The Cornwall library trick that turns one loan into four books

Every book club has one. The friend who forgot to buy the book, the neighbour who wants to read it too but the library only had a single copy, the group chat that goes quiet because nobody’s finished chapter three yet. Cornwall Libraries thinks it has found a fix, and it starts with handing out four copies of the same book instead of one.

Four books, one loan

From this Friday, 11 September, which also happens to be Book Club Day 2026, library users across the county can borrow a “Reading with Friends” bundle. Each one contains four copies of the same title, so a group can read together without a single book doing the rounds one person at a time.

It works exactly like borrowing an ordinary book. Pick up a bundle at the library or reserve one through the online catalogue by searching “ReadingWithFriends” (no space) for click and collect. The loan runs for three weeks, with the option to renew if the group needs longer, and everyone simply hands their copy back together as one complete bundle at the end.

There is a wide spread of titles to pick from too, spanning adult fiction, young adult reads and the popular titles doing the rounds on BookTok. Anyone who wants a steer for the actual discussion can lean on the library’s own conversation starters once everyone has finished.

Already sharing shelves

Reading with Friends sits alongside a book group service Cornwall Libraries has run for a while. Established reading groups can already borrow sets of 12 copies of the same title, keep them for up to 12 weeks, and browse what is available through the same online catalogue. If a group can’t find the book it wants in stock, there is a request form for staff to try to source a copy, and BorrowBox gives members “no queues” access to ebooks and eaudiobooks the whole group can read or listen to at once.

Anyone who would rather read on their own timetable but still wants the chat can try the library service’s free online book club. Each month’s title is picked by the group and made available on BorrowBox as an ebook and eaudiobook throughout the month, before a discussion runs from 5.30pm to 6.15pm on the last Tuesday in the Cornwall Book Club Facebook group. Questions go up through the evening rather than all at once, so anyone who misses the live slot can still add their thoughts later in the week. A poll then decides what the group reads next.

Between the four-book bundles, the 12-book sets and the monthly online pick, there is now more than one way to make sure nobody in the group is still stuck on the first chapter while everyone else wants to talk about the ending.