ProudGrandma Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 We live in a small town, which is surrounded by many other small towns...and we checked out a new library today about 20 miles away...and my intent was to let the kids each choose 5-7 books to check out and to simplify life today, I was just going to get one library card until we were certain that we would be coming back often...but when I went to do that, i was told that they would each have to get a card because you can only check out 8 books per card. I was sort of shocked....we go to 3 other libraries often and I have never been told that I had to limit the number of books...being new, I could possibly see that...but the librarian said that was the policy for everyone...not just new patrons....that will be HARD for us...we probably won't go there very often...espeically since we have to drive 20 miles one way. Does your library limit the number of books per card? I was curious to see if this is a common practice and I have just been lucky enough to avoid it...or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bang!Zoom! Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Yep, it's like that here. 10 check outs per household. The only workarounds I know of are to sign up with online libraries, take advantage of e books. You've actually got it good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PuddleJumper1 Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Local library (which is small rural library) - 25 per card. We could have 125 books out at one time. First time card owners do have a 5 item limit but that's just once. City library (card we pay for) - 50 item limit. We only have one card there. My kids have often maxed out their local cards and we regularly push the limit on the city one. Between the 5 of us it's not unheard of for us to have over 100 library books/items in the house. We'd never make it with limits like those. :huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hannah Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Not in the USA, but we can take 5 items per person. Our library has some cd's, but no audiobooks or dvd's. The lending period is two weeks, but you can call once to extend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy22alyns Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 We can only take out 10 books per card, so all 4 of us have cards! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraceyS/FL Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Ours I believe is 10 per card, for 3 weeks. No exceptions. We are in a small town, but while our library is funded by the town, they are part of the county system and there is no charge to request items from them. I can also return the books at any location. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom2TheTeam Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Whoa! I couldn't do that either. We live in a fairly small town. I find out library to be impressive relative to the size of the town. In fact, for over a year after moving here, I drove 45 minutes to the one where we used to live because I assumed the one here stunk without even trying it. :blush: Turns out it's pretty decent. Anyway, we can check out 99 books per card. So, we could have out 792 if we all had cards. We could never check out that many ;), but we usually have out 50-60 or a little more. I think we have 65 right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Ours is 100 books per card (so we could have 700 books out at once). We used to regularly hover around 100, and there were several times we needed to use another card. But now that we're out of the picture book stage we stay under 100. 8/card would not be good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocelotmom Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 If there is a limit here, I've never hit it and hope I never will! The limit, if there is one, is high enough for potential overdue fees get to be a major concern. We do everything on one card to make it easier to keep track, especially since there's no way for the kids to take themselves to the library for another several years at least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraceyS/FL Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 We only have 3 days to pick up holds (technically, they let us go an extra few days normally). I also live next to a retirement community - so my "kids" section isn't that great. I'm guessing there isn't 400 things I would WANT to check out at once. We have a lot of large print romance novels though!!! :p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdownie Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 We have no limits, though my personal "limit" is how many books I think we can keep up with in a 3 week period! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happymomofboys Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 My library allows 10 checkouts per card, but the librarian can override that limit. Since it's a small library and she knows that we homeschool, she's happy to let us check out more and will even extend due dates. I place holds online through the catalog system and books are transferred from surrounding libraries to my local one. You may just need to have a heart-to-heart with your librarian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSinNH Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 We live in a VERY small rural community and we have no limits. There are technically due dates, but they really do not care if you return them late and there are no late fines. The ILL system is AMAZING so we can get almost any book we want, usually in a week or two. There have only been a handful of instances when a book has not been available through ILL. The local library just asks that you please not take out every book on a certain subject (honor system). I have to tell you that I am feeling extremely blessed right now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammyla Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Our local limit is 50 per card. Our last city had a family limit of 8. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dscampbell1979 Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 We have a 10 per card limit here per visit with a maximum of 50 per card at any given time. We all have cards because of these limits, even the baby :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craftyerin Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 We have a 50 item limit per card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Ahahahahaha, the idea of limits here cracks me up! I think one library (for which we have three cards) has a limit of 100 per card, no household limit. If the other libraries (we have five cards at each of them) have limits, we've never hit them. We could easily have well over 1000 library books at a time. We usually have around 50, although it's not uncommon for it to hit 100 or so total. