Debate: Buy or borrow?
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- August
- 18
I own too many books.
I was raised by parents who lived through The Great Depression and who therefore scrutinized every purchase, a skill that’s suddenly in vogue again.
For me, then, books have always been a guilty purchase. After all, doesn’t the library have enough to read?
And yet, I do buy books.
So we’re starting a debate here. Is it better to buy your books or borrow them?
I mean, I love libraries. But borrowing a book is not the same as holding a volume, smelling those pages freshly minted and printed, knowing that the little treasure is yours to read at your own pace, to loan to others, to put on a shelf and pull out in the middle of some distant night when you’re trying to remember that turn of phrase or that one description that stayed with you.
So I buy books, but sparingly. My one-bedroom place can hardly hold more than the 1,000-plus books already packed on my shelves, stacked on a steamer trunk and spilling onto the floor.
(As an aspiring author, I absolutely want other people to buy plenty of books. And when I do buy a new novel, spending $16 I could be saving for the many car repair bills I pay, I also feel that I’m paying into the writers’ karma.)
A few hundred years ago, a Dutch scholar named Desiderius Erasmus made his opinion clear:
“When I get a little money, I buy books;
and if any is left, I buy food and clothes.”
He was probably pretty hungry a lot of the time, and we can only imagine what it was like to sit next to him at work, what with him wearing the same clothes all the time. But then, he lived from 1466 to 1536, so we don’t have to worry about it.
I want to know what people think now.
Your thoughts?
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on Tuesday, August 18th, 2009 at 10:42 am by Ken Valenti.
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Well, as the bona fide owner of more than 4,000 volumes, you won’t get an argument from me about owning vs renting books. I seldom pay full price, of course, preferring to buy cheap from book and tag sales, but since most of the books I prefer ti read have been out of print for decades, it’s hard to get them from the library any way.
But I’ll take the devil’s advocate position, if you don’t mind. For someone with limited funds, a library is where you can get your literature and not starve to death. It gives you just-released titles in hardback so you don’t have to wait to read, say, the third book in a series you’re following until it comes out in paper, if at all. For many people, catch and release makes more sense, especially if they’re reading books they really don’t want to own.
So, what do you think about those people who wander the book stores and read there, instead of buying? I know scads of people who do that, most of them kids who don’t want to purchase or (mostly men) who would rather not pay money for something they can get without paying.
Guilty!
Yes, I (a man) do read a lot in book stores. The local BMW dealership would let me test-drive a car, so why not take the new Richard Russo or Amy Tan out for a spin?
(OK, I can see the response how: Your car dealership may let you take a car for a test drive, but you won’t be permitted to use the car for your daily commute.)
So be it. It’s not like I’m going to finish an entire novel in the store. A couple of chapters at most.
As for new releases at the library, the problem is they’re always in the express racks, where you can borrow them for 7 days, or maybe just 3 days, no renewals allowed. Who can finish a book in 3 days in these times? I’d have to take off from work.
What’s more, I have a friend who won’t even buy used books because she’s afraid of “where they’ve been.”
I borrow, almost all the time. I love libraries. I borrow from friends. I rarely buy, unless it’s a book I want to read again and again, or a gift. I bought two books for myself a few weeks ago… Twilight, which my 14 year old commandeered and I never saw again and The Time Traveler’s Wife, which I loved tremendously and wanted to read again in anticipation of the movie.
Both. I borrow way more than I purchase, but I’ve also discovered a couple of online book swap sites which satisifies my need to hold and lay claim to books of my own.
Well, they’re new to ME, anyway…
My brother just got a kindle. That’s going to make for an interesting wrinkle in the book publishing business…
I prefer a third option: getting people to buy me books. Since my wife is the daughter of an English major and my teen-aged son works at Barnes & Noble and gets a terrific discount, it usually works out pretty well (Sidenote: He is likewise annoyed by people who read books in the store, and then manage to leave the book nowhere near where they got it from.). It also helps that I’m a notoriously off-and-on reader (4 books in various phases on the bedside table). I don’t frequent libraries much any more—though I used to live in them in high school. We all have library cards and visit occasionally, but bn.com is too tempting. It also helps that we share amongst ourselves, too. So, kind of a hodge-podge.
As a librarian, I am a shoe-in vote for borrowing books from the library. But I also own a zillion books and just came back from a vacation which included a trip to a book related museum (Eric Carle Picture Book Museum in MA), jaunts to three libraries (this is for fun!) and a couple of bookstores. And while our house is full of books, mine and my family’s, we actually can afford such luxury since we also haunt used book sales – especially the ones that libraries throw – best thing going – the money supports libraries and the books are a treasure hunter’s dream.
See, now that’s an interesting point from Bob about reading books in the store. When I read stuff at Borders, I always put it back where I found it. But then, I seem to remember signs in one library that they don’t want you to put the books back because, I suppose, they fear you’ll put them in the wrong place. So they would rather do it themselves.
And, Susan, going to three libraries on vacation is quite dedicated. (I made a point of stopping by the library the last two times I was in Seattle, but that was because of the much-ballyhooed Rehm Koolhaas design of the glass, diamond-patterned building. Frankly, I’m not crazy about the design, but that’s a discussion for a blog on architecture.)
So buying used books seems to be the way to go. But if nobody buys them new, how will they ever end up in the used book racks?
Somebody fears used books because they’re not sure where they’ve been? Has s/he thought where that dollar bill in the wallet has been? Although, more for me, as they say.
