March 20, 2017

Catch and Release


The library book shelf (on top there.)
All of these books went back this week, including a few unread.


It seems like I often overestimate either my desire to read certain things or my time to do so. So I go to the library with my list, I find the books, I bring them home, and they sit. Nine weeks later, I'm out of renewals and there are still at least a couple that I haven't read yet.

I have always felt vaguely guilty about it, as though now that I've made the commitment (and kept them off the shelves for a couple of months,) the least I can do is actually read them. Lately, though, I'm just letting them go--along with expectations of myself to read them anytime soon. I may get to them again--I may not. 

Hey, at least I know that the library has them, right? If I do want to pick them back up, I know where to find them. In the meantime, I still have plenty of books on my own shelves that I haven't read yet. In some ways, it's a relief to send them back, to be honest. By the end of the nine weeks, they seem almost reproachful there on the shelf.

Do you play catch and release with books? Do you have a limit of how many times you check it out or renew it before just sending it along downstream?  

2 comments:

  1. So I'm pretty good about reading books once I get them home, but what I've been terrible about recently is putting books on hold and then never picking them up. I feel bad that these books are getting carted around my library system for me, filed and put on the hold shelf by some librarian, just to sit there for a week and then have another librarian send it back. I keep putting books on hold because I want to read them, but I'm still in the stage of dreading to leave the house with three kids, so when it comes time to pick those books up I just can't bring myself to make the trip. I just need to stick to electronic holds.

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    1. I hear you! It takes awhile to get used to bringing 3 kiddos along anywhere--particularly places with expectations. :) We've done pretty well this school year getting to the library once a week, since my oldest son's guitar lesson is right across the street, but yeah--reading them once I get them home? Dicey.

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