Sunday, February 15, 2015

MyLib.in closed down its operations

It was shocking to see an e-mail on the 3rd Feb stating the 6 year old library is closing down operations with immediate effect. It was a bit shocking but at the same time unfortunate. It's also true that there are lots of similar options available today. When I did some searches around here are some hits.

  1. EasyLib
  2. Doorstepbooks
  3. JustBooks
  4. NOOL
Well there may be more which I may not have explored. Prices of plans are almost similar. But I think the biggest concerns I had with depth of the books. I prefer reading non-fictions and at some point I realise they really do not have that great a catalog. Even if they have you may get them late. But in any case I will still prefer this option over buying books. Actually, typical books one never buys for long term reference. You only read the book once and then it sits in your book rack for display till the content validity expired. This is particularly true with many management books. You realise some real praises on ability for financial sector to securitise the mortgage assets and one bubble burst you realise those theories may not be all relevant in the world of subprime lending. I kind of feel these libraries do a fair share of service there. They reduce the clutter and they create a critical mass of readership for you to know which books to pick up and which are not. However, sometimes when you get the book you realise a lot of water has flown below the bridge. I think that gives me time to identify a book of depth vs. a temporary fad though. 

Now that MyLib and my association for past 4 years is no longer an option which one should I choose. I guess I will wait for sometime. Have got a whole series of John Grisham to finish before I look upto some new texts. It may be worthwhile to give me a library vacation for sometime before I decide on one. 

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Sambit,

This is really sad; their service was good".

I had paused my membership. I did not get any email though.

Do you have any idea if and how we can get back our deposits given to MyLib.

Regards.
Kumar

Sambit Kumar Dash said...

Hi Kumar,

They had the pricing and service worked out pretty well. Their books were getting a bit dated but I guess with the plans to close that can now be justified in the hind sight.

This is the snippet from the last communication:

--------------------
Further to our communication dated 3rd Feb 2015 -

Please note that we have extended the date by which you may come to the MyLib Jayanagar branch to collect the refund amount (if any). We will be open till 14-Feb-2015, 8 pm.

For customers who have updated the bank details for NEFT transfer - we will initiate the transfer by 15-FEB-2015. Please note that the transfer will take maximum of 7 working days to process. We will confirm transfer completion by email.

You are welcome to buy books @ 50-150 (based on category). If you wish to buy books, please visit the library on or before 14-Feb-2015

--------------------

I guess now you are out of luck and now they are closed down completely. And the site is down as well.

Regards,

Sambit

dilip said...

Hi Sambit/Kumar - this is Dilip from Mylib. I just saw this. We tried to send the mail to all the emails which were with us. Please send a mail to cs@mylib.in and we will refund the money to your account. It may take a few weeks since we are in US and the transfer is a bit cumbersome. Thanks for your support and words

Sambit Kumar Dash said...

Thanks Mr. Dilip.

I am publishing your message so that Kumar can contact you. I have got my refund on time. Thanks a lot. You and Your team ran the library very well as long as you could. I am yet to find an another option that is balanced in pricing and service.