My husband reads entire novels in the book store, by the way. He drops by two or three times a week and reads another two or three chapters. He puts the book back exactly where it was so he can find it again. I keep thinking someone will buy them all and he’ll be SOL!
I won’t read a book in a bookstore unless I’ve already purchased it and am waiting for someone I’m with to finish up and we can leave. I may read the first page or two to see if I like the style, but not the whole chapter. It doesn’t feel right to do that — bothers my conscience.
I either buy books NEW or borrow from the library. I tend to borrow novels from the library unless something new by one of my favorite authors has been published; those I buy.
I also buy nonfiction because those are usually reference books that I’ll want to go to more than once. I also enjoy underlining, highlighting and folding pages down in certain books, so I buy.
How will authors ever make money if no one buys new books??
Geez, Randi, now I know why my son got fewer hours at Barnes & Noble this summer
Love this topic. When I lived in Larchmont, I was three blocks from the library so I never bought books. Instead, I’d sit at my computer with the book reviews and request what I wanted using the Westchester Library System’s excellent online reservation system. Then when I moved to northern Westchester, the library became a drive and I started buying more books. As an English major and avid reader married to an avid reader, we already had tons of books. Now we have two tons. Too much! Now that I take my daughter to Reis Park in Somers, I am ordering books from the library again and picking them up when we visit the park. If I’m late returning them sometimes, I consider that a donation to a good cause—and a lot cheaper than buying the books.
As for my daughter, we’re already bursting out of the bookshelf in her room… Now I’m using the library more for her, too.
The only problem: When you can’t remember a detail or the name of a character, you can’t easily get back a library book to doublecheck!
I like Bob’s third option: Getting people to buy you books. Interesting. I’d love to get my family to buy me nothing but gift cards to Barnes & Noble or Borders.
I also see Pam’s logic, too. Buying the non-fiction and keeping it as reference. The odd thing is, when I buy the non-fiction, I’m using the books to do research for the fiction I write in my spare time. And if I use it to write novels and short stories that get published, I definitely want people to buy them.
So I do buy novels now and then, too.
And, I know that Julie means about paying the occasional late fee at the library. When I lived in White Plains, I think I supported the place with my late fees. Now I’m in New Rochelle and it’s the same thing. But I don’t mind because of the value I get out of libraries.
My cousin, who also lives in New Rochelle, is the opposite. He absolutely refuses to turn in a book late. Once, hundreds of miles from home, he called his wife to ask her to run to the library with some books he’d borrowed just so he wouldn’t pay that those few dimes. (I can’t criticize, though. He’s much better than me at managing money in general.)
If I bought every book I wanted to read, I’d have to put bookshelves in my shower to store them all. I also like coffee table books almost as much as I like coffee, so I’m out of space for those, too. With that in mind, I borrow and use the library for myself, but I often buy books for my 12-year-old son. He is more impatient and often can’t wait to read the latest/hottest book on his list. Often times I start reading a book that I’ve borrowed and have to stop and go buy it, because I want to make notes on the text. If I’m writing a paper on the book, I must own it as I will bleed ink all over it. I do buy novels to read when I’m going on vacation and can’t get the ones I want quickly enough. Also, I often buy books as gifts, especially cookbooks or children’s books.
That reminds me of those times I’ve bought books in airports, paying that extra-high airport price. A flight of several hours is prime reading time, and I hate to waste it skipping through a newspaper or magazine. The opportunity just screams out for a novel.
One I bought was “Three Bags Full,” the English translation of a German best-seller about a flock of sheep who solve the mystery of their shepherd’s murder. Clever idea. I don’t think I ever finished it, though.
I simply love books and have been an avid reader since childhood. I’ve always loved libraries because I can have the fun of browsing as if I’m in a book store but don’t have to purchase the books I bring home. Still, I have many bookcases in my apartment crammed with books that I’ve bought. Those books are the large art books, philosophy books, reference books, and books on unusual subjects that aren’t easy to find in a library. Those I want to be able to read or look through over and over again.
Besides the must own books, I sometimes purchase used books I spot in libraries or on sales shelves in bookstores that look like fun to read and which I tuck away for times when I’ve run out of library books to read. And then there are the books I purchase for my grandchildren as gifts because I want to encourage the love of reading that’s been so important to me throughout my life.
Hey, i own Three Bags Full—if you want to borrow it, let me know! (another argument for buying vs renting, eh?)
I’m with Pam—I borrow or buy new (non-fiction and authors I love, as well as books I’ve borrowed over and over and decided I need to own). BUT, my recent habit is to buy used from the library! I also donate books there when I’m done to keep the rotation going. I just got a hardcover copy of Mary Karr’s memoir, “Cherry” for a dollar. And I know the money is supporting the library! It’s a win-win.
And Ken, tell your cousin to carry his library card with him when he travels (or, if he’s a geek like me, he can just memorize the ID number on it), and he can log in to the Westchester Library System from any computer connected to the ‘net, bring up his card listing and renew, place holds and look up books!
Now that summer is ending, I’d like to know what all of these interesting posters are reading these days…
Another vote for borrowing books. First thing I check out when I check out a book from the library is who checked it out last. There are some awfully lonely books in the library. I’m someone who needs to annotate in the margins (almost always because something impresses me). Sooo I use those stickies. When I’m done with the book I take the stickies out and I am actually able to retain some of what I read. Pretty good, huh? My father-in-law has a killer book collection (mainly the classics). I’m hoping he will leave them to me. Then I can brag with the best of you (!)
Hey, Rob.
That’s a great idea. Stickies. I love it.