How Many Librarians Could Do This?

Originally posted to the SELCO Librarian Blog
I find the premise of this article, from a librarian that decided to forgo purchasing books for an entire year, fascinating. One of the things that surprised me most about entering the library profession was the number of librarians that needed to "collect" books even though they were in charge of collections and surrounded by books all day. One of my favorite parts of the library goes beyond the fact I can get the material of my choice easily-- it's that I can also RETURN it. I get the pleasure of reading or watching the material, but there is also a limited time it will remain in my house before its on its way to someone else. The return concept has especially been reinforced now that I'm a parent of a two-year old. Nothing makes me happier than returning a Barbie movie to the library with the hopes that I will never have to see it again. The same thing holds true with books. As much as I love Max and Ruby, I was thrilled to move from Bunny Cakes to Bunny Money with a simple trip to the library. As a result of my desire to have an "end date" on my materials, I find the idea that anyone would look at Amazon before a library catalog utterly intriguing. I know I'm in the minority, but it was interesting to get a glimpse into the other side. If you are a collector and a librarian, this might be an interesting challenge. As the writer points out, being a regular library user does give you insight on the experience our patrons receive.

I didn't put this on the blog of the company I work for, but I will here on my personal blog: if you as a librarian don't regularly borrow from a library, why do you expect your patrons to?