Thank you for sharing this! In the future I'll try to borrow more hard copies.
as of December 2019, OverDrive controlled digital lending for โmore than 95% of public libraries in the US and Canada.
The article then digs into OverDrive's removal of the ability for users to request books and more enshittification for both users and librarians. It's now owned by notorious private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis.
My local library offers audiobooks through an app that ive been using a bunch and the city library has 3d printers that im going to try use instead of getting my own(for now, I'll see how much I use it).
Go explore your libraries. Theres more to them than books.
What I would like to see is a way to manage the borrowing of digital media in a "choose your own player" model. Even if that would mean having to pay for a compatible player.
For now, I stick with the libraries' own search engines and recommendation systems and do as much borrowing via physical copy as possible.
Our local library in a small village is open only 15 hours a week. All of our trips in are planned around "book delivery day." That's the day all the books and other media that we've requested come in from other libraries around the province and across the country.
That's also when the library is at it's busiest, making it a good place to catch up on community events (ie gossip!). Some people have "coffee row", others have "book day." There is plenty of crossover, so there is no danger of missing out. :)
It's a shame to not be able to pop in whenever, but that sounds really nice to see people.
I'm in a city, so we've got a few nearby that are open most days, but even still I love Saturdays because I know a lot of other families that go to the libraries on Saturday mornings, so I consistently run into other parent friends and their kids. Which is always a nice surprise.