I like to let people borrow my books to spread the joy of reading. However, 90% of the time, my books are returned in a much worse state than they were when I first lent them out.
Now, I hate it when I damage a book in any sort of way. That means cover/page tears, spilling food, folding pages, etc. I try to keep my books in the condition I got them in for a couple reasons. For one, it looks better on the shelf (I know, I know. It’s a pretty vain reason). A couple of exceptions are your favorite books that you reread all the time. Those books can be acceptably worn down and still look great. Second, I spent my own hard-earned money on them, so it makes sense that I want them to last as long as possible.
That being said, there are some rules when borrowing books from me.
1. When you are borrowing a book from me, you’re basically signing a contract that says you will cover the cost of any damage that happens to it.
Some people might be nicer than I am, but if the book is significantly damaged, I let the person who inflicted the damage know that I expect another copy.
2. Do not purposefully damage the book.
That means no dog-earring the pages, writing, etc.
3. Honesty is the best policy.
If you happen to damage the book, please let me know. I’d rather you tell me what you did rather than I find out later on my own.
4. Ask to borrow the book when you actually plan to read it.
Please do not ask for the book if you don’t plan on reading it right away. I am not going to wait five months before you actually start reading it.
5. If you don’t agree with my rules, just borrow the book from the library or buy yourself a copy.
Don’t get angry at me because of my rules. They’re my books, and if you don’t agree with me, you don’t have to borrow from me.
I’m not sure if everyone is the same way I am with my books, but I’m very protective over them (as you can obviously tell). I’m like a mother bear.
Do you guys feel as protective as I do with your books?
Do you let people borrow your books?
Until next time….
The Awkward Book Blogger 
I’m just as protective over my books and I agree with all these rules. I also like my books to be returned to me within a week or two. There are some very annoying people out there who just borrow a book and take ages to give them back.
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I agree. I’ve had some people take over three months to read a book.
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Yeah, I don’t let ppl borrow my books…if they want a book, I’ll either give it to them bc my copy needs to be replaced anyway, or I’ll check it out at the library for them. I did that for a friend and he read almost the entire Alchemist series that way. Worst case scenario is that they’ll lose the book, and they’ll pay me for it, and if not, then I’ll pay for it and we won’t be friends anymore. It’s all about mutual respect.
For example: I let my friend drive my car ONCE (never have let a friend drive my car since then), and he backed up into a tree and broke the rear windshield. He got out of the car and said, “I hope you have Glass coverage.” I was like, “FIRST OF ALL, no, I don’t, second of all, there’s way more damage than the glass, and finally YOU’RE PAYING FOR IT. He didn’t agree. My dad, the lawyer, had to sue him. It sucked, but I got the money from his parents. Fixed the car. Lost a friend. But obviously they weren’t a good friend to begin with. If he had taken some culpability, we probably could have figured something out, but because he ducked it, I had to lose a friend. But “thems the breaks…”
I feel you. 😉🙌
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I feel the same way about people borrowing books. If they damage it, they pay for it. I never thought about checking the book out from the library for them though.
Yikes! Hope you’re car is okay.
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That car is LONG gone, but thanks for the sentiment!
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I’m just as protective over these books. Usually I don’t have to lend people book but when I do, there’s a great amount of reluctance I face before I let them borrow it.
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Same here!
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Ok I need to show people these rules before lending out my books. I used to lend them out but now I try not too, i’ve had so many bad experiences from people never even returning them, using it as a coaster so there is stains, waiting 2 years to get one back.
I’m now always just like ‘yeah you should totally buy it’…. my copy is my baby.
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Yikes! Using books as coasters is a big no-no. I’ve also had some bad experiences but definitely not that bad.
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Yeah safe to say I wasn’t impressed. I was a bit speechless when it was handed back to me with the big tea stain…
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YES TO ALL OF THESE! I think you and I should lend to each other haha because I hate when people do any of these things. Especially dog earring the pages!
And I also hate when people ask to borrow a book and take forever to even start too, you’re right I don’t want to wait 5 months for me to get my book back. People at that point usually say “you already read it so why do you need it back right away” which is a valid point but I don’t like my stuff being gone away from me for that long of a time! Call it part of my anxiety but just give me my stuff back right away or I worry!
This is an awesome post Jessica, we’ll done! 🙂
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Dog-earring the pages is the worst! I let a friend borrow one of my books, and I didn’t get it back until three months later. Apparently, she lent my book out to her parents as well before she gave it back. I was anxious the whole time while I was waiting for her to finish.
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