Libraries or Bookstores?

I can't decide which I prefer, libraries or bookstores. They both have their advantages and disadvantages, some of them unique but others that they share.

My preference is hard copies of books on my own private shelves!

Shared Disadvantages

Both libraries and bookstores have limited hours when you are able to use them. For example, they do not open except at a certain time, and they close at a certain time, either not early enough or not late enough to fit your busy schedule. And they are closed entirely on certain days, such as Sundays and special holidays. Also, one must travel to get to both of them. Both libraries and bookstores often just don't fit conveniently into our schedules.

Unique Disadvantages

Libraries usually impose a time limit on how long you can borrow books. It might be two or three weeks, which seems like ample time for most people. But life happens, and you sometimes are slowed in your reading and can't finish the book in the allotted time. Of course, you usually can renew the book, but some libraries limit how often you can do that. And heaven forbid if someone else wants to read the book you have and places a hold on it, thereby preventing a renewal!

Books have become increasingly expensive. I remember buying paperback books for only 50 cents. Now the same books cost $12-20, some as much as $30 or even more. For paperbacks! Hardbacks cost more. And if the book, whether paperback or hardback, is published by an academic publisher, the sky is the limit! Such prices place a definite strain on anyone's budget.

Public libraries offer far more books on far more subjects than my shelf space would ever permit.

Another disadvantage of some libraries is their noise. Libraries have traditionally been perceived as places of quiet meditation and reading in which librarians are forever telling patrons to shush. But anymore, patrons and often even the librarians themselves talk loudly, frustrating my search among the shelves. And woe betide if the library is hosting a children's program!

One of the greatest disadvantages for me of books from libraries, however, is the fact that I can't underline, highlight, or write in them. I like to mark special points so I can find them later in case I want to refer to them in something I'm researching or writing. And the moment I need a particular point might be days, weeks, months, or even years after I've had to return the book. Writing down the point or quotation takes time, and I might misplace the paper on which I jotted it down. I like to write in the margins, argue with the author, or somehow highlight certain parts. I've come close to ruining many a library book that way when I have forgotten that the book isn't mine.

But when a book is mine, I can do with it as I please. Write notes in the margin, underline, highlight at will. I view books as tools, and tools are meant to be used. Sometimes when one uses tools, they get dirty. You can't dig a hole without getting dirt on the shovel. I don't needlessly damage books I own, but I use them in my work--and they usually show evidence of that use.

Advantages of Each

Yet, each book source also offers its own set of advantages.

Public libraries do offer significant advantages over private ownership of books.

Libraries are free, and as book prices increase, that's no small advantage. One has free access to every imaginable subject and can travel the world, the universe, and even places that exist only in authors' imaginations virtually through the library's holdings. And all for free! (Well, we pay for the privilege through our taxes, but you know what I mean. They don't charge you to use the library or to check out books.)

If one library doesn't have the book you want, another branch in the same system might, and library personnel will deliver it to you at any branch you choose, and you can pick it up there.

Even more helpful in some instances is the availability of interlibrary loan, by which you can have a book from one library system, even one outside your state, sent to your local library, where you can check it out.

Another advantage of borrowing books from libraries is that you read them and then return them without the problem of having to find a place to store them. My wife and I have often spoken of downsizing to a tiny house, but those discussions are all short lived because the question always arises of where we'd store all of our books! Too many books; not enough shelves!

With bookstores, however, if they don't have a book you want, you can always ask them to order it for you. They might not want to stock several copies of that particular title on their shelves, but they'll gladly order one copy for a guaranteed sale.

Used books make up a large part of my personal library holdings--and I write in them and mark them up. After all, they're tools!

Not to be outdone by libraries, bookstores often specialize in used books. Used bookstores are my favorite bookstores because their prices are usually a lot more reasonable than those of stores that sell only new books. The books they sell are usually in very good condition. But if one needs an inexpensive shovel to dig a hole, he's not going to quibble if the used shovel shows signs of wear or has a clump of dirt stuck to it or is a little rusty. (My books would never sell because they're too well used!)

The advent of online shopping options gives us a third source for our books, as has the advent of audiobooks and ebooks (e.g., Kindle). Those are often much cheaper than the ones sold in traditional bookstores. That fact has presented a challenge to booksellers, and many bookstores have gone out of business because they haven't been able to compete successfully with the new media and online shopping, both of which offer lower prices.

So will it be libraries or bookstores for you? They each have advantages and disadvantages, so it's a tough choice, but the need of the moment tends to determine which I prefer. But that can change--and often does. Overall, however, I have to come down on the side of bookstores (especially used bookstores) and hard copies.

What about you? Do you prefer the library or the bookstore? Hardbacks or paperbacks? Print versions or ebooks?

Why? Please share your thoughts.