Library Woes

Let me say this first: I love the library.

I mean really, what's not to love? It's a building full of books. You can have (basically) as many as you want. They're virtually free (I pay $5/year for my card). If I don't like a book, I've lost a little bit of time, but no money.

So why the title then? Library Woes. What's that all about.

Well, I live in a relatively small city. At 60 000 people, we have one library branch. And sometimes my library can be really bad at having the books I want.

Now hey, I get it. I really have no idea how the purchasing system for the library works. And it seems really selfish to lament about the library not having everything I want. I am well aware. But sometimes the gaps in the collection are really baffling to me.

For example, Siege and Storm (Grisha #2) by Leigh Bardugo is finally on order for my library system. Ruin and Rising (Grisha #3) which just came out last week is no where to be found in the system. At all. But I've had a hold on Rainbow Rowell's Landline for months--and that doesn't even come out until July.

Or the system will have books missing from a trilogy or series. I've been interested in trying Cynthia Hand's Unearthly trilogy for a while now, but book 1 is marked in the catalogue as "LOST". Meanwhile, book 2 and 3 sit waiting on the shelves. Is the library ever going to order a replacement copy? We just don't know.

There is a silver lining to this story, however. There's this fabulous inter-library loan service that spans the entire province. Meaning that if something doesn't exist in my local library system, but it's in some library in Alberta, I can still get my hands on it.

Yeah, okay, it takes like 2 or more weeks for it to get processed and shipped to me. And yeah, it's due 3 weeks from when it arrives at my home library, not from the day I actually pick it up. And sure, I can't renew it. But still! Any book in the province! Shipped right to my home library for me to pick up and drop off. That's pretty sweet.

So. I love the library. I really do. But like anything there are some disadvantages. I guess I'll just have to keep pestering the library staff with my book purchasing requests!

What about you? Do you use your library? What do you do if they don't have the titles you want? Let's chat in the comments!