After writing about the slow disappearance of local libraries, I realised there was something else I wanted to talk about.
BorrowBox.
If you have a library card and haven't investigated whether your local library gives you access to BorrowBox yet, please do.
Seriously.
Go and look.
I discovered BorrowBox rather later than I should have, and my first reaction was basically: Hang on. You mean these books are FREE?
Not free in a dodgy-download-from-somewhere-you-probably-shouldn't sort of way. Properly free. Borrowed from the library, just like taking a paperback home, except you don't actually have to leave the sofa.
BorrowBox is a digital library service used by public libraries. Depending on what your particular library service offers, you can borrow ebooks and audiobooks through the app, and BorrowBox now also supports digital magazines and newspapers.
All you need is your library membership details.
And this is where things became dangerous.
I downloaded the app.
I logged in.
I started browsing.
Approximately seven minutes later I had borrowed several books and put myself on waiting lists for several more.
Apparently giving me access to a library at eleven o'clock at night was an error in judgement.
It's Not Quite #KindleUnlimited
I initially assumed it would work a bit like #KindleUnlimited.
It doesn't.
It's still a library.
That means the library has a certain number of digital copies available. If somebody else has borrowed the book you want, you may have to reserve it and wait your turn.
Which sounds annoying until you remember one important detail.
You're not paying for it.
And waiting for popular titles isn't unusual. Research into ebook borrowing in public libraries found that 83% of ebook borrowers had wanted a title that wasn't immediately available and joined a waiting list, while 58% simply borrowed something else while they waited.
That's pretty much what I do.
"Oh, that one's not available until October."
Fine.
I'll have these four instead.
Problem solved.
Audiobooks Are Where It Gets Really Good
I think the audiobooks might be my favourite part.
Audiobooks can be expensive, particularly if you listen to a lot of them. With a library service like BorrowBox, suddenly you can experiment.
I've borrowed books I probably wouldn't have bought because I wasn't sure whether I'd like them.
Sometimes I've abandoned them after an hour.
No guilt whatsoever.
Back they go.
But I've also discovered books and authors I might never have tried otherwise.
That's one of the things libraries have always done brilliantly, and I love that BorrowBox manages to recreate a little of it digitally.
But Isn't This Killing the Physical Library?
I wondered about that too, particularly after my last post.
But I don't think it is quite that simple.
Digital borrowing has become a significant part of what modern libraries actually provide. In 2019–20, physical formats accounted for 88% of library loans; by 2024–25 that had fallen to 65%, with digital borrowing taking a much larger share. Ebook loans stood at 3.6 million in 2024–25, while digital audiobook loans had risen to 4.7 million.
For some people, digital borrowing is also what makes the library accessible in the first place.
Research has found people turning to ebooks because they have mobility problems, can't easily reach a branch, need adjustable text because of sight loss, or simply can't find the book they want on the physical shelves.
So perhaps BorrowBox isn't replacing the library.
Perhaps it is another door into it.
There Is One Slight Problem
My TBR.
Obviously.
Before BorrowBox, I had the books on my shelves, the books on my Kindle and the books I'd saved because somebody on the internet said they were brilliant.
Now I also have:
Books I've borrowed.
Books I've reserved.
Books I've spotted on BorrowBox and intend to borrow later.
This is getting ridiculous.
But there is something rather lovely about finishing a book late at night, opening the app and discovering another one waiting to be borrowed.
The local library might be closed.
The lights might be off.
The doors might be locked.
But somehow, a little piece of it is still sitting in my hand.
And I think that's rather wonderful.
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