Will a library order you a book they do not have

grace2much

Hi all, I always bought books to read/study from amazon mostly and then resell them on amazon via my sellers account. Works OK and keeps the book costs down overall. But just this past few weeks a friend introduced me to my local library, yea I know took me 4 decades to realise this is a great deal.....LOL

Anyways, before I embarrass myself asking the librarian I wonder does anyone know if, for example, I am looking for a certain book (CCEA GCSE Maths in this case) and my local library along with the others in the NI library network do not have a copy, (maybe its an unusual book or as in my case its a 2010 book so fairly new) can you request that they consider buying a copy? I then could use it and it goes back into the library stock for others to use after me.

I'm assuming there must me a set of guidelines for the library to follow including their budget restraints and book popularity etc. Has anyone asked this question or do I need to be the newbie, 2 weeks a member and asking awkward questions.............:eek:
No matter what the outcome, its a great service and I'm thankful for it being available.............

SnowyOwl_2

Yes, they will get a book in on request. They make a charge for their trouble but this is only about £1 or so.

Next time you are in the library ask for a pin number so that you can use the website to its full capacity. This will allow you to check & renew loans, reserve books online and so on.

http://www.librariesni.org.uk/

[Deleted User]

Hi,

I don't think they would go and just buy it, though if it is in stock in another branch, you could put in a request for it.

Good advice from SnowyOwl about using online service.

I see you can use the search function on above link without being a member, so here are results for Gcse Maths.

Edit: I see you can register online, so you may be able to activate your membership card online also.

grace2much

Thanks for the help, I'll ask at my local library as the 2 books I'm interested don't come up on the online search...........

sharnad

Yes our library will do this for you. Can take a couple of weeks to get them in

badabing

They might have it in a school library! Do u have son/daughter/nephew/niece etc who are at school?

Mistral001

Usually if you ask them at the desk if they have such-and-such a book, if they do not have it in the branch, they will tell "no but we can get it for you". That means get it from another branch, not buy it for you. If it is the type of book that libraries stock, then they will usually have it somewhere.

donnac2558

Because of cut backs etc they only now seem to get very popular books new

I have requested books non fiction in the past and then get they sorry we are unable to purchase this because..........................

Funds say no enough people will want to read it. (This was is my wording of what they actually said).
Book out of print
Too expensive to buy.

My research into serial killers has been curtailed as such.;)