Do your dc have their own library cards?

[Princess Peach]

No, they don't. At this point it's easier for me to have everything on one card.

[Aquinas Academy]

Does anyone else use this? There is a website called www.libraryelf.com . You can register your library cards there and it will email/text you when your books are due. I LOVE it. I set it to email me the day before they are due (you can chose a range). You can add all of your families cards to one account to keep track of childrens due dates as well.

I don't know if it works for all states, but it does in WI and it is a life (fine) saver.

Speaking of due dates, I got an email yesterday that I have 17 books due today. I better go round them up.

 

We use this too. It makes life so easy. :) All my kids (including DS 2, although we never use his) have library cards.

[HLDoll]

My two oler ones have their own cards. It was a right of passage kind of thing. They had to be 5 and reading a bit on their own. Both of their kid cards are tied to my account, so all the notices/emails come to me, so it really isn't that much trouble to keep track of everything. When we're in a hurry, I check everything out on my card, but when we have time, they each stand in line with their own card and chat with the librarian about their selections. It makes them feel grown up and gives them a sense of responsibility.

[pfamilygal]

Yes, because that way at least one of us doesn't have fines and I can use that card. BWAHAHAHA!

[MerryAtHope]

My kids have their own cards and it is their responsibility to keep track of them. They keep them in their wallets like I do. I can't remember now how old they were when we did this though! I know I started allowance & budgeting with them around 6 & 8, and it was probably sometime after that.

 

When I present new things like this to my kids, I present it as a privilege with a responsibility. You could say something like, "I just realized that you are old enough to have a library card. What would you do if you had one?" See if she's interested & how she responds. "It's a big responsibility to have a card and not lose it. How would you take care of it?" See if she has a good plan. "How would you make sure you didn't lose it?" and so on. Let her come up with the plan, and if she's really gung-ho, try it out. If not, then it's worth waiting. My dd doesn't have pierced ears yet, even though she really wants them, because she recognizes that she likely wouldn't remember to clean her ears properly to keep them from getting infected during the first 6 weeks, and I know I wouldn't remember! When you present kids with the full situation and have them come up with the plan, then you can see how to proceed. And if she fails...hey, it's only a library card. It's a good learning experience if she believes she is ready for it, and there's not a big cost to you if she loses it--but it might feel like a big cost to *her* if she did (good learning if so!) or a big boost to her growing up if she doesn't.

 

Merry :-)

Edited April 13, 2011 by MerryAtHope

[MerryAtHope]

Does anyone else use this? There is a website called www.libraryelf.com . You can register your library cards there and it will email/text you when your books are due.

 

What an awesome service, thanks for posting!

[Brenda in FL]

Yes, because that way at least one of us doesn't have fines and I can use that card. BWAHAHAHA!

 

:lol: This is so true!

[Kirch]

Yes, ds 6 has a card, and ds 5 will get one once he's reading independently (very soon!). I can keep up with them online, and I keep his card in my wallet. Otherwise there'd be no way--I'd have enough trouble keeping up with my own account!!

[Greenmama2]

As soon as my dc could sign their names, they got library cards.

 

However, we had a simple method of keeping track of library books: all books were returned every week, whether they'd been read or not. No exceptions.

 

Both mine got theirs at one year old which seems a bit out of the norm here bug we do something similar to the above. Everything goes back each visit unless I know we are for sure we are going again before they are due. It's a good incentive to actually read them.

[Greenmama2]

Thanks for the library elf link. This looks really useful!

[Guest]

When we moved back to Canada the first thing we did was to go and get our library cards. All four of us :D. You can really appreciate the value of a library when you don't have access to one. Malcolm was ten months old at the time but has had his own since. My hubby keeps tabs on his own while I keep tabs on mine and the boys' cards. I have set them up to get e-mail notifications when we have books due but I am constantly online checking them also, or renewing books. I have memorized the numbers for all four cards to speed things up :) when I need to access them.

