Like I've always said, I may be old but I'm slow.

I just discovered how to put a tag on a book.  I know many people don't want x-library books and I was recently given many of them.  They are all in great shape.  I tagged each one on my shelf.  Does that tag show on my public bookshelf so people will know it's tagged that way?

What happens if someone is ordering a book from me through fifo and not straight from my shelf - will they know the book is x-library?

That is the wrong way to use tags.  People can turn tags off and many don't pay attention or even look at the book page.   If someone has an ex-library RC you will still have to decline. If they don't then you are ok becaue they are allowed in the rules anyway.

Tags show up for EVERY copy of book.  There is no way for a requester to know that the Ex-Library tag only applies to YOUR copy of the book.

Hi Pamela -- unfortunately,, when you put a tag on a book, it shows on all copies of the book. Nobody can tell which tags are yours, so when people look at my bookshelf, they will see the "ex-library" tag on all the books you put it on, even though none of my books are ex-library.

This is why tags aren't supposed to be used to describe the condition of a specific copy of the book. They're for more general things that apply to all copies, like "first in a series", "release date: 1/12/2013", "Sherlock Holmes", etc.

Thank you everyone for the information.  I had no idea.  I appreciate your help.

Everyone can see Tags, but only you can see the sticky notes. 

Unless a requester has an RC that they are unwilling to accept ex-library books, it doesn't matter b/c they are postable per PBS guidelines.  Making the sender aware of those special conditions is the responsibility of the requester.  Members looking at your bookshelf don't specifically need to know some of your books are ex-library.

As the others have mentioned, for what you are trying to accomplish, it is best for you to use the Notes feature, and not Tags. 

Tags are added when the tag information pertains to ALL copies of the book in the system.  An example is to add a main character name to a title, as every copy of that title will have the same main character name.

Personal use tags are added when you want to compile a list of books that you can bring up by clicking on the tag.  (For example, to use them this way in the manner you described, you'd need to create a personal tag such as "Pamela's ex-library", as opposed to "ex-library".  Then you could call up a list of all the ex-library books you have listed.)

However, rather than making lists, I think you'd get more useful functionality for your purposes by seeing the note on the book copy any time you look at the book details/picture icon.  That way, if you get an order for the book you will see right away from the yellow sticky note that it is one of your ex-library books, rather than have to create the list then look on the list to see if the specific book is on it.

Thanks everyone.  I've tried the little yellow sticky note and it works just fine. 

I really appreciate all of the help.