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?
Yes, you support the author when you borrow a book from a public library. Librarians and other library staff track which books circulate. If a book circulates, they will be more likely to either purchase more copies of that same book to meet demand or buy future books from that author.