I have 37 Magic Tree House books checked out right now

[forty-two]

DD6.5 has discovered her first series :). Dh and I are so proud ;).

 

(Of those 37 books, 14 have been read (and really should have been returned today, but I forgot to grab them).

 

In other library-related news, today I set a new personal record for most items out at a time: 186! (I keep wondering when I will hit the limit on my card.) Of them, 65 were checked out today, and I'm sure that I looked like a book-loving loon as I hauled around a giant overstuffed book bag, plus a stack of 12-15 good sized books in my arms, relying on my chin to keep them balanced. I even managed the stairs like that. (I went to the main branch today, which I rarely get to, so I had to make the most of the opportunity ;).) However, one consequence is that library section of our bookshelves has taken over a third shelf, and I'm not sure if that's going to be enough - I still have 25 or so books on the table and the space left is looking mighty small.)

[Ann.without.an.e]

Wow, that is a lot of books. Do you lose many books and end up with fines? That would be my concern if I had that many out?

 

I loved that super-hungry-for-books early reading stage. So fun :)

[forty-two]

Wow, that is a lot of books. Do you lose many books and end up with fines? That would be my concern if I had that many out?

 

I loved that super-hungry-for-books early reading stage. So fun :)

 

Mostly no. It used to be an issue, and it kept me from using the library as much as I'd like. It helped a *lot* when I cleared a shelf (now shelves) and it is the official home for library books. It's out of baby reach - very important ;) - and the girls are pretty good about getting the books right back up, plus I grab any I see throughout the day - we almost never lose a book these days :phew. And our library sends a reminder email three days before books are due, and I use that to check off each book as I grab them off the shelf and load them up to be returned. Had one snafu recently, where I misremembered the date on the email, and so was late by one day :doh. Yeah, 46 books times $.25/book/day adds up :ouch. But mostly the system works :thumbup:.

[Arcadia]

We had to cart back more than 50 boxcar children at one time :) My hubby joke about buying the Ikea shopping cart for library use.

http://m.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/art/50212684/

 

We had cart back library books in Trader Joes paperbags because we ran out of bags LOL

[My3Munchkins]

We had to cart back more than 50 boxcar children at one time :) My hubby joke about buying the Ikea shopping cart for library use.

http://m.ikea.com/us...s/art/50212684/

 

We had cart back library books in Trader Joes paperbags because we ran out of bags LOL

 

 

I've never seen that at ikea. Now I want one for library trips! I hate trying to juggle a huge bag of books and a wiggly toddler on the verge of a meltdown out the door and to the car!

[Mom2TheTeam]

Fun! I can only imagine how many we are going to be checking out at a time as my children get older. My oldest is 7 and I have 6. We usually have 50-60 out at a time. Ours only allows 99 per card...but we can have 8 cards. :lol:

 

I have basically the exact system as the OP to keep track of them. I have a library shelf where all the library books go. The littles (as my younger 3 are called) aren't allowed free access to them. I get email reminders of then they are due back. I renew online when I need to. I print the list of books I have out online and check them off as I bring them back. Then, before I check anymore out, I confirm the number of books they think I have with the number I think I have. See why below. ;)

 

I've never lost a book, but I have had to search high and low a few times. Once, I thought it was lost. I kept renewing it. When I couldn't renew it anymore, I was getting fines. Finally, I went in to confess that it was lost....first, I looked....on their shelf and found it there! I'd returned it probably more than 2 months prior. Even after it was discovered, I kept finding myself looking behind things for the book at home only to remember, it had already been found. LOL. That was frustrating! It isn't the only time they have missed scanning something in. So, I always make sure they scan in everything I bring back.

 

Luckily, my library has very low fees. The late fee is like $.02 a day or something stupid like that. I think it's too low. It's not really a deterrent in my opinion, but at least it is cheap for me when I've been late.

[Julie Smith]

Eldest just finished a long series,but it took months to complete so never that many out at once.

 

But we do that sort of thing years ago.

[PhotoGal]

Arcadia,

 

I have that Ikea bag and we use it only for library books! LOL I do feel a little conspicuous wheeling it around the library, but it is so much better than carrying multiple cloth bags. Plus it protects the books from rain! :)

 

We often have a lot of items out at once because we have some books from topics we just finished, some from what we are currently studying, some from what is next (I put them on hold ahead of time so they will come in on time), a lot of comics that the kids pick out, a few DVDs, a few CDs - it all adds up. :)

[Cinder]

My dd is also reading MTH--she's on book 31, I think. We only get a few each week because our total limit is 50 and we usually have about 45 items checked out. And we only have one card because we're out of system and have to pay. But the library system we pay for is way better than our county system and so worth the $25/year.

 

I use an extra-large LLBean canvas bag for my books. It's a hand-me-down bag that dfil used to use for tools but it's still in great shape and very sturdy. At our library the librarians bring in plastic grocery bags and offer them to patrons who look like they might need one (or more) to carry their books.