Thursday, October 20, 2011

In Which I Whine About Something I'm Getting Free

So I'm using OverDrive on my iPad to read library ebooks once in a while -- the selection is horrible, and the waiting list is huge, but the process is pretty quick, and I like reading library books these days.

I particularly like reading library ebooks when they're huge, like, oh, A Dance With Dragons for example.

(Because my iPad might not be as light as it could be, but it's definitely lighter and easier to carry around than that brick is.)

Unfortunately, either my library system or OverDrive -- I'm not sure which, so I'll blame both -- doesn't allow library ebooks to be renewed, and the default lending period is only ten days. Now, there was a time when I'd read a GRRM book in a weekend, but I was reading them professionally then -- plus I have a lot of other demands on my time these days.

So I find myself on Day 10 at just shy of the halfway point, and the damn book is going to vanish at midnight. And I can't even put the book back on my "waiting list" -- so I can maybe get it back in two months -- until after it expires, because OverDrive just wants to make more trouble.

This, I tell you, is no way to run a railroad. I certainly can dig up another copy of the book -- it's a bestseller; they're all over the damn place -- but it's not the way to endear patrons and keep them happy so they vote up the next town budget.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I'd talk to your library about the lending period (ten days is ridiculous for GRRM). I believe the lack of renewals is from encoding the due date in the file you download.

Post a Comment