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 When I check a few months back, it was 100 books per card, 30 DVDs/CDs per card, no household limit. I have seven library systems near me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Fifteen books per person here. That seems reasonable to me. L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProudGrandma Posted July 31, 2013 Author Share Posted July 31, 2013 wow...that is interesting...at least that isn't the ONLY library I have access too...the one nice thing is that you check your books out for 2 weeks and if they aren't back in time they automatically get renewed ONCE...after that it's a fee because you can't keep any thing for more than 1 month...which, for us, usually is ok... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alice Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Wow! Ours is 50 books a card and I often grumble about it. I think I may have to be more appreciative now. We have no household limit so we have three cards currently. During the school year it isn’t unusual for me to have to use the third card, although we check out less now that the oldest is less into picture books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellydon Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 25 per card. We have 5 cards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artichoke Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Our city library has a limit of 100 books per card which can be checked out for three weeks and renewed two times as long as there's no hold on the book. Rarely, do we get more than twenty to twenty five books at a time because I don't want to have to keep track of all of them. We only have one family card since we live outside the city and have to pay per card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lllll Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarahj Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Our limit is 99 items per card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenrwheeler Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 We are really lucky to be in an area where there is tremendous support for public libraries. We are able to have cards to two counties worth of libraries. (We have reciprocity with libraries from 10 other counties, but haven't needed cards for them yet.) One has a 50 item limit per card, and the other no limit. We can put upt o 25 books on hold per card, and there is a 3 week check-out with 3 full renewals. Growing-up I didn't appreciate libraries, but I don't know how I would function without them now. Sorry to hear about the frustrating policy at your "local" library. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 25 per card. Unlimited for educator cards, which homeschoolers are eligible to sign up for. Some of these smaller limits are reasonable for adult books, but they're crazy for early readers. Five year olds need a dozen Amelia Bedelias and Frog and Toads to get them through a couple of weeks, and that's just the reading material for them - what about read alouds? And what about high schoolers doing research projects? Five books is pretty limited and that means no extra reading material for them. I think there are two types of library attitude out there. The "please use our library" attitude and the "we're suspicious of everyone using our library" attitude. I feel very grateful that our library system is of the mind that more users is better, even if it occasionally costs them books. We also don't have fines on juv. materials. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirstenhill Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 We're limited to 30 per "regular" card (it used to be 100) in our large county-wide library system. Homeschoolers are eligible for an "organization" card that allows us to still check out 100 items and have more than one card tied to the same account. With six people in the family, we could technically have more items out by each having a separate card, but it is so much easier to use our homeschool card for everything so it's all on one account. I do keep my old "regular" card handy though because for some reason the "organization" card can't be used for some electronic resources (like accessing the OED or other databases our library subscribes to). Eight books per card seems pretty low! We can read that many picture books in one day around here. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 I pay for a card from the next county over (larger system). It's 30 books per card, though my librarian knows I'm a homeschooler AND I'm out of county (thus paying for a card), so she has overridden the limit before. I've also been able to call or email to have a temporarily "lost" book renewed another 2 weeks even though I've hit the limit, giving me time to find it without worrying about fines. Eventually, I may need to pay for family membership instead of individual, so we can check out more books. I can't remember what my local library's limits are, as I haven't been there in forever (it's small and autonomous), but I think it has similar limits. I would ask the librarian if there are any special educator cards or anything like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraceyS/FL Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 I think our library overrides for certain people. I remember a Dad complaining about the 10 item limit he encountered at another branch. They appear to be in there weekly checking out a huge bag. Because our limits are so low, it makes it hard to count on the library for curriculum. My kids use it for books for pleasure - and I am hit or miss (I have enough on my iPad with freebies and paid that I'm set.... for a LONGGGGG time!). eBooks I think we are limited to 3 at a time per card. I'll have to double check. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beaners Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 I know that our tiny local library system doesn't have a limit because I asked when we got our cards. The big city/county library doesn't have a limit on checkouts, but I can only have 50 holds at a time. I hit the max on that all.the.time. My husband just picked up a batch of books, so I can start ordering again. The small library where we used to live had a 20 book limit per card. I could get around it by ordering books from other libraries in the system because they didn't count against our limit, and sometimes the volunteers in the children's room would override the system to fit in our last couple books. That was frustrating because my husband and I each had a card, but my oldest wasn't eligible for a card because she wasn't in a local school OR registered for homeschooling (you don't notify until age 8 in PA) and she was already a voracious reader. Plus I had two other little ones that I read to. We switched to ordering and picking up books from the closest big city/county library there after I asked the branch manager for an exception to the policy and she wouldn't even give us a child's card for the child who could read independently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuovonne Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Limit of over 70 items per card, and we have never hit the limit. My kids get their own cards as soon as they can read and fill out all the info on the application themselves. My personal limit for my kids is how many books they can carry at once. DD has no upper body strength, so she doesn't check out that many books. I've been known to check out book I think she'd like on my card. We get book for two weeks, and can renew twice, right away, so when I walk out of the library I have most books for six weeks. Holds are available for ten days from when they arrive. If a hold arrives right after we leave the library, I can trust it will be waiting for us at our visit the following week. All of this is for the main library system we use. We are also close to two other library systems (not just branches, but actual systems). Both other systems are similarly generous. I told DH that if we move, it better be to a place where the library is just as good. We are in the suburbs of a major metropolitan city. