Saving Strategy: Go to the Library!
By FrugalTrader
@FrugalTrader (32)
Canada
January 24, 2007 9:02am CST
When I was young, I really didn't enjoy reading. I'm not sure why that was the case, perhaps it was because I didn't like school, and reading reminded me of school. :)
As I get older, I am finding that I'm picking up books a lot more often than before. Nowadays, I'd prefer to pick up a good book than to turn on the TV. My favorite books are the ones on the topic of personal finance and investing. Where do I get my books? Usually from Amazon or Chapters. This, however, can get expensive where it can run up to $500/year for me. I read somewhere about how you can get some of the newest titles at the local library. This got my wheels turning, perhaps I could find some good books at my library. I had my doubts...
So yesterday, I headed out to the local library. Besides University, I've never been to a library to get a book and I've certainly never been to a library to get a book just for the sake of reading. I arrived at the library and as any curious customer would, I approached the front desk to get the low down. Among the series of questions, I came to the question, "How much does it cost?". The librarian cheerfully replied "It's Free!". I was in shock, how many valuable services in this world are free? I've hit a gold mine!
After browsing around the personal finance/investing section of the library, I found a couple of books that interested me. I quickly grabbed them and brought them to the front desk. As I put the books down on the desk, I had to ask again "So, this is free, as in no charge?". The lady just laughed. I get 3 weeks with 2 great books at NO cost. On top of that, I can extend my time with the books for free also!
So, if you enjoy reading and you haven't been out to your local library, go soon! It can be a great resource to get the books that you've been wanting for FREE.
What are your thoughts?
5 people like this
43 responses
@kbrece (26)
• United States
24 Jan 07
I love the library, too. I read a lot of books each year and many of them are not ones I want to keep forever. Checking them out from the library saves me money and space on my already crowded bookshelves.
One thing that I find very helpful at my library is their online catalog. If I'm looking for a specific book, I can see if my library system has it. Sometimes they do have it but it's at a different branch of the library. All I have to do is request it and they send it to my local branch. It usually only takes a few days for me to get it. This might help you with the personal finance and investing books - some branches seem to have a larger selection on certain topics.
2 people like this
@BlueMoonBaby (46)
• United States
9 Feb 07
I love the online catalog my city library has! It's so easy to browse and search for titles, put them on hold, and go to the local branch to pick them up. My husband and I have saved so much money this way. It's like online shopping, but free!
@brimia (6581)
• United States
24 Jan 07
I love the library! I've been going all my life and can't even imagine how much it's saved me. We get all our books, magazines, and movies there. We rarely buy books or DVDs or rent movies because we can borrow all of these for free at the library. There was even a time when I couldn't afford decent internet access (just bad free dial-up) so I went to the library everyday to use theirs.
@FrugalTrader (32)
• Canada
24 Jan 07
Yes, I was recently told about the DVD rentals, I had no idea! I'll have to check that out the next time I go out to the library.
FT
1 person likes this
@crystal8577 (1466)
• United States
24 Jan 07
Our local library sucks despite living in a big city. I usually let the girls get books from there though. I also utilize their summer reading program for kids & story time. I know some libraries have decent movies, not ours though :(
2 people like this
@Manuelya13 (19)
• Spain
24 Jan 07
"When I was young, I really didn't enjoy reading" Like me!!! but now I like it a lot
2 people like this
@speakeasy (4171)
• United States
24 Jan 07
Free books, free magazines, free tapes, CDs, DVDs, audio books, free internet access - what could be better! If they don't have what you are looking for they will do an "intra-library" request and get another library to lend it to them so you can read it. Plus they are constantly getting in new items. Our library also puts on special programs and lets different groups use the facilities for their meetings. They also set up educational displays on different topics.
@candygurl093 (201)
• United States
24 Jan 07
I go to the library often but i only go to get on the computer or to get or pick up movies and games and books for my children
@ChewySpree (1832)
• United States
25 Jan 07
You are so right. I love the library and here, they are so good to reserve books for me or get one from another library if they don't have it. It's so much better than spending money for something I'm usually only going to use once. I also love the used book stores.
@desertdarlene (8910)
• United States
24 Jan 07
I work in the library and I think people would be surprised at all the free stuff they can get there. There's also computers, too. But, printing is not free. A lot of libraries also have community info, too. Just make sure to bring the stuff back on time, or there is a fee.
