Overheard in a book store

[Imogene]

So, I went to my favorite bookstore today, just to wander, as you do when you love books, and I overheard this conversation...
*ring ring*
OD (Obvious Ditz): "Yeah? Oh, yeah, I'm at the library."
Me: ??? No you're not. Unless of course you think you can buy a book, read it, and then return it with the cover bent out of shape...?
OD: "Yeah, I'm buying a book..."
At that point, I stopped listening, in fear of living out Lewis Black's warning about a certain steed and a higher institute.

So, you're in a library, but you plan on buying the book? Now, I know, there are libraries that sell books that have fallen out of circulation... but I know of none with their own coffee shop inside. Expect it, but know of none.

[Miss Fatale]

There is a library near here that does, in fact, have a coffee shop. The shop is in the same building, but outside of the check-out area. My university library had a coffee shop too.

Though regardless, those libraries are still clearly not stores.

[Andrew B.]

Just reading that little bit of conversation made my head hurt.

Why are these people allowed to breed?

[Yurimaru]

Most of our local bookstores have a coffee shop. And couches/chairs scattered thru the store. Which means that patrons will get coffee and a big sticky snack, grab a book or magazine and read it... then put it back on the shelf, now full of the effluvia of their meal. Most the time there are books that have been bent, cracked and stained... I always wonder if these people keep their food in their mouths when they eat at home, because most of the food seems to end up on the books.

I love books, too, and I hate to see them mistreated by the coffee shop gang.

Not to mention the teens who think that the bookstore is a great place to nap on the couch and God forbid anyone come by and wake them...

[KiaKat]

Did the person have an accent?

Although, that's not necessarily an indicator....

Here's what I mean:

When I was in high school, I lived for a summer in France. During that time, I only spoke French (and the occasional bit of Italian, thanks to the week in Italy). When I came back, I resumed my normal book consumption of four/week, most from the library, but a few from the bookstore, because they were new releases, or just were too uncommon for my tiny little town library to carry.

Every now and again, my brain would forget what a word was in English, and pop out the French word instead. This happened most often when I was talking about going to the bookstore, and called it 'librairie.'

Frequently forgetting to accent it. Because, frankly, I wasn't thinking in French, although I was apparently speaking it.

Perhaps the person being overheard had a similar brain burp?

[Buglady]

True, "librairie" is bookstore in French, and "bilbiotheque" is library

[LibraryLady]

Most public Libraries here have areas where people can buy books. It's a fund-raiser for the Library.

Donated books and books that have been culled from the Library's collections are available at very cheap prices. Paperbacks are usually 50 cents each and hard-cover books usually go for a dollar. Our local Library does a brisk trade in these books. I see nothing wrong with it.

True, "librairie" is bookstore in French, and "bilbiotheque" is library

We had that problem too, Buglady.

We would send out monthly lists of new material our Library had acquired. One of our patrons was a University Library in Argentina. After every mailing, we would receive a list of material the University Library wished to purchase. Even after many letters explaining that we were a bibliotheca, not a Libreria, they never really quite understood what we were doing.

[Broomjockey]

Now, I know, there are libraries that sell books that have fallen out of circulation.

Our local Library does a brisk trade in these books. I see nothing wrong with it.

I'm confused. The only bit I can find about libraries selling books is the above from the OP. You sound like you're defending the practise, but no one attacked it.

[Imogene]

Most public Libraries here have areas where people can buy books. It's a fund-raiser for the Library.

I was aware of that, as I posted in my intro... however, she was in the new releases section.

[derangedperson]

Donde esta la biblioteca, Pedro?

[SG15Z]

You know if my local library had a coffee shop I'd never leave!

[Mnemjian]

People often come into our bookstore and ask:

"Is this a library?"
"Can I check out this book?"
"Can I return this book when I'm done reading it?" (sometimes after they paid for it...)
"Where is your copy machine/public computer?"




P.S. 100th post!! woooooot