Do libraries expect you are hacking books?

[tropicallie]

Loans - 30
Holds - 40
Wishlish - 5,000
Recommendations to library - 2 per month.
I live in an area very popular with retired snowbirds who would have more free time to read.
I think that accounts for such high loan numbers. Loans are for 21 days

[issybird]

Originally Posted by 4691mls

Maybe this is what libraries with smaller hold numbers are trying to avoid? Since I get only 6 holds, if the library gets in a popular new book that instantly racks up a huge number of holds I don't put it on hold at that point. If I wait a few months the number of holds will shrink, and in the meantime I can use the holds for something else that has a shorter waiting list.

I think this is a good policy, even though it means I sometimes have to jigger my holds lists. If people have to triage their wants it keeps holds lists from being years' long and also lets them identify which books could benefit most from additional copies when resources are such that they have to be choosy.

[supermighty]

I am super jealous of you all. I have 5 checkouts and 3 holds at my local library on Overdrive.

[SleepyBob]

Originally Posted by Ripplinger

That's the exact opposite in my house growing up. My brother and I each had our own library card and we'd checkout our books on our own card. I'm not sure my parents ever had library cards, they never seemed to read anything other than the newspaper. But I remember how nice it felt to have my own library card and not be dependent on anyone else to get books for me.

That was my situation growing up as well.

However, from my personal experience, we are far enough from the library that the kids don't go there without a parent, so library books don't get returned without prompting from me. When they all used their own cards, I wouldn't know what books were out and we were continually dealing with overdue charges.

[steven168]

Mine allows 8 borrows, 8 holds.

during school holiday season, borrows double.

[4691mls]

Originally Posted by haertig

I use 7 local libraries (Denver, CO metro area). They all let "anybody in Colorado" join.

All the libraries in my county are part of the same county system. The county library system belongs to a digital library consortium which includes libraries from across the state and has a 5-checkout/6-hold limit.

I know there are a number of people on MobileRead who pay to join large out-of-town libraries such as Philadelphia but so far I haven't done this.

[haertig]

Originally Posted by Sydney's Mom

Is removing DRM from library books widespread, and the libraries are just on board with it?

I would doubt that this is a big thing at all. For the wide population of eBook users, there is probably only a very small percentage who even know how to strip DRM. And stripping it from library eBooks is probably known to only a small percentage of the original small percentage. Plus, library eBooks are free to borrow. There's not much incentive to strip DRM from them, since you can just re-borrow them if you want. I do suppose people could borrow from a library, strip DRM, and then sell the result on a pirate website. But I can't imagine there'd be a large market to buy pirated eBooks this way, since the buyer could have just borrowed the eBook from a library for free in the first place. There might be a bigger market for pirated eBooks that aren't available in libraries however. I satisfy my occasional need to get not-available-from-the-library eBooks cheaply by buying used mass market paperbacks instead. Or, I just live with the conclusion that there are so many books in this world that I can live without one specific one here and there.

[haertig]

Originally Posted by 4691mls

All the libraries in my county are part of the same county system.

Yes, my libraries are county-based too. But there are a lot of counties that make up the Denver metro area. There are four within a 10 minute drive from my house (four extreme boundaries of counties that is, not four different libraries). Three of those close counties touch at a single traffic intersection. Extend your drive to 45 minutes and you run into even more counties. It took me a day of driving around the metro area to hit all the various county libraries. Most have several branches, and I chose which branch and in what order to make the days drive more efficient. Kind of a nerdy thing for me to do, but hey, now I have a bunch of library cards!

[cromag]

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.

[4691mls]

Originally Posted by haertig

Yes, my libraries are county-based too. But there are a lot of counties that make up the Denver metro area. There are four within a 10 minute drive from my house (four extreme boundaries of counties that is, not four different libraries). Three of those close counties touch at a single traffic intersection. Extend your drive to 45 minutes and you run into even more counties. It took me a day of driving around the metro area to hit all the various county libraries. Most have several branches, and I chose which branch and in what order to make the days drive more efficient. Kind of a nerdy thing for me to do, but hey, now I have a bunch of library cards!

There's only nearby county I'm aware of that is not a part of the same digital consortium as mine. That county issues cards only to people who live or own property there. You are lucky to have so many!

[haertig]

Originally Posted by 4691mls

You are lucky to have so many!

Lucky to have many libraries available. Unlucky to live near a large metro area. I'd rather be out in the back woods somewhere.

[janrey]

Originally Posted by Sydney's Mom

I was just adding some holds to my library account, waiting for the notice that I had reached my limit. I do that every month or so, and that gets me books to read for the following month. But I realized that my library had recently increased holds and check outs to 20 books. That seems crazy. Unless you are reading a book a day, that is difficult. I usually get holds every other day.

Is removing DRM from library books widespread, and the libraries are just on board with it? Or do people check out a lot of books they don't finish (Gasp!) I certainly like the ability to have a lot of books on hold-I put them on hold as soon as I hear about them, and when they are finally available, it is a pleasant surprise.

Does your library have a 20 book limit?

I still think I only can put a hold on 5 but I did notice that even when you transfer to Kindle they are now letting you renew. Didn't let you do this before so I just turned off my kindle until I finished because I find that those books I put on hold seem to all come up at the same time.

[sealbeater]

Originally Posted by haertig

I would doubt that this is a big thing at all. For the wide population of eBook users, there is probably only a very small percentage who even know how to strip DRM. And stripping it from library eBooks is probably known to only a small percentage of the original small percentage. Plus, library eBooks are free to borrow. There's not much incentive to strip DRM from them, since you can just re-borrow them if you want. I do suppose people could borrow from a library, strip DRM, and then sell the result on a pirate website.

I'm sure it's not a big thing but I'm sure it's a thing. I think there's a mistaken assumption regarding motivation. It's not about books being free to borrow, it's about possessing and having a copy of said book. The ease of which it can be reborrowed is, I think, fairly irrelevant. People who are inclined to deDRM library books want the book, not the borrowing rights. I also don't think there is much incentive to sell pirated books. It's all about the hoarding.

[haertig]

Originally Posted by sealbeater

It's all about the hoarding.

Good point. I was going to say I might understand hoarding behavior for physical things, but not digital things. Then I looked at the quantity of old and useless messages in my email inbox, and oops, there goes my theory about that! My trash folder is even worse! Electronic hoarding .. it's a new sickness.

[rcentros]

10 and 10 at the DFW library. I've never used all of either but have come close on holds. Since they let you know how many are in line in front of you, I try to anticipate that I'll be ready for a specific book when my turn comes. You can also "pause" a particular hold without (I think) having to start in the back of the line when you "unpause" it.