Your Public Library and Book Rentals
I was recently discussing a book I've been reading (The World Is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman, which I highly recommend) on my Sony eReader with a friend and suggested he borrow my eReader to try it out (and of course, read the book). His reply was "Sure, I'd like to try out the eReader, but I no longer buys books, except for the tried and true reference books you should always have at arms reach, I'll just check it out from my local library.". This got me thinking. I haven't actually used my local library in quite a while. Mainly because I thought it was more of a pain then it was worth. For me, it's like the difference between taking mass transit and owning your own car. I like the idea of mass transit, the lower cost, and the fact that it saves the environment more then owning your own car does, but I just can't get passed the freedom that comes with having your own car. Owning your own car is worth the price you pay. Borrowing a book from the library means you first have to find out if they even have it. Then you have to find out if it is available. If not, you have to wait until it becomes available. Then you have to read it and get it back to the library within the allotted time, or possibly you can re-check it out for longer. Finally you have to deal with the library if the book is late or if you happen to lose it. On the plus side, the book is free to borrow...at least that's cheaper then mass transit!
It occurred to me that it might be nice to be able to rent book, like NetFlix. I found several 'rent a book' websites including Book Swim, Paper Spine, and Books Free. They include both paper and audio books. This actually looks like an attractive option as many of them ship books both ways for free. If you read enough books, this is well worth the price. And like NetFlix, you create a list of books you want to read and when you send one back, they send the next one in your list. Pretty nice.
Before I jump into paying a subscription for book rentals, though, I'm going to give my local library a try. There's one *really* close to my house, actually, two. I'd like to find out for myself just how much of a pain (or not) it really is. And who knows, if I like it, I might actually give mass transit a try too!
It occurred to me that it might be nice to be able to rent book, like NetFlix. I found several 'rent a book' websites including Book Swim, Paper Spine, and Books Free. They include both paper and audio books. This actually looks like an attractive option as many of them ship books both ways for free. If you read enough books, this is well worth the price. And like NetFlix, you create a list of books you want to read and when you send one back, they send the next one in your list. Pretty nice.
Before I jump into paying a subscription for book rentals, though, I'm going to give my local library a try. There's one *really* close to my house, actually, two. I'd like to find out for myself just how much of a pain (or not) it really is. And who knows, if I like it, I might actually give mass transit a try too!
