Library

[The dane]

My work mate said to look on line for books in our 3 local librarys! He was right the 2 books i purchased over the weekend are there! One book says 3 available the other says wait/hold!
So how do library ebooks work? How can i take something back thats not really there? And whats the point in buying if i can download from home from the library!
Would it be as normall (2 weeks to return) do u return or delete?
Cheers

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by The dane

My work mate said to look on line for books in our 3 local librarys! He was right the 2 books i purchased over the weekend are there! One book says 3 available the other says wait/hold!
So how do library ebooks work? How can i take something back thats not really there? And whats the point in buying if i can download from home from the library!
Would it be as normall (2 weeks to return) do u return or delete?
Cheers

Exactly how it works will depend on your reading device and/or app.
"Returns" are automatic; the book goes away when it's loan expires. Some reading apps/devices let you do early returns.

Generally, a bigger issue is wait times between when you reserve a title and when you can get it.

[eschwartz]

Adobe ebooks checked out through libraries have the return date baked into the book, and the book becomes unreadable once the loan expires.
Kindle ebooks checked out through libraries will be automatically deleted when you connect to WiFi and Amazon's servers indicate the book has expired.


You might want to buy your books if you don't want to have to wait for your reserve (just like paper books), or if you want your own, permanent copy, or if the library doesn't have the book you want...

... basically, just like how libraries have always worked.

[pidgeon92]

I get the vast majority of my ebooks from my libraries. I use a nifty Chrome browser extension aptly named "Library Extension" that shows me if Kindle book on Amazon is available as an ebook at one of my libraries.

https://www.libraryextension.com/faq

[FizzyWater]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Exactly how it works will depend on your reading device and/or app.
"Returns" are automatic; the book goes away when it's loan expires. Some reading apps/devices let you do early returns.

Each library might also have its own return time periods. I belong to a few of them, and at least 1 defaults to 21 days and 1 defaults to 14 days. I read pretty fast, so I've changed the defaults to 7 days.

Using Adobe Digital Editions with Overdrive ebook libraries, I can return library books early when I finish them (or when I realize I borrowed a book I've already read). I don't know if there's a way to return Kindle books early.

3M's ebook libraries also allow early returns - the one I have access to defaults to 21 days - but I don't think it's particularly easy to figure out how to do so. I think I got in there by mistake once. My library's 3M selection is pitiful, so I seldom go in there.

[eschwartz]

Kindle books can be returned early from http://amzn.com/manageyourkindle

3M books like any other ADE books can be returned from ADE the same way you returned the OverDrive books.

[FizzyWater]

Maybe I'm using too old a version of ADE (1.7 for everything but Google Books), but I haven't been able to return 3M books from ADE. I had to go into the 3M program to do it.

Thanks for the info on where to return Kindle books early!

[eschwartz]

Nope, I run linux so ADE 1.7 is quite literally the only thing I can use with any reliability.

And 3M books return using the same "return this book" dropdown thingy as the OverDrive.


...


Or at least I could've sworn they used to, but then again, I could've also sworn 3M didn't have a built-in reader.
And the book is no longer automatically shown in ADE... although I can manually import it.



This reminds me why I hate ADE books so much. I can't put them on my Kindle, ADE (and 3M) have really lousy readers AFAIAC, and they create hoops seemingly for the fun of it.

[drjenkins]

Originally Posted by The dane

And whats the point in buying if i can download from home from the library!

I check out books from the library that I expect to read once and move on. I buy the books that I know I will want to read again, use for reference, or just skim though from time to time.

Sometimes checking out a library book is how I find out that I want to buy it.

[HarryT]

I have a bit of an obsession about reading a series in the correct order, so I'd have to reach the middle of a series and then find that the library didn't have the next book, or that there was a long wait for it. That's why I prefer to buy books; for me the cost is negligible.

[Froide]

Originally Posted by The dane

My work mate said to look on line for books in our 3 local librarys! He was right the 2 books i purchased over the weekend are there! One book says 3 available the other says wait/hold!
So how do library ebooks work? How can i take something back thats not really there? And whats the point in buying if i can download from home from the library!
Would it be as normall (2 weeks to return) do u return or delete?
Cheers

As others have posted, the process by which you'll borrow a digital library book depends both upon your device and upon the elending platform(s) your library uses.
Most libraries have posted on their websites instructions for borrowing ebooks as well as the ebook lending periods. If you are the type who prefers to talk through the process, then discussing the process with the work mate you mentioned, or a visit or phone call to the library might prove useful.

Originally Posted by HarryT

I have a bit of an obsession about reading a series in the correct order, so I'd have to reach the middle of a series and then find that the library didn't have the next book, or that there was a long wait for it. That's why I prefer to buy books; for me the cost is negligible.

I, too, read series in the correct order, but my first preference is to borrow, rather than buy, books that I don't necessarily want to reread or keep in my permanent collection. Therefore, I've found it useful to do a bit of planning before tucking in to a series. Specifically:

• I borrow and/or reserve multiple books in a given series at once, adding to that queue as I finish each book
• I am flexible about both where I borrow, library-wise (as I belong to multiple library systems), and how I borrow, platform-wise (e.g., 3M Cloud Library, Axis 360, and Overdrive)

This has worked extremely well for me, except when two books in Charlie Higson's The Enemy series were unavailable to borrow, except as hard copies. In that instance, I borrowed the hard copies from the public library. (Shocking, how thick and heavy they were! Even the longest of ebooks, of course, is only as weighty as one's ereading device.)

[Apache]

I reread by choice not necessity and prefer to own my books. When ever I get the desire to reread a specific book it is always at hand.
Apache

[tubemonkey]

I read by what's available in the inexpensive category (library, Audible, LibriVox, etc). I never buy ebooks and never pay more than $2.99 for audiobooks. If a book I want to read doesn't fit in the above category, then I skip it and find something that does.

[4691mls]

If you are using an Overdrive library, you should be aware that "Open Epub" ebooks cannot be returned early - you have to wait for them to expire.

I learned this the hard way when I inadvertently checked out several Open Epub books at once, read them quickly, and then had to wait for them to expire before I could check out anything else (my library allows only 5 checkouts at one time).

[eschwartz]

Make sure to change your borrowing period to 7 days before you checkout Open EPUBs!