Rent a book? The rental service craze has moved out of the realm of movies and games, and into books. Just like Netflix, BookSwim lets you rent books for as long as you want without any late fees.
Like Netflix, they have several plans and the cost to have three books at once is $20 per month. While the obvious criticism of this is why pay when you can visit your local library? The only benefit we could imagine is being able to get new releases more easily. And well, if you are a habitual late-returner, the $20 may save you a bundle in late fees.
The reason to rent instead of using your local library is inadequate library service. Since Prop 13 passed in California in 1979, libraries haven't had much money for new books or reasonable hours, and many remote counties have simply closed their libraries.
Access to new books when we lived in upstate NY was also iffy, again, because there just wasn't the property tax base to support much. And we lived in an urbanized area where library resources were shared regionally across three or four counties; I hate to think about libraries in some of the truly rural counties.
The library system here in Phoenix still leaves me awed -- they can afford to buy books that came out this year.
view wende in phoenix's profile
los angeles has a great system. i've been able to get the latest books by ordering them and having them sent to my local library for pick up. they also email you reminder notices when your books are coming due.
view abby's profile
I've got $50 in overdue fines I keep meaning to get around paying at the library...so the not having to worry about when to return it would be huge for me!!
view kate's profile
And our library nearby, a beautiful new million building is only open past 6 two days a week, closed entirely on Sunday.
view kate's profile