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I am wondering if issue is a right word to describe the act of giving a book by librarian to the customer of library. The book that the person ordered previously and now is standing in front of the counter in library and the librarian is giving the book to the person after introducing all necessary data about this person and rental details into system.

So, can we say that librarian issued the book to customer?

In Oxford Dictionary I found that one of the meanings of issue is Supply someone with (something) and following example is given everyone was issued with a gas mask. According to that I think the sentenced I made is correct although one person who knowns English better then I claims that issue cannot be used in this particular context.

mrJoe
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    I don't see why issue couldn't be used that way. Even though the library book is being lent out, it is still also being issued. Just as while a passport is being given to somebody, it, too, is also being issued. The degree of permanence of something shouldn't affect the fact that it's being issued. – Jason Bassford Jun 12 '18 at 20:54
  • Please see https://english.stackexchange.com/a/55304/16244 – Mustafa Jun 12 '18 at 22:00
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    It is possible that anything that is loaned, sold or given, is also "issued". But the verb "issue" relates more closely to the physical handing over of the item(s) than to the contractual condition under which it is changing hands i.e. sale, loan or gift. Indeed "issue" is a neutral term which does not imply any of them. – WS2 Jun 12 '18 at 22:50
  • I would say that the librarian "checked the book out" to the customer. – tautophile Jun 13 '18 at 01:51
  • OED 10. trans. To give or supply (something) to a person (also with the recipient as indirect object). Also: to supply (a person) with something. . All of the examples in the OED are either military issues to troops or government issues like driving licences. Seems to be quite a specialised use, in the OED. – Nigel J Jun 13 '18 at 02:52
  • @NigelJ Yes, that OED sense 10 is interesting. There is no doubt that the verb "issue" does have an official ring about it - like a legal notice which gets "issued". A shop, for example, would not "issue" a customer with goods purchased - they would either "deliver", or "hand over". But I think a library book (certainly in Britain, if not elsewhere) just about sneaks in as something that might be "issued" - and, from what people have said here, it is used as part of library jargon. – WS2 Jun 13 '18 at 06:17
  • @tautophile That would be the American term. "Check-out" is not nearly as much used as a verb in Britain. But who does the checking out? Is it you the librarian who "checks the book out to me" or me the borrower who "checks the book out of the library"? Or is it perhaps both? – WS2 Jun 13 '18 at 06:24
  • Both. "I decided to check the book out of the library, so I took it to the front desk and the librarian checked it out to me." – tautophile Jun 15 '18 at 14:25

1 Answers1

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While it's not typical, you could say that.

I think, however, it would be more precise and better understood if you said loaned.

swmcdonnell
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