[boscopup]

Before they're 11, I limit the books check out to they're age. It's easier to keep track of, and also the number of books a child can carry to the car. Seriously, 1 book more than their age and books are dropped the entire way to the car. Go figure. :lol:

 

Have you thought of using a bag to carry your books? :D I usually bring in a shopping bag (reuseable type), or sometimes we'll use DS's backpack (so HE can carry them).

 

I couldn't limit books to my son's age. He's a fast reader. He will go through 20 books in a week easily!

[NanceXToo]

My daughter got one when she was like 8 but honestly we mainly just use mine.

[KnitWit]

I *WISH* mine could each have their own! We live in a county without a decent library system. When the surrounding counties in our state decided to combine into a cooperative system, my county opted *out*. :confused: So, we now have the option of joining the other system for $30/card, a neighboring county in the next state for $30/card, or the city library in the next state for $50/card. We chose the one we most often pass in routines of life and joined for $30. Our limit is 25 books. With five kids being hs'd, that is really a pain in the rear! It is what it is though.

 

We used to live in the city and with my teacher card, I could check out 75 and the kids who had cards each had their own limit. We would take one of those rolling file box things and fill it up! :lol: I crack up when we leave our present library and one of the older kids says "Remember when..."

[IsabelC]

I got each of my children a library card when they were babies, however I still keep them all in my handbag and look over their book selections before they borrow anything. Because there are no fines on kids' cards, I have been known to take out books I wanted to keep for too long on their cards instead of mine :blushing:

[RootAnn]

I *WISH* mine could each have their own! We live in a county without a decent library system. Our limit is 25 books. With five kids being hs'd, that is really a pain in the rear!

:iagree: (insert crying smiley here)

Our *local* library limits most patrons to 15 books per FAMILY. Just over a year ago, they agreed to allow homeschoolers to check out 25 books per family during the (public) school year. Even at this rate, we are almost always at our limit and we go at least once per week and usually more often. You can have multiple cards, but you still have the same limit.

 

However, the quality & quantity of books in the *local* library sucks. So, we bit the bullet & joined the "big city" library 60 miles away (and paid for it). They have a 30 book limit per card. So, two of my dc have cards so we can have up to 90 books/items out at a time. Since we go about once per month or so to the big city, this allows us more items.

 

I keep track of the books & the due dates/etc. More trouble, but also more books. We're book-lovers here. I'm drooling at all your great library systems & big book checkout limits. I agree with the poster who said you don't appreciate a good library system until you don't have access to one!

 

:drool5:

[skirch]

Here you have to be 6 to get a card and dd was waiting. We went down on her 6th birthday to get her card. She feels so grown up having her own cardand checking out her own books. :D

[smjlangley]

Does anyone else use this? There is a website called www.libraryelf.com . You can register your library cards there and it will email/text you when your books are due. I LOVE it. I set it to email me the day before they are due (you can chose a range). You can add all of your families cards to one account to keep track of childrens due dates as well.

I don't know if it works for all states, but it does in WI and it is a life (fine) saver.

Speaking of due dates, I got an email yesterday that I have 17 books due today. I better go round them up.

 

 

Yes, that's what we use too!

[homeschooltoone]

Not yet. He hasn't asked for one, and I'm in no hurry to have another account to keep track of. If or when he asks about getting his own card I will let him.

 

same here too.

[Leighton Academy]

Both of my boys have cards. Our library has a 20 book limit per card so it was pretty much a necessity. When they first received the cards, they insisted on checking out twenty books every week. It drove me crazy! I keep all of our cards in a pocket in our library bag. We usually go to the library every Tuesday. I put most school books on my card and use theirs when I go over the limit. They put their books on their own cards. So far, we've had no issues with lost cards or lost books. I check online for due dates since they don't stamp the books here.

[min]

One of mine has had one since she was about a month old! The others were about 2 and 3. But I have them all in my purse.

Min