Tried using a library card instead of buying books for three months

I'm into a lot of niche topics and was spending around $80 a month on used books from eBay and thrift stores. Most of them were okay but about half ended up being boring or poorly written. A friend suggested I try the library's interlibrary loan system instead so I gave it a shot. I put in requests for five obscure books on early American toolmaking and got four of them within two weeks for free. The one they couldn't get they told me exactly why versus just saying it's unavailable. I still buy books sometimes but I check the library first now. Has anyone else had better luck finding weird stuff through ILL than buying blind?

3 comments

3 Comments

gavinwells1mo ago

Got a library card myself a few years back and ended up borrowing a beat-up copy of a 1970s guide to building your own telescope that was way more fun than any astronomy book I'd bought. Did you find the toolmaking books had any old hand-drawn diagrams that the newer ones lack?

emery_black1mo ago

gavinwells the 70s telescope guide sounds like a gem. Youre right about the hand drawn diagrams. Those old toolmaking books have these detailed sketches that look like someone actually drew them from a real bench. Newer ones use computer models that are clean but they miss the tiny notes and smudges that show you where a certain angle or cut was a pain. Theres this one diagram in a 1960s book Ive got that shows a chisel sharpening jig with arrows everywhere and a handwritten "dont over tighten" in the corner. You just dont get that level of practical grit in the modern glossy stuff. Its like the difference between looking at a photo of a pizza and actually smelling the cheese.

ryantorres1mo ago

Who even needs diagrams when I can barely read my own handwriting in the workshop?