Used Book Sale
books
Previously I discussed why you run into so many holds on items in OverDrive and some ways we are working to shorten the hold time for our patrons. Another one of the reasons that we don’t have enough copies of books to go around in due to publishing restrictions.
For some reason, publishers cannot embrace the idea of libraries allowing patrons to use ebooks and audiobooks in the same way as a physical book. Over the last two years we have had publishers increase prices on their books, changed from allowing us unlimited access to a purchased ebook or audiobook to making us buy a new one after 12 months, 24 months or 52 checkouts and even limited the number of books a Consortium can buy. These publishers include Penguin, Simon and Shuster, and MacMillian who publish such popular authors as Nora Roberts, Lisa Gardner, Stephen King, John Grisham, Lee Child, Lisa Scottoline, Linda Castillo and Kristin Hannah to just name a few.
If you Google MacMillian you will see that they have libraries up in arms with their current policy changes. They are allowing Consortium’s to purchase titles at $30 for the first eight weeks of release. After that, if you want more copies you have to pay $52 or more for a book. Remember the policy I mentioned before of how many copies of a book we would own? Sometimes with books like “Where the Crawdads Sing” it takes time for the buzz to catch on and for the holds to stack up and by then we could be past that first weeks of publishing driving the cost up for purchasing more copies of the book.
Also, did you catch those prices? How much do you pay for an audiobook or ebook on Amazon? On OverDrive audiobook prices can range from around $45 to over $100 for popular titles. Ebooks can be as low as $5.99 for less popular titles but the popular titles range from $55 – $109. Where book vendors give deep discounts to libraries and book stores for physical purchases, that’s not what’s happening in the electronic world.
OverDrive is a very popular service that we know our patrons appreciate. At the same time it can be very frustrating to see all the books that you want to read have a long wait on them. A suggestion from me is to make good use of the “wishlist” feature on OverDrive. If you want to read a book and it has a long wait, place the book on your wishlist. (There are no limits on the capacity of the wish list, but you are limited to 3 hold at a time.) When you are ready to read a book, go to your wish list, click “filter” and then click “available now.” The list will then show you all the books that you’ve been dying to read that are available at that time. This really eases your frustration of “finding nothing available.” Happy reading!
Let’s Be Danish
The winter months are slower publishing months so there may not be as many new books out as usual. That’s why we’ve come up with a Winter Book Bingo! Take the Book Bingo challenge and move beyond the new books to discover new books, new authors or stretch yourself outside of your reading comfort zone. Stop by to pick up a Bingo sheet and books!
I was recently looking up ways to enjoy winter more (anyone else struggle with this?) and stumbled upon the Danish Hygge (prounounced as hoo – go) mentality. One definition I found described hygge as “the art of building sactuary and community, of inviting closeness and paying attention to what makes us feel open hearted or alive: 2. To create well-being, connection and warmth: 3. A feeling of belonging to the moment and to each other: 4. Celebrating the everyday
Some concepts of hygge to incorporate into your winter lifestyle include using candles and other soft lighting in the dark winter months, lots of cozy furnishings and blankets, warm drinks, thick cozy sweaters and socks, comfort food like soups and stews, planning game nights or meals with friends. Hygge is about connecting with others and not isolating yourself, being cozy and warm despite the temperatures and how to foster that feeling. One concept is to even turn off electronics and enjoys books and newspapers again! What will you try this winter?
We still have the Christmas novellas out if you haven’t had a chance to cozy up with one this season yet. They will probably go back to the basement next week.