Thirty dollars in library fines! I need help!

[mamapjama]

I use several cards from two different library systems. As hard as I try I cannot make this work. I downloaded a sticky note program a while ago and I record all the due dates for all 7 cards. But I have to open the program every morning, it doesn't do it automatically and I don't always do it. I think I'm on top of it and know when things are due and then wham!

 

I need help!

[JFSinIL]

I post the slips of paper listing the books checked out and when due the library gives me on a bulletin board , then write Lib Bks Due on the wall calender in the kitchen that I look at every morning. On days a book or two is due, I can check the slips of paper (or check on-line) and get the books.

Our library also lets us sign up for emailed reminders when a book is coming due, is past due, etc.

[mysticamethyst]

You probably won't like my advice, lol, I buy the books. I could never get books turned in on time, no matter what I tried. I am just too unorganzied so I just started buying the books I needed. Actually saved money because I no longer had $30-$45 fines when I would turn them in. Plus most of the time the books I would want were checked out. I hope you find an answer that will work for you.

[Carrie12345]

Routine library days.

 

We've taken a break from the library because I haven't been able to keep up with the routine, and I know I'll rack up fines.

 

*Normally*, we'd go every Friday, check out an amount of books we could reasonably finish in a week, return the entire stack from the week before, and renew whatever didn't quite fit that week. This way, we never really had to worry much about whether something was due in 7, 14, or 21 days.

[ChristusG]

This is why we rarely go to the library. We lose books, books are late, etc. And I won't even let the kids check out movies anymore. Movies are due in one week, books are due in two. I'm not making an extra trip for a movie. And we always forget anyways and they are $1 per day late!

[Mom-ninja.]

Do you pass the library when you go somewhere? Make it routine to swing by and drop off books.

 

I actually take post-it notes and put one on the front cover of each book with it's due date.

[QuirkyKapers]

Library fines drive me crazy! It is frustrating to think I am on top of things and than I still get fines. I even get notices to remind me to renew. If I don't do it immediately upon receiving the notice, I forget and once again have a fine.

 

Is there anyway you can just use a couple cards instead of so many or are they all from different libraries? I know the kids each wanted a card. For awhile I had 4. That drove me nuts. I am down to using two cards. Much more manageable. However, I still have a knack for racking up fines.

[LuvToRead]

Do the libraries print off a slip? My local library prints off a slip with each book checked out and the due date. Can you check online? If there is a list online, you could print that off. I pin these slips on the bulletin board. Also, I have an extra large LL Bean bag that the books must be stored in. No books are allowed in the bedroom. This system really seems to work from us. I do check out books from various libraries, but because they are in the same system, I am able to return any book at any library. This helps tremendously.

[Tammyla]

Written on your CALENDAR, that way you could just see the title(s).

 

 

Sorry about the fines, I've learned my lesson the hard way here too. Dh will drop the books off for me on the way to work if I leave them on the counter.

Edited November 12, 2010 by Tammyla

[NanceXToo]

Do you have a desk or wall calendar that you use regularly? If so, when you get home with your books, I'd look at that little slip that tells you what day they are do back, and then I'd mark those days- right away- on your calendar.

[Ellie]

This is the only thing that worked for me:

 

We went to the library weekly. All books were returned the week after they were checked out. The end.

[Violet Crown]

You probably won't like my advice, lol, I buy the books. I could never get books turned in on time, no matter what I tried. I am just too unorganzied so I just started buying the books I needed. Actually saved money because I no longer had $30-$45 fines when I would turn them in. Plus most of the time the books I would want were checked out. I hope you find an answer that will work for you.

:iagree:

 

For a few dollars at most per book--often for less than a dollar per book--I have a collection of the books I want for each subject, available as soon as I want them. Most of them are much better than the books I can usually find at our public library (many of them were discarded by the public library!). I don't have to get in the van, keep my noisy preschooler quiet, or steer my 7yo away from the inappropriate "Young Adult" garbage mixed in with the Beverly Clearys and Caroline Haywoods.

 

Oh no, wait, our local public library sold their entire collection of Caroline Haywoods. To me. For 50 cents each. Because they were too old.

[Dobela]

I try to limit how many I check out at a time. The more I have out, the more my potential fine will be. There is no way I could manage using more than one library system honestly, I have a difficult time keeping books returned to the library down the street some times.. When I do have items checked out they are assigned to a special library bag - if they are not being read, they are in that bag and it stays near the door. I post on my door the list the library gives me at checkout with the due date highlighted. If I have items with different due dates (videos/tapes are only available for 1 week, books for 3 here), everything goes back the same day 1 week later and I check out no more than I can use in that 1 week.

[AppleGreen]

They may charge now, but I think I read it is only $20 or something a year, so well worth it. I have it manage 3 cards for me right now and it is awesome. We routinely have 130-150 books out at any given time between the 3 cards and our library fines are .25/day/book, so it can add up fast! Library Elf has saved my sanity and wallet. (I sound like an infomercial, but it is seriously the best service ever! LOL)

[secular_mom]

If you have Microsoft Calendar you can go to the calendar and set the due date as an appointment, while you are adding it as an appointment you can check the box to set a reminder for however many days ahead of time that want to set it. That's what I do. You can also use Yahoo Calendar to send you an e-mail reminder. I'm sure there are other online calendars you can use too.

