"There are two kinds of people in the world, those who believe there are two kinds of people in the world and those who don't." Robert BenchleyI must fall into the first group because I have often thought that one is either of library user or one is not. I have been going to libraries ever since my mother brought me as a small child. We faithfully visited every week, stocking up on all sorts of books from Dr. Seuss to Laura Ingalls Wilder on to Louisa May Alcott. My husband, on the other hand, usually thinks of purchasing books rather than borrowing them from the Library. After years of impassioned pleas he has learned to ask if I can get a specific title for him rather than immediately running to the bookstore. I was interested to read a column in the Denver Post by Barry Osborne called "My Library Year; a Confirmed book-buyer disavows stores to discover the joys and savings of checking out public volumes". I suspect given the difficult economic times we will see many more confirmed book buyers become library borrowers.
What about you; are you a borrower or a buyer?
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As a former librarian and bookseller, I've been both borrower and buyer. However, my experience with a cross-country move has made me primarily a borrower. It was time to prune the shelves rigorously, with cartons of books going to the public library, the college library, and Goodwill. The college librarian wrote a note of thanks for the varied character of our donation. The rare books I sold to an antiquarian dealer friend. There were some sighs, some struggles, but the much smaller collection that was left is just right. Occasionally we add to it, but when we do buy or receive a book, usually it goes right to DPL as soon as we are through. Physically and fiscally downsizing turns us into borrowers today.
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