PSA

I am posting this because of something that happened on another blog, as well as something I ran into A LOT at my next to last position as a library branch manager. For those who are on limited financial resources, go to your library and do not just look at the shelves. Look at their online catalogue. It is astonishing how many items are not physically in the building you are in. Most local branches are part of a much larger system. This translates into more buying power. Each library does not need a copy of the book because the multiple copies they do buy circulate between the patrons who do want the book.

For example, a fellow blogger, exmi, recently posted how the local branch of the Georgia library system does not have a book he is waiting on. All he has to do is simply go online, log in using his library card number & pass word helpfully supplied by the local branch, and place a hold on the book. It will arrive from 1 of the many libraries in the PINES system. It might take a while to arrive because it is a reasonably new book he wants, but since the PINES system is 90% of GA, the odds are fairly good he will get the book in a few weeks.