Just did our first BIG library run... - Page 2

[fruitfulmomma]

I go multiple times a week and often checkout more than I know I can personally read before they are due. I'm just triage challenged.

They opened up a new library near us this year that is called a Browsing Library and it is basically all their new books and they are shelved to make it really easy to find all sorts of neat books that one could never have the time to read.

[ohiomommy1122]

Originally Posted by elizawill

LOL.

instead of a laundry basket, i have a reusable grocery bag from harris teeter (large cloth bag). i hole punched our library card & it's tied to the bag. my children each have their own bag with their card attached & the bag can comfortably hold 20 books each. anyway - i prefer this over the laundry basket just a thought.

Awesome idea

10 books man that stinks we dont have a limit here and an awsome library system

[kewb]

My friends were laughing and joking that our library must be closed because I have all the books. And I do have a large stack in the corner of the dining room. I like to have 2-3 weeks lessons at a time. Our library has a 50 book per card limit. Between the kids and I we are okay.

I was in the library every other day this past week picking up the books I requested for the start of our school year. I <3 my library.

[Handsomesmomma]

We have a ten book limit here too. Drives me crazy! My son has a card and I have one so we can get 20 books at one time if we want. I love your idea Amy about the cards and the bag Yet another great idea
I am amazed at the amount of books you can all take out. Must be wonderful!
I think the librarians dread when we come in because I always have books on hold from all over our library system and they all have different due dates

[phathui5]

When you take too many out the fees add up really quick!!

Can you get a teacher's card? Homeschoolers in Maryland get the teacher's card, which doesn't get late fees.

[Love_My_Babies]

I work at the library 10 hours a week, and I would love to get some tips from you all to help some of our visitors. Tell me how you organize/store your library books/cd/dvd once they get home.

I used to keep them all on my headboard, but we soon checked out too many and they fell on DH when he was sleeping. So, we are trying out some new tactics. Love to hear where or how you keep track of yours.

[JessicaS]

Our Library has a 50 book limit.

You can get a library card that goes on your keychain like those loyalty cards from the grocery.

It is so funny but you can get email update so it emails three days before your items are due. Feature Videos can only be rented for four days so the day after you rent a video you get an email reminder.

[elizawill]

Originally Posted by Handsomesmomma

We have a ten book limit here too. Drives me crazy! My son has a card and I have one so we can get 20 books at one time if we want. I love your idea Amy about the cards and the bag Yet another great idea

aren't you in NY??? that should be illegal to only have 10 books per person in NY, lol. i'm glad i'm not the only one on "restriction" - i was feeling ostracized

sebarnes, i laughed outloud when i read your post!!!!

[spruce]

Usually, we make a "no books at the table" rule, but after my library runs, I leave a book or two on the table to be found by my 8 and 5yo's in the morning. :-) It works out wonderfully. They're book hounds, they'll read *anything.*

love, p

[VeganMamaRed]

We have a 100 book limit. We arrive at the library with a huge rolling suitcase. Usually my little one is riding on it. We go to the library about once a week and change out the books for new ones. My dd reads constantly and it is so hard to keep her in books. Plus then we always need reference type books for whatever project or subject we are working on at the time. Then my little guy needs a ton of picture books because he loves to be read to. Then next thing you know you need rolling luggage to manage it all.

And it's all free, which is the best part!

[annethcz]

I don't think any of the library systems we use have a limit on the number of books you can check out at a time. Good thing, because it's hard enough for me to keep track of my own account, let alone accounts for my kids. It's so much easier when all of the info is in one place. We usually have 50-100 items checked out at a time

Originally Posted by AmyB736

Man... I really need to start paying down my debt to the library. I'm so jealous now. I love the library but haven't been able to check anything out in quite a few months because I owe too much money. I hope you all are better than me at keeping organized and getting books back in time. When you take too many out the fees add up really quick!!

They do add up fast! Regardless, for me it's much cheaper to pay the fines than it would be to buy the books.

Originally Posted by abimommy

It is so funny but you can get email update so it emails three days before your items are due. Feature Videos can only be rented for four days so the day after you rent a video you get an email reminder.

The library we use most often is further away, but it has a kick-ass website, which makes it worth the drive. We can choose to have e-mail reminders 5-, 3-, or 1- day before items are due.

[oceanbaby]

I would never be able to keep track of that many books!

