Library or owning?

[Klompatron]

I prefer owning books. I like looking at bookshelves full of books.

[VinuW]

Owning. That way I can re-read the parts I enjoy.

[makenna-16]

I own a lot of my books but I love the unlimited amount and endless, it seems, of decisions and information at the library.

[Gardnerj15+]

Honestly, for me, it depends on the book. I enjoy going to the library; every time I walk into one I feel nostalgia from researching school reports in their Encyclopedia's. I enjoy getting a bunch of books at a time so that I can read them back to back. Then if there is one that truly stood out to me, I will purchase it.

[Meg0169]

Both. I tend to use the library as much as possible (I work in one), but there are times where I will buy a book. For instance, I bought The Martian because the hold line was around six months and I was not going to wait that long. Although when I do buy, I tend to buy used at book stores or even at Goodwills. You would be surprised how big my Science Fiction and Fantasy sections has gotten at home due to my finds at thrift stores!

[Kia]

When I was little I always used the library. I read so much that it wast a hassle to get through them in time and since I never read them again it made no sense for my mother to buy them for me. Now though I prefer to own. I have so many other things going on in my life, plus the novels I read are much larger than when I was little.

[Reader-Rachel]

Love owning my books! I don't know what I would do if I couldn't have my shelves of books. There is something very comforting having them around. The only negative is budgeting, which I'm very bad at once it comes to books.

[sadya]

I don't know what I would do if I couldn't have my shelves of books. There is something very comforting having them around.

So true!

[malavika muse]

I love going to the library. I kind of like the weird musty smell that libraries have and also it's silence. But if i come across books that i would like to read again, I end up buying a copy.

[CrescentMoon]

I don't have a library yet but I would love to have a library one day and just fill it up with books I own. There's something special about having the books belong to me.

[RussetDivinity]

I love to own books, but I just don't have the money for it anymore (working retail means I really have to ration out what I buy, what with food and gas to pay for), so more often than not I find myself going to the library for books.

[DATo]

The vast majority of the books I have in my own library (appx. 3200) have not been read. The whole purpose for having a library (in my opinion anyway) is to have ready access to books you'd like to read when it is not practical to go out to the library or to purchase one, or for reference.

A story I think I've told here on the forums before, long ago, involves an experience I had many years ago which illustrates what I am trying to say. It was a dark and stormy night ... no, really, it was *LOL* ... and I was in the mood to read something but had no idea what I wanted to read. It was sort of like going to the fridge to find something to munch on even though you don't know what you want, but in this case my library took the place of the fridge. I looked over a bookcase of "classics" and "Pulitzer winners" and came across The Rise and Fall Of The Third Reich by William Shirer. It turned out to be one of the best reading experiences of my life and it had been sitting there the whole time.

I just went over a list of all the books I've read in the last four years and though there were many good ones on the list I can only find four that I think at some point I might want to read again. Most of these books were contemporary fiction recommendations. So why store books that you don't plan to ever read again? Store them at your local library and create room on your shelves for the books you may want to read at some time in the future - for those times when you are ill and can't go out or snowed in.

[Xander_22]

I use the library more than anything. I generally buy books I feel are necessary in my collection though, that I'm going to read again. And if I didn't enjoy the book? Then the library allowed me to try that out without having to spend any money.

[Sarah_Khan]

Although I love owning books, I read books fairly quickly so I don't feel the need to own all my books. When I really like a book then I will go out and buy the book because I feel like I have to actually own a copy so I can reread it whenever I want or lend it to someone so they can read the story and we can discuss it later. I think for me, since I get the majority of my books from the library, I end up reading more because I know I will eventually have to give them back and another plus side is I don't have to wait until I have money to buy the books and then read them.

[read-by-Theresa]

I used to own all of the books I read and then I ended up having to sell them all. I then turned to reading library books and read an average of 25 a month. Now that I have a Kindle I keep them all on there. I wonder how many that thing will hold.