Making better use of your local library helps the environment. Every book you borrow from the library instead of buying saves on paper and ink. Granted, it only saves a little bit but every little bit helps.
Plus, it saves you money and cuts down on clutter.
Admittedly I don’t do this for every book. I do buy some books such as cookbooks, reference books, inspirational books, and self-help books (ones that I want to use on a regular basis). But I always borrow them from the library first to make sure they are worth spending my money on.
But I get lots of fiction bestsellers from the library too (I love to read). And, if you think it’s too hard to find the books you want, check to see if your library has a reserve system. My local library has an online reservation system. I log into my account, request a hold on the books I want, and when the library gets them in they send me an e-mail. I pick up any books the library has for me once a week on Fridays when I run my other errands.
It’s easy and it’s fun. I get to read all the books I want without having to buy them. And, because my library works in conjuntion with a dozen other libraries I can request a hold from any of the member libraries and have them sent to my local library for me to pick up.
I certainly wasn’t always this aware of the money and resources I was using on books though. Until two years ago I spent hundreds of dollars a year on books I knew I would only read once (some years it was more like thousands of dollars). After reading them they sat on bookshelves gathering dust. When the bookshelves got full I started packing them in boxes. Then I decided to sell them at a garage sale but it turned out lots of people had already read the same books I had. I eventually donated the unsold books to Goodwill but the last time I donated books a worker there told me they get lots of books they can’t sell because people have already read them.
Hopefully their unsold books get recycled and not put into a landfill.
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