2 people like this
@venshida (4836)
• United States
25 Jan 07
The libary is a great place to get books. You can find the best sellers. I usually make a list of the best sellers then go to the libary and check them out. If they are already checked out, I reserve the books. It sometimes takes awhile to receive those books, but it sure beats buying them for $15.00 or more.
@mirceaeliade (631)
• Italy
24 Jan 07
Yes read book it's really a good thing to make. I'm still young and i read a lot of all kind of book: adventure books, poetry books, yellow book, detective stroy and more... But you can't only read you must write too... i write a lot of poetry every month.... Then you can make a personal diary or similar... don't you think?
Thanks for these nice day discussion and welcome here on mylot communities and have a nice day!
@crazynurse (7482)
• United States
24 Jan 07
Oh yes! I love to go to the library for books! But in addition to books, I love getting movies and CDs! Yes, our library has a massive DVD and CD collection. My daughter is forever acting in local plays and musicals. She enjoys going to the library to get the older musicals and plays and viewing them before watching them! They also have a lot of the classics on DVD that are acted out, then when she reads the classic, she understands it better! I was in the market for some exercise DVDs and didn't want to buy them until I tried them. I went to the library and sure enough, there was one of the exact DVDS that I was interest in! I was able to take it home and try it before buying it! I check out CDS all the time, again, why buy it before listening to it in its entirety!
2 people like this
@aiguy01 (588)
• United States
25 Jan 07
You may be lucky enough to live nearly a very well stocked library but a lot of libraries that depend largely on federal funding have had their budgets cut so badly they can no longer afford to stay open 7 days a week much less buy a large assortment of new titles.
A lot of libraries depend on donated books now and for that reason I find myself donating many of my books to the library once they become a bit dated or after I am done with them and no I will not need to refer back to them.
Many times I just visit a Barnes and Nole or a Borders book store and buy a coffee and skim the books there to get what I need. But if I do decide to buy one I can usually save about 35% becuase I have one of their shopper cards and they send me coupons to my email acconut.
1 person likes this
@red_dragon (260)
• India
25 Jan 07
i dont like reading my subjects...
other than subjects i will read a lot of other software books...
if that same stuff i like reading comes as an subject in my reading then i wont touch that book again...
i dont know why i dont like to read but this situaton is getting even worce now a days i dont even feel like reading any thing at all so i feel a lot of hate on myself...
i hope i will change and become better...
1 person likes this
@coffeecup (43)
• United States
24 Jan 07
I love the library! The dvds aren't free at mine but they are cheaper than the local video store or Netflix. I also love interlibrary loan for hard-to-find books. Most libraries have free things to do with kids, adult classes (computer how-tos, yoga, etc..)and special events for holidays.
2 people like this
@katyzzz (2897)
• Australia
25 Jan 07
This is a great story, so often we are told we must encourage our children to read and here is an adult making his journy into reading and obviously managing reading quite well.
reading to small children is not the only way they learn to use their brains.
And how wonderful for you discovering it was all for free, well done.
1 person likes this
@sureshmoe (974)
• India
25 Jan 07
Yes..its real...and i use the library in the usefull way and i update my knowledge by the library by reading books, newspaper, net and so on.....
1 person likes this
@Pigglies (9329)
• United States
25 Jan 07
The problem is, it all depends on where you live. Where I live, our library sucks. And I like reading audio books and there aren't many at the library. I have no shortage of paperbacks to read here. I guess it depends on what you'll read. I'm pretty picky because I'm a slow reader.
1 person likes this
@selina0625 (1379)
• Philippines
25 Jan 07
Yes libraries are the best. I love reading too. Since I'm just a poor kid during my high schools days I can not afford to buy my own book nor do i have other books aside from my textbooks that I used in school. What I do during my breaks or recess in schools is to stay in our school library. I'm a loner during those times and I find comfort in books.You may see me as a nerd but it's just that I really love to read.I love stories, I love knowing and learning new things.
Mylot is like a library.I'm learning a lot of new things here in Mylot, stories about life and culture and new trends. It's really cool.
@charmedguyp1 (431)
• Philippines
25 Jan 07
I find it amusing that you thought borrowing books is not free of charge. I have been an avid reader ever since I was in primary school. I mother introduced me to reading by buying me romance pocket books. Later on I progressed to thick paperbacks. However it was only in college that I started borrowing books from our university library (which was more updated I think than the city library). However months later I got tired of the short period the books are allowed to be in our possesion. This prompted me to just borrowing books from my friends. i dont read much on resource books. I read fiction more.
1 person likes this