I have no idea what our limit is (I have a feeling it's under 20), but I do know that we get charged $.25 for every request! It makes me crazy, because like you, I'd like to request the ten books I need to have them all at once to prepare, but I don't want to pay to do it each time. Plus, the online system is so annoying that you have to pay for each request as you go, so I can't just put them all in a cart and pay once. It sucks.

[oceanbaby]

Ooops, wrong thread.

[MissRubyandKen]

The card attached to bag is a good idea. We rarely ever use the actual cards because both dp and I have all four card numbers memorized. Yeah, we use them that much. We used to carry books home in a large gym type bag, but that was too heavy. We now use two cloth book bags bought at the library, and reuse a couple of tough plastic library bags that we keep tucked inside just in case we overrun.

[MPsSweetie]

Wow, how do you guys keep track of that many books! We already have hundreds at home and everything gets so mixed up, lol. Plus, our local library, while I love it, has ZERO of the books needed for our new curriculum. And the next biggest is 45 miles away and had a 3 BOOK LIMIT if you are out of county!! And you have to have them back in a week! Urgh.... Its driving me crazy. When my sister and I were kids we went to the library almost everyday, and checked out at least 20-30 each per week. It was awesome! We LOVE books!

[fruitfulmomma]

Wow, how do you guys keep track of that many books!

After losing more than one we've had to institute a policy of having them all kept on one shelf that is designated for that purpose and the kids may have one book from it at a time.

Also, both library districts we use have our accounts online so we can easily check them to see what we have and when it is due and renew items.

[sebarnes]

Our library has our account online so it's easy to see what we have out, but we also have a special place in our living room where all of the books we check out have to be returned to. The kids are fairly good about doing this but I also pick them up and stick them in the box when I see them lying about.

[*Jessica*]

We have around 100 out right now. I've resorted to using a rolling suitcase for our library trips. And to keep track of them we keep them all on a specific bookcase. All books in our house, whether from the library or from our personal collection, are "returned" to a bin (a wooden crate that unit blocks came in) and it is my job to re-shelve them. Once the boys are older they will be responsible for properly re-shelving their own items, but for now this system is working great for us.

I also try to return books a few days before the due date so that I can check the online system to see if we somehow missed any (like the Dr. Seuss library book that a babysitter put with our own collection when she tried to be helpful while I was out of town....since I was out of town and it wasn't with the other library books for Marc to return I had to pay a $5.95 fine) and get them turned in before they are due.

[MeadowSong_]

I don't think we have a limit on ours, but I normally don't take over 25 a week. That is enough to comfortably get us through and I'm happy with that lol.

I use a big reusuable grocery bag also, works great. Our library cards here though, are made for key rings so I just have mine on my van keys. It's always with me lol

[janerose]

OK, so I didn't get around to my book inventory last night. Ended up taking a bath, with a glass of a great local wine we found at the farmers market, & a good book instead.

As far as keeping track of that many books, well, I'm still working out the system for our homeschool books. What we do for our regular books is keep them all on one shelf. Will probably do something similar with the homeschool books, although I need to clear another shelf just for them. I'm also grouping the homeschool ones together by week. The ones we're currently using go on my desk, along with our homeschool texts, and the binder where I keep the girls' various paperwork filed. Upcoming weeks will go on a separate shelf.

For tracking due dates I write the dates on the calendar when we get home from the library. Since I glance at my calendar daily it gives me a quick reminder if anything is coming due. We can also check due dates & renew online (unless it's already overdue...then we need to call to renew). So once I see I have something coming due I check online, renew whatever needs it, and pull whatever needs to go back off the shelf. This system is not perfect since it relies on me actually marking the dates on the calendar though! Also, DH has his own card & doesn't always tell me about due dates. Still, we probably pay $30-40 a year in late fees between the 2 of us, but it's still a deal in our view considering the huge volume of stuff we take out.

Books & audio books can be out for 1 month, DVD 3 days, VHS 1 week. Special materials, like project boxes or bags from the kids room or materials specific for teachers can only be taken for 1 week.

My plan is to return school books to the library as we finish with them. We normally go at least once a week, but I do like to have several weeks of school books ahead of time so I can plan. Also, in case I need to request any. Requests are free for us & can be done online, but always take a LONG time to come in. So if I need something for a history unit 3 weeks from now I need to request it NOW if I want it in time.

Oh, and I'm loving the idea of a rolling suitcase! We have a great ramp & elevator system in our library that the girls always insist on using anyway.