Library Book Time Limit

[RJoseph]

I am interested in purchasing an ereader and have not completely decided yet on which one I want.  One of the items that draws me towards the Nook is the fact that you can get library books.  I have looked at the libraries and they say that the loan time varies by publisher.  I am a casual reader however (just at night) and the 14 day limit on a loaned book would most likely not be enough for me.  So my question is, on average, those of you who get books from a library, how long are you able to keep them?  Thanks

[MLBerry]

14 days.  However if you leave your nook on airplane mode you can extend the time, but once you go off airplane mode, and the 14 days has expired, you will not be able to read the book.

[ilenekm]

The DC library has a 21 day loan period. I have found that if you do not navigate away from the book, like to shop or open another book, that you are able to keep the book longer. Once you open something else, you cannot reopen the book. Also, if you hook your nook up to ADE, the software required for sideloading library books, even in airplane mode, you get a message that the book is expired when you go back to the book.

[worthmaur]

For MOST libraries served by Overdrive, you can choose your expiration date. Two of the libraries I use allow up to 21 days. Also, as other posters have mentioned, if you stay in airplane mode and don't connect to ADE, you can continue reading past the expiration date.

[BookBridget]

I use the Philadelphia Free Library & you can set your default lending period for 7, 14 or 21 days. I read fast so I originally set it for 7 days but I now have my default at 21 days.

The "popular" books usually are waitlisted & it seems that all my holds come up at once so that's' how I get myself in trouble.

I love my nook but just the fact that I can access library books alone puts the nook way ahead of other ereaders. I bought my nook in May & only bought books the 1st month. I've also used the elead feature & read 2 bestsellers that way.

I read on average about 1 to 2 books a week so since June I'd guess that I've read about $240 worth of books for free! (using 1.5 books a week at $9.99).

Of course some of the books weren't what I would have picked if I just went out to B&N & downloaded books since not all titles are available at PFL but I actually think that was for the best since I read so many books that I wouldn't have noticed on B&N but ended up loving!

[bklvr896]

I have 5 library cards. 3 of the libraries offer a 21 day lending period, the other 2 the maximum is 14 days.

It's apparently library specific as all my libraries use Overdrive, but each sets the maximum lending period.

[growlingraven]

I just downloaded my first book from the Cuyahoga County library a few minutes ago. 21 day lending period. The process was flawless. Unfortunately, the wait for the book, Scott Turow's Innocent, was over a month, but hey, it's a free read!  Now, if the library could only bring in more titles!!

[esjro]

My library also uses Overdrive, and I set my default loan period as 21 days.  I try to read and return sooner though, because there are always long wait lists for eBooks.... hopefully the library will notice and add more.

[frantastk]

I belong to both the Philadelphia library and the Chester County, PA library and both let you choose 7, 14, and 21 days.  Unfortunately, I haven't tried it out yet since everything I wanted to read when I browsed the sites was already checked out, so I put a book on hold.  I think I'll mostly use the library for best sellers and things I don't think I'll want to read more than once.  I don't tend to read a lot of mainstream bestsellers, though.  Darn you guys for making the Philly library so dang popular.  I may never get my book.  It's not quite so long a wait (sometimes not at all) at my local library (Philly is almost my local library), but there was something I really wanted to read and they didn't have it.

Fran

[Nallia Distinguished Bibliophile]

Both of my libraries (Denver and Arapahoe County) allow me to chose 7, 14, or 21 days.

[very-simple]

I'm a member of two libraries.

The NY Public Library allows a maximum check of of 21 days, and the Boston Public Library allows 14 days.

For each, I set it to the max, and then I return the books early through ADE when I'm done with them.  

[DiAnneInDover]

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MLBerry wrote:

14 days.  However if you leave your nook on airplane mode you can extend the time, but once you go off airplane mode, and the 14 days has expired, you will not be able to read the book.

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I had heard this rumor about extending a library book by keeping the Nook on airplane mode.  Unfortunately, it doesn't work for me.  I always keep my Nook on airplane mode and I even made sure not to change books, but it still locked me out at the exact hour of the expiration.  I haven't tested to see what would happen if I were actually actively reading and page-changing (without the Nook going to sleep), but the airplane mode didn't help at all.

Of note, I have Mobipocket Reader on my cell phone for library books as well and it locked me out while reading one time.  It basically just stopped letting me change pages as soon as the time limit was up, so I presume Nook would do something similar.

[violetangel]

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very-simple wrote:

I'm a member of two libraries.

The NY Public Library allows a maximum check of of 21 days, and the Boston Public Library allows 14 days.

For each, I set it to the max, and then I return the books early through ADE when I'm done with them.  

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This!  Well, I'm only a member of the NYPL, but yeah.  I return the book early through ADE if I've finished it or decided it's just not for me.  IF on the odd chance I haven't had time to finish it, I just write down where I was and re-request it if there's a waiting list.  If not I renew.  But it'll be a rare day I haven't finished a book in 21 days!

[gqb]

Two of my libraries allow for 21 days and the other does 14.  I've had a rush where a bunch of books came available at one time, which can make it difficult.  I also return the book via ADE as soon as I'm finished so the next person can get it.  I think that's common courtesy.

[ProfReader]

You have to keep the book you are reading open and you cannot close out of it even to go to the home screen. 

[DiAnneInDover]

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ProfReader wrote:

You have to keep the book you are reading open and you cannot close out of it even to go to the home screen. 

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I haven't done my experiment since April (when I first heard about extending the library limit).  I didn't close the book, I didn't push any buttons other than page turns.  When I went to bed reading, the Nook went to sleep and when I woke up there was a square covering the page saying the time had expired.

I hadn't heard anyone else mention the airplane mode extension since April, so I figured everyone had the same experience I did.  Now that I hear more than one person say they get it to work, I'm going to try it again.

I am not a fast reader and I have very little time to read lately, so often I am forced to bypass especially large books because I won't be able to read them in two weeks and with the wait lists, I usually just look for a shorter book.   I'm looking forward to trying this again.

[ProfReader]

I have read four books this way, one I still had to read over 200 pages and finished it over a three day period.

[DiAnneInDover]

It's a rare event for me to admit I'm wrong (probably because it almost never happens!), but I'm absolutely ecstatic to announce that I was totally wrong about the library books not expiring in airplane mode.

I swear, back in April, I tried it.  I don't know what I did wrong, but I remember being so disappointed because when I tested the airplane mode thing, the book still locked me out.  So for months, I've been scrounging every spare minute to get some reading in when I had long books.

But, my latest Grisham book expired on 9/11/2010 and I just finished it last night, more than a week after it had expired.  I made sure not to close the book and I even forbade my daughter from trying to play Sudoku on the Nook.  It let me keep reading until I finally closed the book and tried to open a different one. 

I'm so happy!!

[icebike]

Why not just renew the book on your library website?

You can also talk to your library about the check-out period.  Those aren't cast in stone.

[DiAnneInDover]

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icebike wrote:

Why not just renew the book on your library website?

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Because in most cases I've already waited on the waiting list for the book and once it gets released to me, there are more people waiting after me, which means stopping the book, remembering the place (not a problem as I'm quite adept at the use of pen and paper), then waiting sometimes months for my name to come to the top of the list.

Sure, not all of the books I read are so popular that there are waiting lists, but I've been reading John Grisham, James Patterson, David Baldacci, and Sue Grafton and all of those are books I prefer to read in chronological order (even when not in a series) and those all have waiting lists of 10+ people.  So, I read other non-popular books while waiting for the popular ones.