A year at the library
A breakdown of navigating a library system and how much money I've saved.
In recent weeks I’ve locked into routine. Mainly because the weather has become more predictable (bad) and with two little kids it takes a bit of planning to not be stuck inside and go stir crazy. We’ve unintentionally fallen into the exact routine of my childhood. Wake up swim and burn as much energy as possible followed by a trip to the shop to select a treat, this week it was chocolate donuts with rainbow sprinkles. Followed by an afternoon trip to the library.
I have such visceral memories of the kids section of the library where I would hunch over selecting what ever Blyton book I had not yet read. Then I progressed to YA and on and on. Looking back I did not appreciate the size of my local library and variety that was in the reach of my fingertips.
When I graduated and left home I no longer visited that library, for a short while reading took a backseat, until it didn’t. Then my reading amped up exponentially, yet for some reason the idea of joining my new local library didn’t occur to me.
Fast forward 13 years and I joined my local (micro) library. Here, I take the kids and we sit on the carpet flipping through all the stories at our finger tips. We talk about what themes we are interested in, mainly dinosaurs, lions, princess or unicorns and try and search for books related. Sometimes we sit on the mat and read them there then put them back but the special ones my daughter asks to take home for her bedtime book.
This year I wanted to start to utilise the library as much as possible. To be honest I’m not sure exactly what I thought this would be, I knew that for me I would be using more of the e-library and audio options rather than ordering in (which comes at a cost per book). What I didn’t realise was that I would spend time on libby and borrow box then I care to admit constantly searching, borrowing and reserving.
I’ve managed to borrow 57 books/audiobooks this year (so far). The library has enabled me discover books that I would have never have usually wanted. Ex wife or Ripeness spring to mind. A book that I truly loved and would have never have previously paid much attention to at the bookshop. I also saved a lot of money on books that I would have certainly bought had my library not stocked them and then found them extremely underwhelming.
Whilst I have so many positives and I am so grateful to have access to a library, most importantly for me a digital library, there are certainly the downfalls.
Popular books can have wildly long wait times, on some it can be nearly a year especially if it a nominated long/short listed book. You are (at my library) limited to reserve only 5 books at one time. Which can leave you waiting for months before any space comes free to reserve more.
Their range of books are very much geared towards thriller, true crime, romance over more literary reads.
I’m not sure I’ve ever loaned or seen available to loan a non top 5 publisher book from and when I think of it I don’t actually know if they stock independent publishers. Which means some books like translated fiction I have to fund myself if I want to read.
BUT I have to say my biggest frustration is when the library only stocks part of a series, for example Elena Ferrante they have only 2 of the quartet and I’ve noticed some series they have book 3 and 5 but not 1 and 4.
There is only 1 Stephen King option? How is that even possible! This is quiet common with lots of huge names (Agatha Christie, Percival Everret etc etc)
Swings and roundabouts I guess I’m trying to say. Although I am very lucky to have a library and easy access to books it’s not perfect. I would love there to be way more funding and easier access to titles that are stocked. I would love for the library to hold reading and writing events for children and adults. I know some individual libraries might have this but I’m using my own local library as an example.
What I have saved this year from cancelling memberships has been far more than I was expecting….
Before my monthly book budget/bill looked something like this -
Audible - £7.99 per month
Kindle 99p offers - around £7 per month
Roughly £30 monthly on all other books across kindle and paper back
My 12 months with the library I have…
Loaned over 57 books and listened to over a 100 hours of audio.
I cancelled my audible subscription for most of the year, just recently joining to make the most of the 99p for 3 months. So far I’ve spent around £50 ALL YEAR that makes my savings total around £489, which is mad. Yes I’m having to adjust my reading expectations slightly, but so far there has been plenty to keep me going!
One of my lowkey goals this year is to consume less, the library has been a huge tool towards this as well as any of my chosen purchases is far more intentional.