Comments on: No Books For You

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 05:34:37 +0000

Wow !!! I agree with you completely…There is no great joy for book lovers than searching through the almost perished books and getting them for a few bucks…That is so exciting

By: Black Gate » Blog Archive » Kelly’s Coffee & Fudge & Overdue Fees

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:02:09 +0000

[...] public libraries are changing. Bill Ward has blogged on one unfortunate phenomenon he has noticed, the disappearance of used books for sale. (Fortunately, the Beverly Hills Public Library still has its extensive used book selection in its [...]

By: Bill Ward

Bill Ward — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 19:26:07 +0000

That is the problem with Goodwill and similar places, generally books are in no particular order so it can be pretty time consuming to pick through them.

Unfortunately, I doubt my libraries will bring back sales, they are all selling through a central online vender now and seem rather proud of that — the same sort of ‘progress’ that has them replace shelf space with more computers so kids can play online flash games and copy/paste Wikipedia into their social studies homework.

By: Maria

Maria — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 01:05:01 +0000

Hmm. I’m probably the only one that will say it…but I don’t enjoy browsing used book stores much, not now that I can shop online by subject, author, titles, similar books…yeah, I know. But it’s true. I still do go to Goodwill and other used bookstores to browse, because especially with children’s books, it’s cheaper than paying the shipping for the books online. What I’m struck by is that I have to sort through all kinds of things–often in no particular order–to find a gem or two to take home.

So I don’t miss the browsing opportunity much.

Your library just stopped booksales–which is a bummer. My library here in Texas just started them about 2 years ago. The Friends of the Library sort through and keep the used section supplied with a small mix of books/audio/genre/fiction/non-fiction. I was delighted when they started doing it–so there is hope. Perhaps they will bring it back to your area!!! The Friends of the library also do a rather large sale at least twice a year. Ask at your library and see if they have such an event. If you like browsing, it’s a huge opportunity to do so. HUGE.

By: Bill Ward

Bill Ward — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 17:21:15 +0000

60 books for a dollar? Seems like what you’d save in books, you’d spend in putting an addition onto your house to store them all!

By: steve davidson

steve davidson — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 10:46:04 +0000

I’m there with you Bill.
I prefer the word ‘inexpensive’ (as opposed to cheap), but that’s a quibble.
I’ve personally substituted ABE for most of my used book store experiences these days, but it is a poor second-best. Sure, you can find just about everything – but you have to know what you’re looking for first.
The brick and mortar store lets you WANDER. And those specials (five for a dollar) really let you expand your horizons. My own personal reference library grew to quite a respectable size because of that kind of offer. (When they are that inexpensive, why not pick up the dense treatise on a subject that mildly interests you?)
I have been lucky of late tho. New Hampshire (at least my part of it) is dense with used book stores, or ‘fine used books’ to be precise, and the libraries around here are always having sales. Last week I picked up nearly 60 books on a ‘$1 a bag’ offer from the town library. I think I averaged out to about 15 cents per volume.
I think your solution is clear: move to southern New Hampshire…