What I Most Miss About Bookstores - Part II

 

OK, so bear with me for a minute because at first glance this is likely to seem more than a little bit strange - and like a lot of work. But, in fact, I didn't even realize I was doing this for a while because it is just a steady progression of something I was already doing to a smaller degree. And over the last thirty days or so, it's been working beautifully for me.

I'm lucky enough to have access to the digital public libraries of my county, my city, several adjacent counties, and a rather remarkable community college system. The really beautiful thing about all of this access is that all of these libraries share assets among each other - and they can be simultaneously (completely in the background) browsed from a single software application. The same seems to be true for access to physical copies of books, but I'm pretty sure that I would have to collect those myself in some cases. 

Two or three times a week, I do a deep dive on the app to see what catches my eye. And now that I understand the app settings, I am often notified the moment some hot new book hits the digital shelves, meaning that I get to skip the hold lines completely, or at the very least, place myself near the top of any queue that develops. I grab whatever looks interesting, and sometimes that means six or seven books in one evening. Then, over the next several days, I "flip" through the books, maybe reading a chapter or two in the process before deciding that I do indeed want to read the whole book. Of course, I'm just as likely to learn that the style and content of something is not anything I want to waste my time on - and back it goes. 

So some books get returned almost immediately, some get a prompt reading, and when things really get out of hand, others are returned and placed on the hold list for a second look later on. 

The check-out and hold list limits are so generous that I haven't come near testing them yet: 50 total books on loan and 30 books on hold. Right now, for example, I have 25 books on loan from the library and another 23 on hold. Those on hold are estimated to be available to me anywhere from two weeks from now to six months from now, so they are sort of a TBR list that the library maintains for me. 

Something I've started doing more of lately is browsing by genre - and I've found the experience to be very much like it was in the bookstores, maybe even better in some ways. For instance, I browsed the history section and the historical fiction sections last night and caught up on the best of what's been published in the genres since Covid. I have a fair feel now, I hope, for the ones I don't want to miss, and I was even able to pair up some fiction and nonfiction titles the way I used to do. 

For the first time in a while, I feel like I'm fairly informed about the genres I enjoy reading the most. I see the hot titles, the backlist from authors I haven't heard from for a while, and discover new writers I would have missed by relying on chains like the infamous B&N. It works really well for me - and so far at least, my library system doesn't seem to have any problems with the larger than average turnover I've created. (I doubt they've even noticed, actually. And if they have, they may welcome the boost in usage statistics that results.)

I know this is not for everyone. But if you read e-books a lot, or if you don't have easy access to brick-and-mortar bookstores anymore but do have a library to tap, this might be something you want to consider.

Suggestion: If you try this, and you notice others stacking up behind you on a hold list for a book you have checked out, please don't keep the book for two weeks trying to decide whether you want to read it or not. Decide quickly whether you will be reading it anytime soon, if at all, and get it back into the system ASAP. I can't help but feel as if I'm gaming the system a little bit, so that is a high priority for me.

Anyway...let me know if this is something you might try - or if you think I've completely lost my mind now.