I had a conversation about books with a friend of mine and we came into the subjects of buying books vs borrowing books from a public library. He said that he likes to support the author and prefers to buy the books he reads.
This made me think. The answer is pretty clear when it comes to buying vs downloading a pirate copy, but in the case with libraries it seems incorrect to say that I’m not supporting the author, but I can’t say why.
What do you think?
I don’t know the specifics to the same extent as some of the other people who have already chipped in, but I will say that it is good to support libraries as well as authors. I imagine that the higher their circulation numbers, the more support they will get from whatever agency is funding them.
Does anyone on the thread have a lot of knowledge of how library funding is related to circulation and “customers served”?
I don’t have a lot of knowledge, but the ELR/PLR system that pays me thousands of dollars a year from library reads is funded by the federal government. The public libraries themselves are funded by local councils (80%) and state governments (20%), and the size of the population in the administrative area determines the allocation of funds.
This is specific to my state (Victoria, Australia) but may answer more of your questions.
DOLLARS, SENSE AND PUBLIC LIBRARIES https://www.slv.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/Dollars-sense-public-libraries-report.pdf