[dirty ethel rackham]

I just post due dates on my calendar at home. When something is coming due, I log onto the library website to see what is due when and whether or not I can renew it. Now, this doesn't always prevent fines, because I still have to make it to the library;).

[6packofun]

If you can log into your account online, maybe you can print the list of currently checked out books with their due dates and put it up on your refrigerator (or corkboard or whatever you have)?

 

If it's out there for me to see, it helps. I tend to check out a lot of books on one day and then wait several days before going to pick up/check out other. That way, I can write "Library Books DUE!" on our big family calendar (on the fridge) and know that I need to check our account and hunt through the house for the ones that need to be renewed or taken back. It IS a big job! lol

[QueenCat]

Routine library days.

 

 

:iagree: This is what we do, and it works.

[Gwenhwyfar]

i just consider it my 'donation' to our library. :tongue_smilie:

 

nothing ever worked ~ i couldn't have a 'regular library day' because stuff came up (dh wanted the vehicle, sick kid, frigid temps, SOMETHING. sometimes it was just me forgetting it was library day!) and got in the way. calendars? i forget to check them. i lose them. whatever. books in one basket? works for a day or two and then......they get away. notes to myself? vanished. somewhere. prolly off to the same place that missing pens and socks and shades and suckers and batteries and mittens and everything else goes.

 

yeah ummmm...organized? what's that? :laugh:

[K-FL]

Since we have unlimited # books we can check out, I do it all on one card. The dc have cards, but it's just easier to use one.

 

We also have the ELF system that sends reminders 3 days prior to due date.

[ktgrok]

Google calendar lets you set it to send you reminders. You can set it to send them a day before, a week before, 15 minutes before, etc...and as many as you need I think. And it can email you or send you a text message, however you want it.

 

That said, I'm bad about it too and have fines on two of my cards right now....the only thing that helps is regular library days.

[justasque]

Library Elf has taken care of all that for me. http://www.libraryelf.com All my cards, from three or four different systems, plus my family's cards. All in one place, with email reminders starting four days before an item is due, and a "check all your cards" option. I also make Elf one of the tabs that opens when I open Firefox, as an additional trigger to check. I cannot begin to tell you how much money and stress this has saved me. *So* worth the very minimal yearly fee ($25? $20?).

 

In addition, I have all the library card numbers on a sticky on my computer monitor, and all the library renewal sites on my favorite bookmarks. When I get an email about something that is due, it takes seconds to renew it online and buy me some time to get it back.

[Dawn in OH]

My library has a great system you can opt into. It's called "Library Elf". It emails you to let you know when you have items due soon (you choose how much notice you get), gives you the due date, tells you how many times you can renew the item, and tells you when you have new items for pick-up that you ordered. It's great! This has seriously reduced the amount of late fees that I get.

 

I had crazy fines before I signed up for this system.

[LostSurprise]

Some of the new catalogs have email notification. Ask your librarian.

 

Limiting books per child.

Putting them in charge of finding them with consequences (less books checked out for youngers..paying fines with chores or money for teens).

Having a basket or box in a central location.

 

These have helped us.

[Mom0012]

I haven't read all the posts, but the first thing I did when our library recently went to a fine system was to put everything one one card - mine! Up until now, it was nice for the kids to have their own, but really, I can't keep up with their cards as well as mine. The same goes for my husband. He's using mine so I can keep track of when everything is due. We just can't afford large fines and we use the library heavily.

 

I also write on my calendar the soonest date any of the books are due. I can also renew online, so most of my books wind up with the same due date except for what I've taken out most recently.

 

Lisa

Edited November 13, 2010 by LisaTheresa

[Cinder]

What works for me: regular library day, only one library card (mine), sign up for email notification. I get an email 2 days before items are due. I can renew online. When books are due I renew everything due that day. That way if I can't make it to the library (even if it's my regular day to go) or I can't find the book I only get fined on those items that won't renew rather than the whole bunch. I also have a central location for books, though the books do travel throughout the house and car.

 

Can you cut down to one library system? One or two cards? I don't use our county library because it's just lacking. I pay to go to the next county over, but the distance is the same as to my local library. They recently raised the fee for an out-of-county card so we're down to one card. They also reduced the number of books we can check out, but so far it's working out for us. Maybe because I've already collected quite a few books over the years.

 

And if your system has email notification sign up for that. It's been the most helpful tool in keeping track of my books.

 

Cinder

[RamonaQ]

I can login to my library account from home. Part of my regular web trolling includes a quick stop at the library account to see if anything is due.

[Halcyon]

Does your library not send renewal notices by email? I guess we are lucky that ours does, and that the email provides a simple link to where you can renew all your books. I renew the moment I get the email, even if I think I'm going to the library that very day..because you never know.