We had a guy friend in college that used to check out books from the library to impress his dates. He'd check out super pretentious authors and titles and lay them around his apartment and his unsuspecting date was none the wiser (until after date two when she would realize he'd never read any of the books). We'd never check out books at the library to impress guests but we have considered checking out books to decorate. Read why checking out books at the library (other than for the purpose of reading) is a great idea after the jump.
Er... no, I can honestly say I have never done that.
view kittyj's profile
Books arranged by color are just silly. And if you're that panicked about empty shelves, why not just cover bricks or boxes with paper, and put them up?
But library books as decoration? It's only Thursday--no one can be this desperate for a post.
view Palmetto's profile
Okay, I definitely think that checking out interesting art books and such for guests to look at is a cool idea.
Using them as decorations... not so much.
view everythingistaken's profile
This may be one of the most ridiculous posts on AT I have ever come across. Never mind someone may want to read one of the books you have selected because it has a pretty cover/spine...
view davidasposted's profile
This is really a lame idea. The library is a great place to store all the books you want to read eventually, but I think it's bordering on tacky to take books out for decoration. How many trips will it take you to check them out and bring them back when you're done? Are you taking the dustjackets off them so they don't look like they're from the library? I know people like books, like to see books when they visit others, and enjoy the colors and decorative texture of having books in the home, but this is one of the most desperate suggestions I've seen.
view K T G's profile
Yeah, chiming in with the "eh, not so much" - it would feel really selfish to me to be decorating my house with something that someone else may have wanted to read - it's so frustrating when someone else has the book I want, I couldn't imagine keeping a book any longer than it took me to read it!
view melanie's profile
The LA library has a book sale about once a month. Why not drop $10 and buy some books? At least you won't have to worry about late fees! Or go to the thrift store!
And pardon the pun but I'm totally on the same page as Melanie, hate it when the books I want are indefinetly checked out!
view valleyval's profile
I use my books for reading; that they also look good in my space is a bonus. As for using library books to decorate... that's ridiculous.
view Tse Moana's profile
Silly.
view ridge_van_winkle's profile
shallow.
view kiddo katsu's profile
Stupid.
view LilyC's profile
this is a rehash of the same idea presented on this site some time ago. it's just as vapid now as it was then. come to think of it, given the times we are in, maybe it's even more vapid now.
view BB's profile
Palmetto, LOL. yes a lot of the posts come off as pretty desperate sometimes. this is definitely one of them.
the only thing i'm getting from this is from the comments: MAYBE not a bad idea, if one is having weekend guests or something, to get a few really cool library books for your guests. thats if you don't have any of your own to keep them occupied.
fortunately my guests can pore over the ridiculous amounts of coffee table books and magazines i get. seriously i have so many subscriptions, i'm embarrassed lol
view Bobbycat5's profile
After the other book post, my mouth is shut on this one.
view Kimber's profile
Aside from all the other reasons this is bad, books are effen heavy. Books make moving a misery. The "looks" shown here would probably be 5-10 heavy boxes worth. Books are a pain in the ass to accommodate. If you don't read or collect stuff, just go with minimalism. Done.
view semolina's profile
Is this post for real? It's too silly and elaborate to be a joke, right?
view wally3's profile
you are kidding, right?
if not, we are not amused. if that is a serious post, we think it immensely dumb. sorry - but we do.
view maike's profile
Librarians are glad, in principle, to shelve and reshelve books that people take out with the intent of reading. But what a bummer to go through the hassle of reshelving because someone wanted to decorate their apartment for free. "Free" here means "at the library's expense," which also means "at the public's expense" -- and that's a valid expense for the sake of supporting an intellectually free community. Kinda a sucky expense for the sake of one person's pretension approach to decorating.
view ljbmonkey's profile
besides being a ridiculous idea, what do you do about the stickers libraries cover the books with (e.g. call numbers, bar-codes)? seems to me this would keep them from blending in.
view HeatherAB's profile
I'm a librarian, and this offends me.
view madampince's profile
what the hell? Seriously I wouldn't want to date or even be friends with someone who gets books from the library as home decorations. I get new books from the library because I've finished reading the old ones.
view TheoJ's profile
this is the stupidest thing i've ever read. 'nuff said
view animalhouze's profile
Agree with everyone above...silly and why not read the books? But also, don't library books have stickers and plastic and such to help protect them and help librarians re=shelve them. Wouldn't it be totally obvious which books were from the library?
I regularly buy books at library sales and have to take the stickers off. There often stamped on the inside too...which I think is kind of neat in a historical sense.
view alisong's profile
I'm a library clerk, and what annoys me about this idea is imagining myself explaining to a patron that the 100 books they checked out and are now late are costing them 15 dollars a day. Why not check out design books from the library and get better decorating ideas than this one?
view rouchebot's profile
mmmm I like this idea, unfortunatelly of my own books xixi I would go broke with late fees :)))
view chicago_girl's profile
How very Great-Gatsby-esque.
view moptop's profile
Note to self: Rush out right now and get Great Gatsby from library. Be sure to pick color-coordinating one, having party next Saturday.
view ljbmonkey's profile
Dumb idea. Seriously. I wouldn't want to be friends with someone who got books at the library for any reason other than for people to read.
view Caitlin in Seattle's profile
"We'd never check out books at the library to impress guests..." And I'm a fairy princess!
But the rotation idea is not a bad one. Let's be honest, books with pictures are for looking and not for reading, and I like books with lots of pictures. Lots of books with lots of pictures means lots of ideas. Lots of different books with lots of different pictures create lots of different ideas.
view somedudeinvicenza's profile
"Why not check out design books from the library and get better decorating ideas than this one?"
Now THAT's a great idea!
view piez's profile
How unbelievably ANNOYING!!! My local library has a feature where we can check which books are in the library and have a librarian pull and hold it for us, and sometimes there is a waiting list for more popular titles. I would be pretty damn irritated if a books I want to read, along with 98 others, are checked out just because the 2" spines are pretty colors.
Why not get decorative paper and use it to re-cover YOUR OWN books? You can use recycled paper, scrapbook paper, paper decorated by your adorable niece, sheets of colored butcher paper(like elementary school), extra bits of wrapping paper, whatever floats your boat. But please leave the library books for the people who want to read them!
view Stephie_is_a_dork's profile