ex-library books - genuine or stolen?

[ok-mrs-bee]

If anyone is still glancing at the Books Board I would be interested to hear their opinions about this conundrum.  I only look in about once per week so will not necessarily respond in a hurry.

I have bought many ex-library books and most are obviously genuine with Withdrawn stamps and evidence of being well read enough to warrant the library selling them off.  However, some are in pristine condition with no evidence that the library had no longer wanted them.

For a long time I have wondered if some of these books were not really ex-library.

Today I received a book which sparked this post.  The hardback is immaculate with slip-covered jacket, library stamps on the pages and with the lending insert stamped to indicate it was borrowed 4 times, with the last return date in August 2015.  Could this really be a library book which was withdrawn?

I decided to check online.  The library stamp named a library in the Republic of Ireland.  That particular library does not have a copy of the book although seven other local libraries do.  I cross-checked.  In the whole of Oxfordshire there is one copy - out on loan.

[ok-mrs-bee]

Incidently, the book cost 1p + £2.80 postage.

If I wanted to reserve it from my nearest Oxfordshire library I would have to pay a £1 reservation fee and 8 miles of petrol to collect it and another 8 miles to return it.

This is why buying the books I really want to read is better than borrowing, for me. Sad!

[margaret*e]

life on the books board.

 I don't know the answer, I have bought Ex library books in the past, but as you say, they have been well used and proof of being withdrawn.

[rogersbooks32]

Hi, the only way to know for certain would be to ring the library service involved and ask them about the book I would be interested to know. Many library services have shut branches due to cuts so they may have more books than they can shelve ?

[*guinevere*]

As a retired Library Assistant, I've worked in libraries nearly all my life.

Years ago books had to be literally falling to bits before they would be withdrawn from stock.

Books would be repaired in our workroom, given new jackets, the binding glued up, sometimes they would be sent away to be rebound.

Nowadays all that has changed.

It is actually cheaper to buy a new book than to have the old one rebound, staff cutbacks has made it impossible to find time to repair books, so many books that would not have been withdrawn in the past, are being withdrawn now.

Having said that I would look at the title and genre of a book before I wondered whether it had been legitimately withdrawn. 

If the book is a popular one by a popular author, or a best seller I would guess it's been stoilen.

If it's an obscure book, fiction or non fiction, it could have been withdrawn.

Some books just look "Boring" and never get borrowed, so a criteria has to be set that if a book hasn't been borrowed once in say,  6 months, or whatever, then it gets withdrawn from stock. 

Doesn't matter if it's an expensive book, or a rare book, or what, it has to go.

I don't know if this helps you to decide but I can tell you that we had many library books stolen from our libraries. There are people who  do this.

Also, a few years ago our library managers adopted a "No ID policy" when people joined the library.

So theoretically one dishonest person could join 11 times in our local authority, one  for each branch library, giving a false name and address each time,and he could borrow 12 books on each ticket plus 2 DVDs.

It doesn't take a genius to work out how books get stolen.

[ok-mrs-bee]

Hi all, especially Margaret who I haven't talked to for a while.

Roger, the book which sparked this thread was stamped by a library in the Republic of Ireland.  I'm not going to 'phone a library there. I suspect it was borrowed and not returned.  I'm trying to be careful with my wording because I could be accused of buying goods which were sold on illegally.

Elephant, thank you for that insight into the workings of the library community.  You have confirmed my suspicions.  I think that I will start asking sellers to provide provenance for their "ex-library" books in "Very good" condition.  It could be interesting.

[ok-mrs-bee]

Sorry, Elephant, as the owner of my fourth border collie,  I meant to remark on the handsomeness of yours.

[rogersbooks32]

It not ring then they must have an email you could send a message to. The only way you will ever know for certain is to do a little online leg work otherwise you will alway have that nagging wonder.

[*guinevere*]

Sorry, Elephant, as the owner of my fourth border collie,  I meant to remark on the handsomeness of yours.

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@ok-mrs-bee

Do you mean my cat? She's called Karen 

[ok-mrs-bee]

  Oops!  Elephant and Karen, apologies and miaow, my eyesight is not what it was.

Well, I had another ex-library book looking like new and plastic-covered.  This time it had belonged to a library in Oldham.  I e-mailed and got a reply saying that it had been sold on legitimately.  So now my concern is for the Oldham council-tax payers.  This is a £20 book in superb condition: at what price was it sold that meant a dealer in Co.Durham could sell it and post it for £2.81 and, presumably, make a profit.

