To expect more from my local library?

[mypoosmellsofroses]

Due to being utterly skint at the moment - both DH and I out of work, I went to my local library today to join. There's a big list of books I would buy if I had the cash, a mix of fiction, and non fiction.

Joined no problem and set off upstairs to non fiction all excited. There's no limit to the number of books you can take out and you can have them for 3 weeks before renewing/returning.

I couldn't find a single book on my list, and they weren't especially out there, bizarre academic tomes or anything. There was no history section at all, nothing. I had to ask someone in case I was being dim and had missed it :( Most of the the non fiction seemed to be travel guides and cook books. I mooched in psychology/sociology section and it was all self help books and vic lit.

I didn't check out the fiction today, was too disheartened by the non fiction. It's great that there's a meeting room for hire, lots of computers and they seem to do a lot of childrens sessions, but where are the bloody books???

It's quite a big library ( well the building is!) in a reasonable sized market town, AIBU to expect a more rounded selection of reading material?

Picture I work in libraries and I understand your frustration. The service has been decimated by council cuts who themselves have been put in that position by cuts from central government. Honestly you are lucky to have a town library dedicated to that service with trained staff. Budget cuts mean less books but library staff are resourceful and helpful. Give them a chance to track some of your books down. We can do an inter library loan from anywhere in the uk and we can offer advice on alternatives.
It's a catch 22, cuts mean we have less resources so we then get less customers which then means we get further cuts because our numbers are going down. I would say most library staff are as frustated as you at the lack of books but use the staffs expertise in helping you find the information you need.

Pictures, we can't reserve adult books on childrens tickets in our library.

Really. Dd is 13 & many of the books she reads are adult or crossover anyway eg Ladies No 1 Detective Agency, Richard Dawkins, etc

An ex librarian (retired 4 years ago) I can,sadly, only echo all the comments above regarding cuts to funding. And some authorities use 'supplier selection' (i.e. not in -house qualified librarians) these days (its cheaper) resulting in occasional oddities.. It was a lot more fun when I qualified .
But most do buy at least one copy of new best sellers (and sometimes extra copies when they come out in pb) which you can reserve, usually for a reasonable fee . And the main library should have reasonably 'in depth' coverage of less mainstream non- fiction.
Many have User Groups-suggest you join if you feel they are really deficient and make your voice heard!
I'm afraid we didn't let adults reserve books on a child's ticket though children/ young adults could reserve 'suitable' adult titles.
But people on benefits did get concessions . Worth asking if you are in that unfortunate situation
Library staff are usual helpful-our mantra is 'the right book (or piece of information)to the right person at the right time

PS Most libraries accept donations . New, pristine,
fiction paperbacks preferred. Not yellowing tatty copies and not out of date non fiction

Inter library loans too expensive for me. However your card will allow you to use other libraries and you can return the books to the local one. In some towns villages pubs there are free book shelfs that you can borrow and return books. Not sure of name of it. Others are right re libraries happy to accept donations if clean. Also cut in funding means less books and staff. My pil one in village was going to close until the villagers stepped in. They provide volunteers, books. Council provides the building, heating etc and a very very small budget for books....

I used to use libraries a lot, but somehow they stopped being useful. I used to get fiction and not fiction and use them for studying, and then gradually, about 15 years ago they started getting less books and more computers. They became more noisy and had less study space. So they stopped being useful for me. One lovely library was remodelled as a ruddy "learning centre". Lovely you would think? But half the books were gone, 80% of the desks had gone and there was a bloody great cafe. Doh.

His thread makes me feel so sad.

Am I breaking any rules by asking any MNetters who tweet to go follow and support @LIBRARIESINNEED

Use it or lose it people!

YANBU - libraries are not what they once were. Ours has a good non-fiction section, but I was there on Saturday and someone was giving a talk to a group saying how AMAZING the nonfiction section was - yes, it's good, but it's sad to me that it is unusual - seems to me it is what libraries should have

We use our local library.

