm assuming libraries in Norway are funded by tax dollars and that you pay taxes. So you're paying for your library card just like I'm paying for my library card.

Well, not quite like it. As I understand it, your library payment is like when I pay for Spotify or Netflix: It gives the people who pay access to the service.

But when I pay for libraries through taxes, I pay not just for myself, but for everyone to have access to the library, including poor people. This means the whole population gets better access to culture and education, and that makes for a better and more prosperous society for everyone, including me.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by hildea

Well, not quite like it. As I understand it, your library payment is like when I pay for Spotify or Netflix: It gives the people who pay access to the service.

But when I pay for libraries through taxes, I pay not just for myself, but for everyone to have access to the library, including poor people. This means the whole population gets better access to culture and education, and that makes for a better and more prosperous society for everyone, including me.

American libraries work the same. Everyone has free access to their local library system. However, America is a large country and there are several local library systems rather than a single, nationwide one. If I in Texas want to join the Brooklyn Public Library system, they ask for a charge as I am not part of the tax base that funded their library system.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by hildea

Ah, that's reassuring. It's not so bad as I thought, then. But it seems like the free library service isn't very good, if many of you decide to pay for some extended service?

I suppose it depends on where in the country (or out of it) someone is located. I feel no need to have anything beyond my own local county library, it's one I would consider very good. I did pay for one once when library ebooks were a newer thing as our local one was still building up and I wanted access to more (and potentially fewer holds/waits).

Well, not quite like it. As I understand it, your library payment is like when I pay for Spotify or Netflix: It gives the people who pay access to the service.

As an additional option. Although in some places there may still be some local library systems that don't do digital so paying may be some folks only option if they want library ebooks. Some places libraries are much better funded than others...

But when I pay for libraries through taxes, I pay not just for myself, but for everyone to have access to the library, including poor people. This means the whole population gets better access to culture and education, and that makes for a better and more prosperous society for everyone, including me.

Which is how it works in most places in the US too, but most library systems are very regional and aren't statewide or country based. Where I am our local libraries are done by the county I live in and primarily funded by property taxes in that county (although they do get some money from our state as well).

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by hildea

Ah, that's reassuring. It's not so bad as I thought, then. But it seems like the free library service isn't very good, if many of you decide to pay for some extended service?

When you are in a small town with a population of 1,800 compared to a city with a population of 2,000,000, your total funding is not going to be the same though the people in the small town may actually be paying more per capita in library taxes.

[barryem]

Originally Posted by Catlady

To be fair, there are some excellent writers in the romance genre. I have read some historical romances that are quite well researched and well written. I still don't like them, but that's because I am bored by the genre and the predictability of the stories, not because they are poorly written.

I can't imagine myself being fair about romance novels.

Barry

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by barryem

I can't imagine myself being fair about romance novels.

Barry

...

[TheSmitty]

Originally Posted by Catlady

To be fair, there are some excellent writers in the romance genre. I have read some historical romances that are quite well researched and well written. I still don't like them, but that's because I am bored by the genre and the predictability of the stories, not because they are poorly written.

You mention historical romance. My main reading is science fiction but I occasionally read other genres. Most recently Follet’s “World Without End” which I think is considered historical fiction but does have some romance drama in it. I imagine some might consider it romance? I do not simply because the cover does not feature a half dressed man with a woman hanging on him.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by hildea

Ah, that's reassuring. It's not so bad as I thought, then. But it seems like the free library service isn't very good, if many of you decide to pay for some extended service?

I'm lucky enough to belong to three of the largest libraries in the country, so I have absolutely no need to pay for an out-of-area membership to another library.

But as others have pointed out, not everyone is lucky enough to live in a city or county that funds its libraries to the same level that mine do. For these folks, they have no choice but to pay for an out-of-area library if their local library doesn't have what they want.

[Barbara1955]

For some strange reason Feb is the month that ALL the Black History & Romance Books go on Sale.... Yet to see any Saint Valentine's Day Massacre books on sale or heaven forbid books on St Valentine!

I agree Wolf Not Fair!