[*guinevere*]

This is a coincidence.  The borough referred to in my post is Oldham. 

I was a library assistant in Oldham libraries.

I'm retired now and have been for 2 years but when I was working there was a system for getting rid of unwanted books.

Books would be formally withdrawn from stock, loaded into cardboard boxes and sold to a company called  Nationwide.

They would colllect the boxes of books, the saleable ones would be sold on ebay or other outlets, and the others I believe were pulped.

It used to concern me greatly when I used to see lovely books boxed up and sent to be sold or thrown away because previous to this the policy was to have book sales in all the libraries and the local council tax payers could benefit from the used books.

I personally boxed up beautiful art books  and history books to be sold. I could never understand why we had to  get rid of those because art and history do noot change or go out of fashion.

Strange that you have got one from my local library.

[ok-mrs-bee]

Oh dear, Elephant, your "If you think things can't get worse it's probably only because you lack sufficient imagination.", probably says it all.  How heartbreaking this is for book lovers. 

I wonder if this is an indication of the beginning of the end of publlic libraries.  Oxfordshire is certainly trying to close libraries.  There has been an outcry led by Oxford authors such as Philip Pullman.  Are public libraries financially viable?

I indicated, above, that is just as cost effective for me to buy a book as to try to reserve and borrow one from the library.

Who uses libraries to borrow books these days?

[*guinevere*]

Haha, my sig is a bit too true isn't it?

I currently have one library book out, but that's because I justwanted to read that particular one. It's going back any time soon.

I use the library ebooks a lot and I hate myself for it. But when you want to read a book NOW (I hate being without a book of some sort) it is so easy to download one in seconds and start reading it without leaving your armchair!

I do buy second hand books from Amazon and sometimesEbay for the same reasons you do, and then I donate them to a charity shop.

[ok-mrs-bee]

I use the library ebooks a lot ...

Are you saying that your library loans ebooks?  How?

In February I will be tested for AMD.  Already my right eye is almost useless for reading.  It may not be long before I have to depend on the magnifying function of ebooks.

If I can't read a real book in my hands every day I must start considering alternatives.

[*guinevere*]

Our library has a selection of ebooks. They are free to borrow, and you can borrow them for 3 weeks, the same as proper books. 

You can't accrue fines as the boook disappears after 3 weeks 🙂

I go to the library website,find the ebooks and  audio books page. Yes, there are audio books too. Many are hard copies that you  can go to the libraryand borrow.

Anyway the ebooks can be downloaded easily to your kindle or tablet, or in my case my laptop. You do need to register with your library card.

You may need to enquire if your library has them.

See if your library has a selection of audio books too.

At ours,some are tapes and others are CDs. Some are even for putting in a device and using ear phones.

Whatever is best for you.

What's AMD? 

I think I have a cataract growing over my right eye, but I know I can't have anything done about it till I lose my sight. Happily I'm a long way off that! 

[ok-mrs-bee]

That certainly got me looking.  Yes, there are ebooks and audio books available in Oxon but there are not many available to borrow immediately.  I will have to investigate further.  I've been buying books for so long I've lost touch with the library services after tiring of the travelling library.

AMD is Age-related Macular Degeneration, the commonest cause of blindness in old age.  I already have it in my right eye and if my left eye were as bad I wouldn't be able to read normal print.  There is no cure (unlike cataracts) but there may be supplements which postpone the inevitable.  There are two forms, wet and dry.  Wet is really bad but there is treatment so that you can vaguely see where you are going, although the dog should get out of the way.  I am hoping that the consultation in February will give some hope that I will continue to be able to read 'proper' books for a few years.

[margaret*e]

My library does ebooks, but I can't download them to my kindle.

I have to use the overdrive app.

[*guinevere*]

Thanks for the explanation of amd, Mrs Bee, that explains a lot 🙂

@margaret*e My library is the same. I\m not very techy but I'm told you can download them to Kindle  Fire. But I just download them to my laptop. 

I have to be very desperate to do this, because I don't enjoy reading a book from my lappy but it's better than nowt 🙂

[margaret*e]

I download them to my ipad or android tablet, a bit easier to read than a laptop.

I have the kindle app on both.

[ok-mrs-bee]

I'm not having much success working out how to borrow ebooks in Oxon.  I appear to be able to borrow some local short stories but I have no idea where they go if I only read half of them and want to read more later.  Grrrrrr!