I can use my library card in any library in my county, and return books to any branch in the county. The selection isn't great in all branches - the branches vary in size and types of stock, sometimes oddly - for instance, the tiny branch nearest me has a much larger and varied collection of toddler books than the big city centre library a few miles away.

I can also reserve books online for 35p or so if I want a particular book. Although I can't reserve adult books on the DCs tickets. I guess as they're both under 5 yrs no librarian would believe they were for the DC!

Also, I've donated books to the local library before. The librarians told me that they will accept fiction books in good condition, but that they wouldn't take non-fiction because too much of the non-fiction people tried to give them was out of date.

I've given up on our local library - they never get any even newish books in, and you have to pay £1 to get one ordered in from another library. I resent paying to borrow a book when I could probably buy it on kindle or second hand from Amazon for a few pence extra. And even though there are usually 3/4 librarians behind the main desk they recently installed self check-in check-out machines, so you do that while three women just stand and watch you from across the room. It's just not a pleasant environment for me anymore...

I gave up on ours too - sadly. It is a small rural library. I have to order everything I want in at a cost of 75p a book and drive 7 miles to get it. I can buy most books I want used online for 1p plus £2.80 postage which is actually cheaper than reserving it, driving there and I don't have to wait forever.

I do still use it if there is something I want to look at before paying £20 for a book.

It was rubbish for children's books too and the rate DD reads at would mean spending £7.50 a week on reservations.

Shame, I would love to support them and would do so in a flash if the reservation fee was less and the system of actually getting a reserved book more efficient.

Sadly I think we will lose our rural libraries in not so many years.

Have been researching more online and can get most of the books from the library in next town (same county) so would be easier and cheaper to have a trip there than reserve.
Still feeling a bit sad about local library though, looking at online info, it's one of four District Libraries in the county, so would expect at least a history section in non fiction. Think this is more sadness at the fact that there's apparently no interest locally rather than the fault of the library though, as they would be responding to demand.

I'm an avid library user - our County have no charge for interlibrary loans so I just order online and they text me when is ready for collection.

They also offer ebook loans and emagazines.
It's probably the only service that the county have managed to get right following the recent cuts.
Mind you the money they get from my late returns probably helps the cash flow

I don't think libraries are great if you need specific books. I don't think they ever have been, not small libraries. 30 years ago you didn't decide in advance which book to read, you walked in and found something more or less appropriate.

I'm bemused by why someone's DD using it to read for enjoyment would cost a penny in reservation fees. You walk in and pick something you fancy off the shelves. A child's reading doesn't need to be preplanned, especially not a child who is a bookworm.

have look at access to free audio books - ours and Surrey have it and is brilliant to be able to listen to a book on your phone!

No limit on number of books borrowed can't help.

Our (small, rural) library is much the same. Reservations cost about 50p per book. I can never seem to re-new books either because they're reserved by someone else so we end up finishing the book, returning it late and paying a fine. It ends up costing as much as just trawling the charity shops for books we like. There obviously just aren't enough books to go around. We even tried the Overdrive electronic library but still couldn't take the books out because they were reserved.

Skylark a lot of older childrens/teenage books these days seem to have a number of volumes in a series. Dd1 has a few on the go and wants to read them in order so it's important to her to get a particular book at a particular time. It's a pain in the arse to be frank but we've found it much easier to just download cheap kindle copies when we need them.

I'm bemused by why someone's DD using it to read for enjoyment would cost a penny in reservation fees. You walk in and pick something you fancy off the shelves. A child's reading doesn't need to be preplanned, especially not a child who is a bookworm.

When the age appropriate section is two small shelves of books you do need to reserve - no need to be snarky. Like pp said - there are series to be read.

Books need to engage and draw the reader in whatever the age and not every book does that.

We now own far more books than the age appropriate section of our rural library.

Our local independent book seller has a children's specialist who I can ask if DD liked this what can you recommend which may or may not set us off on a new set of books, I can't do that at the library.