I’m just a greedy galactus and want to have library cards for all the libraries in the universe…sigh…but I know it’s wrong. I do want to help the youngs resist!
I will settle for ONE library, ANY library that doesn’t have a three month waitlist for EVERY one of the e-books I’d like to read. The Overdrive monopoly has enshittified. 😠
I often solve this issue by having multiple library cards (city vs county in my local areas, for example). Is there a particular book you really want to read right now?
Oh, thanks. Several. Our county e-book system worked so well, for so long, but over the last year the wait times, for e-books, both older and newer, has extended to 2-5 months. I’m kind of shocked. What I need to do is start griping to the library system. 😊
I’m not sure about that. I’m an early consumer. Every year it steadily improved, even through the early Pandemic, but in the last yr, it’s collapsed. Family members in other areas of the country have said the same has happened in their libraries, too. There used to be more e-book providers.
I admittedly have no idea how ebooks at libraries work, but I always assumed there would BE no waiting list, because it’s digital? You don’t have to wait for an actual copy to be returned, so surely everyone who wants to “borrow” that ebook could be doing it simultaneously?
The library buys* a number of licenses for each title, and only one reader can check out a license at a time. Also, each license can only be borrowed a finite number of times (theoretically corresponding to wear and tear on a physical book, but FAR more restrictive) after which it expires.
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*rents?