keeping track of libary books

In article et,
Dana Netherton wrote:

e issue as "an issue".

It *is* hard to keep track of due dates, in the Brave New World of
computerized checkouts that no longer involves putting specific cards
with specific due dates in specific books. On-line renewals (available
in our library system) are convenient, but they also add to the
confusion. After a few library visits and a few on-line renewals, you
can have a dozen library books in the house, each with a different due
date ... and nothing in writing in each book that says what that date is!


Oh, waaay too complicated for me! I don't get too many books out of the
library for my own sake, because I'm still working my way through things
we own that I want to read (courtesy of a compulsive book-buyer spouse),
but for our daughter's books, I just have a rule that we can't get any
more until we bring back the ones we have. I try to keep the computer
slip in the pocket of a backpack that we use only for library books.
For my own sanity, I've also banned taking videos from the library.
They have due dates varying from 3 to 7 days, depending on what kind of
tape it is, and an overdue fine of a buck a day. I'd rather rent at
Blockbuster--at least I know what the bottom line is there.

I've also used the strategy of taking the same number of books out every
time, so at least I know that if I have ten in hand, that's all there
is. But that only works some of the time. As far as I know, there's no
limit on how many the kids can take out at a time.

Easy. When my kids were younger, library books were kept in the same spot in
the living room where they could be seen. If they neglected to put them
there, when we found them, they were not permitted to take any other books
out of the library for X amount of time. It didn't take long for them to
learn that library books stayed in the living room or were returned there.

Marijke
in Montreal



"Karen G" wrote in message
...
I knew this was going to happen. It took three months. We can't find a
library book. I was lucky to ask about it today, they were able to
extend the due date. As a parent, how do I balance the need to "find"
the book and get the kids to understand that we need to keep the books
in their basket so we can return them?

Karen G

wrote:

Borrowing books from the library is
still way cheaper than buying them, even if you lose an occasional book
and pay for it. The money you pay goes to a worthwhile cause
(supporting the library).

At our library, book replacement fees go to the library, but late fines do not
-- they go to some general city fund. I think the library fines per day now are
only twice what they were when I was first checking out books many years ago,
and there are no late fines on children's books.

Oh, and our library will also let you bring in another copy of the book rather
than the full replacement fee, which is frequently cheaper. I lucked out once
and got the same book secondhand for a dollar (it was in *excellent* condition,
better than the one I had checked out).

What's really a PITA now is that we will have books from three different
libraries (one public, two school) around the house to keep track of. Four, if
I start getting out scholarly stuff from the U.

--Helen

Karen G wrote:
I knew this was going to happen. It took three months. We can't find a
library book. I was lucky to ask about it today, they were able to
extend the due date. As a parent, how do I balance the need to "find"
the book and get the kids to understand that we need to keep the books
in their basket so we can return them?

Karen G


That was just one of the situations where I had to remind
them to put the books in the proper place until we were all
sick of hearing me talk about it. Our big problem was
"losing" a library book among their own personal books. My
favorite tool is the receipt our library prints out of books
with their due dates - I stick it on the refrigerator and
then I only have to round up the books due that week.

Of course, since over the years I've paid so much in fines I
should have a wing of the library with my name on it, my
advice might not be worth much. :-)

Lesley

Penny Gaines wrote in message ...
David desJardins wrote in :

I love finding things. As a parent, the main thing I want to do is
make sure that my girls get the sense that you should put things back
where they go so that you can find them when you need it--be it shoes,
jackets, books, or toys.

With shoes and jackets, you make sure it is easy to put them away, with
hooks they can reach. It has to be convenient for where you come in the
door - if you expect them to keep their outdoor clothes in their bedrooms
then they will never get put away. Then you nag them to do it whenever you
come in, until it is an ingrained habit.

Books and toys are harder to deal with: my kids don't want to put them away,
because they are permanently "in the middle of a game".

In that case, I probably wouldn't emphasize library books as an example
of that. To me, when you talk about lost library books, the emphasis is
on your obligation to the lender, and on not losing things for that

Library books are difficult, because you often read them over a few days,
and they need to be convenient for that. I suppose you have to insist
they put them in the basket when they have finished with them. And if
the kid lost it, make the kid pay the fines.

The last time we had this discussion, I think it was last spring, I
THOUGHT it was you, Penny, who gave me the idea of using a large
canvass bag to hold all our library books. In our entryway we have
Shaker wooden pegs all around the perimeter of the space. They're for
hanging coats, and that's where the library book bag lives as well.
When you read a book or watch a DVD from the library, you put it back
when you're done, so that anyone can return the contents at any time.
If it wasn't Penny who suggested this, I'm sorry, but I really did
think it was you, and it's worked out very well for out family, once
we paid the $20 someodd dollars in fines this summer! :-(

Marjorie

"Scott Lindstrom" wrote in message
...

You sound very organized We have library books
scattered hither and yon all over our house, mostly
because everyone reads books in about 4 or 5
separate locations.


ROFLOL!! that's NOT a word usually used in association with me or my
household.
That rule was enacted because I knew that we'd be losing lots of library
books otherwise.

;-)
Marijke