I am new to this so I hope someone can help answer this question.  I have requested three books, but that was on the 26 and tghe 28.  the bubble says that the request is waiting on member?  What does that mean and how long do I have to wait?  Also does anyone one know why I am typing in italics like this!?!? How do I turn it off?

From the Help Center:

The sender has 5 days to respond to your book request.

Read more about the requesting process here.

Read more about the sending process here.

• Log into PBS
• Click My Account in the main toolbar at the top of the site.
• Click the "Books I've Requested" tab under the Message from the Librarian.
• The status of each request you have submitted appears In the "speech bubble" on the right:
  • "Requested on:"
    • is the date and time that you submitted the request
  • "Waiting for Member"
    • means the sender has not yet agreed to send the book (he or she has 5 days to respond).
  • "Accepted" (with NO "will mail-by" date specified)
    • means that the sender has agreed to send the book by clicking "I can mail in the next 2 days", and has 5 days from the date of acceptance in which to mark the book mailed.
  • "Accepted" ("will mail-by" date specified)
    • means that the sender has agreed to send the book by clicking "I can mail later", and has until 2 days after the mail-by date shown to mark the book mailed.
• If you click on the request, you may see:
  • "Printed:" (with a date)
    • means that the sender has printed your address to send the book (the request can no longer be canceled by you at this point).
    • The date shown here is the LAST time the address was printed.  This will update if the sender reprints the address.
    • "Awaiting Member" after "Printed" means that the address has not yet been printed.  The request can still be canceled by you at this point.
  When the sender marks the book mailed, the request will move to your En Route to Me tab in My Account, and you will be sent an email from PBS telling you the book is on its way.

Yep, what Charlie said.

The person you requested the book from has 5 days to respond either "yes" or "no".  Now if they say "no" on the 2nd day, your request goes to the next person in line who has the book you want, and then that person has 5 days to respond one way or the other.  So, as you can tell, if someone says no or more than one person says no (which is rare), but you can see how it could take many days to get a request accepted. 

That is usually not the case tho.  Most people are good about checking in and getting books mailed out.  Most of us want to send out a book so we have a credit to spend ourselves.  :>)

Look to the top of the white box you are typing in, see the capital letter "I" that is in italics, click on it and undo the italics script you're typing in.

And finally, welcome to PBS!

Jennifer, welcome to PBS!  About your question, Julie and Charlie are both right!