[Slight OT] TDPL in Russia

[Walter Bright]

retard wrote:
> Do you think the libraries also steal from the authors? If I can't afford 
> a book or don't find it important enough, I can ask the local library to 
> order it and later read it for free. This also encourages other member of 
> the target audience to loan the book without paying--the libraries have 
> lists of most recent books and all kinds of enthusiastics subscribe to 
> those lists. This is also a great way to introduce new readers to a 
> topic. I've noticed that books I order get lots of attention after 
> they're available from the shelves.
> 
> When I was a kid, I didn't have a credit card nor internet connection. It 
> was impossible to buy books from online stores. The local libraries were 
> the best places to find computer science / engineering related literature.

When I was a kid, the library was really the only place to get books. There were 
no mega bookstores like B&N. (I remember when B&N first came to town, what a 
magical place it was.) Even if there were well-stocked bookstores, I had no 
money to buy books. I spent a lot of time at the library, reading hundreds of books.

As a teenager, there was a local strip mall bookstore packed with used 
paperbacks. I'd buy a pile, read them, and then sell them back to the store for 
half price and buy another pile. They were cheap enough that I could indulge myself.

These days, I buy all my books because going to the library twice (once to get, 
once to return, plus late fees) is far more expensive and time consuming, 
compared to point & click on the internet. My house is full of books :-O