Why buy when you can borrow? 📚

The easy option is often to go to a bookstore and buy whatever you feel like or need, but did you know you can access tons of resources for free or at a very low cost?

So why borrow? To support libraries and local jobs and to test books before buying them. Some people buy a book only to realize it’s not that great, sad right? Well, now you have a solution: read it first and then decide if it’s worth adding to your collection more thoughtfully.

Still not convinced? Here’s another point: borrowing can help stretch a budget for avid readers or allow people with limited means, including students, to access culture without paying exorbitant prices.

Are you a student stressed about your thesis? You don’t need to buy books to expand your resources. Besides the wealth of materials available online, like Google Scholar, Cairn, JSTOR, etc., most public and university libraries allow long-term loans. University libraries are free for students and most library memberships are low-cost, whether for students or the general public.

Borrowing also has an environmental benefit. Books circulate from hand to hand, which reduces the need for resources and minimizes waste during production, helping to limit overconsumption. Buying books requires more thought. Yes, we see it, that stack of unread books you’ve bought, P.S. yes, we see your Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea gathering dust, you know the one, keeps growing, while if you had borrowed, you’d feel less guilty about every penny spent diving into literary adventures.