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto2Cs Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 30 items per card, up to 10 of which can be CDs/DVDs. Three week checkout period, and we can renew twice, except for inter library loans, which cannot be renewed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Those of you who have a hundred books or more out: how do you keep track? And how do you use all those books at the same time? I'm trying to work out how it would look. L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayne J Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Or library has a 100 book limit per card. So far, I have not gotten the kids their own cards, because that would make it harder to keep track. I can go online to see a record of the books I have checked out and their due dates, which allows me to see what is due on our next regular library day and hunt them down. We generally keep library books on a special shelf (I keep my own in my library bag). We do have "escapees" that end up in someone's bed, and I have to send kids to search, but for years now we have done it that way and have yet to actually lose a book. A few were renewed and eventually found, a few were returned to the library and later found on the shelves. The only book I ever had to pay for was damaged...by *my* coffee...Oops! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenn- Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 We can have 7 books/audiobooks out and 2 DVDs (adult card only) per card. I have 4 cards and have only used 2 of the cards once because the boys really wanted to use their own cards. I have enough trouble keeping up with 14 books, I cannot even begin to fathom 100 books at home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Those of you who have a hundred books or more out: how do you keep track? And how do you use all those books at the same time? I'm trying to work out how it would look. L I don't usually have a hundred, but I do have 50+ out. I don't keep track. I don't bother. No fines on juvenile materials means I don't have to. The only thing they ever do is put a hold on my card if I forget something. And as long as I'm at our local branch, they know me, know I'm in and out with a giant bag every week, and just override it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pen Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 We live in a small town, which is surrounded by many other small towns...and we checked out a new library today about 20 miles away...and my intent was to let the kids each choose 5-7 books to check out and to simplify life today, I was just going to get one library card until we were certain that we would be coming back often...but when I went to do that, i was told that they would each have to get a card because you can only check out 8 books per card. I was sort of shocked....we go to 3 other libraries often and I have never been told that I had to limit the number of books...being new, I could possibly see that...but the librarian said that was the policy for everyone...not just new patrons....that will be HARD for us...we probably won't go there very often...espeically since we have to drive 20 miles one way. Does your library limit the number of books per card? I was curious to see if this is a common practice and I have just been lucky enough to avoid it...or not. Yes, ours is limited (I think 10 books per card, and 6 DVD's per household) and I think pretty much all libraries I have been at have limits. However, at ours each family member can have a card at no additional fee. Ours (or certain individual librarians with power to override the computer's automatic settings) also has been a bit flexible with policies once they got to know us and knew that we were reliable about returns and also were homeschooling--such as usually the rule is not more than 4 books per household on a particular subject at one time (so others will have something on that subject too) but when we are doing research we often want more, and they have allowed that provided we have been willing to get things back if there is a hold placed on it (which so far there never has been). They also got a little more flexible (for everyone) with phone renewals than they used to be. They have also been willing to let Great Courses count as audio books rather than DVD's, so we get 4 weeks instead of one. Other than when we are using a lot of things for research, maybe reading just a few pages from each one, we cannot read more per week than their limit anyway. Our nearest small town library, where we have cards, has co-privileges with several other small town libraries in our county--both if we wanted to go there and use them, and also for interlibrary loan purposes. So far I have just done interlibrary loans for the others, most of which are quite far away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clear Creek Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 30 books per household, three week checkout period, and 25 cents/day per item overdue fees...no grace period. I just turned in 28 books that were one day past the due date - for the amount of the fine, I could have bought myself a book from Amazon. :sad: Oh, and since we are outside the city limits (by a hair...we could easily walk to the city limit) we have to pay $10/year to even have a card at this lovely library. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beaners Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 (Ignore the laundry I'm folding!) The ones on and above the shelves are mostly books I've requested for lessons or picture books, plus a couple books that my husband or I are reading. Those bright green bags are the books my girls just picked out from the local library, and somehow haven't yet strewn about the house. My husband has another couple bags that he picked up this afternoon from the big city library. Mine are young enough that they will still read picture books, so those raise our book total substantially. My oldest reads a lot, and is young enough to not have many hours of assigned work. You know how SWB says to pick a book or two on a topic, but not to worry about finding every book on every topic? I pick a book or two to read aloud to everyone, a stack of books I plan for my daughter to read, and then she browses the shelves when I turn around and takes every remaining book on the topic. (Not really an exaggeration. I make sure they get returned ASAP.) Then there's science, math, planned literature, etc. With 4 kids, 100 books a week is just over 3 books per kid per day. That's easy-peasy when your kids still pick out picture books and easy chapter books, but probably a bit tougher once they're high school age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuovonne Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Those of you who have a hundred books or more out: how do you keep track? And how do you use all those books at the same time? We don't check out hundreds of books at a time, although we could, and have come close to a hundred a few times, especially when my kids were in easy readers and picture books. Here's what we do - We don't actually use all the books we check out. It's free to check out books, so why not check out every book that looks interesting? We have nothing to loose. The library likes the increased circulation. I don't worry about preventing others from using the books because I am scrupulous about returning books that others have on hold, and if a book is not a good fit for us, it is returned the next week. - We have a standard spot in the house to put library books. It is the most convient place to dump books, so they usually end up there. - Taking a library book out of the house (except to the library) requires explicit permission and is severly limited. I am a bit more generous about taking library books to read in the car, as long as they do not leave the car during the trip. - My kids know they are responsible for whatever books they check out and will have to pay any late fines themselves. - We renew books right away, so we have them for six weeks. But we do not keep them for six weeks, except in extreme cases. Most books are returned in one to three weeks simply because we are done with them. - I have an app on my iPad where I can look up all of our accounts. - All of our accounts have my email address, so I get all the emails about books coming due, holds arriving, etc. Most books are returned well before they are due, so I am not overwhelmed with emails. - When I get an email listing books that are due that week (rare, since we have six weeks), I immediately look for it and put it in my library book bag and I am the only one allowed to remove it. If I cannot find it, I enlist the help of the kids to find it, and we all search. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Those of you who have a hundred books or more out: how do you keep track? And how do you use all those books at the same time? I'm trying to work out how it would look. L We have an area in front of the bookshelves for library books. We borrow from three library systems though so once our boys are done reading, they would put the library book in one of the library bags depending on which library the book belongs to. We just return as they are done. For example my older borrowed 8 books yesterday which he finished reading today and we will return tomorrow when we go to the library. We go to the libraries a few times a week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraceyS/FL Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Huh. When we renew the new period starts that day (unless it has recently changed), so there is no chance to extend it until the end, and then you won't know until you try if someone is waiting.... yay us! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirstenhill Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Those of you who have a hundred books or more out: how do you keep track? And how do you use all those books at the same time? I'm trying to work out how it would look. L Even though we have the 100 limit, we usually have 50-70 out at a time. The library books all go to designated baskets (one in DD's room for her, then baskets for general picture books and "school related" books in the school room). We're usually not using ALL those books all at once, but if we are starting a history or science topic, I don't want to have to be running to the library every few days for more books, so we get a couple weeks worth of books for science and history at once. It's not too bad using the online catalog to keep track of due dates -- I get emails two days before they are due, and I go in and renew things when needed. On kids' materials the fines are only 5cents per day, so I don't mind getting a few days of fines here and there. I figure the $10 or $15 I spend per year in library fines are well worth it compared to the amount of use I get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xixstar Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 I think out library had a 50 book limit, but I've crossed that a few times lately and usually hover right around 50 at a time. There is a limit of 3 or 5 movies/dvds or video games (love that they have video games!). Those a 7-day return. We can renew items 20 times and I've reached that limit before. The neighboring county library has a 2 renewals limit and that is why I don't visit that as much. But they have toys and puzzles you can check out, so I do love that option. Especially for those easier toddler puzzles that you don't want to buy because once they can do them, they're done with them. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coco_Clark Posted August 1, 2013 Share Posted August 1, 2013 Wow, I never really knew how blessed I was for our libraries 50 book limit. I'm constantly hitting 50 and may have to get a second card (though I've been putting it off because I like everything being on one account). I can't imagine an 8 book limit. Mine are picture book age so that would go by fast! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmilyGF Posted August 1, 2013 Share Posted August 1, 2013 When you first sign up for a card in Chicago, you can only get 5 books. After time, it gets upped to 30. Still, you can only put 3 books at a time on hold, and each book takes about 2-3 weeks to arrive (if you are lucky enough for it to be on a shelf of another library... if it is out, well, good luck). Emily Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt_Uhura Posted August 1, 2013 Share Posted August 1, 2013 My library has a limit of 50 books per card. It used to be 100 books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelia Posted August 1, 2013 Share Posted August 1, 2013 Current town: No limits on number or type of items. Cards are only issued to individuals 18 and up. Items due after 2 weeks. No limit on renewals. Previous town: 15 item limit on individual card, 25 items for a family card. A child can get a card as soon as he or she can write his or her name. Items due after 3 weeks. No more than 2 renewals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tammyw Posted August 1, 2013 Share Posted August 1, 2013 No limit on ours. We've had over 200 items out at one time, on one card. And we can take as many dvds as we want also. They are for 3 weeks at a time, but you can renew up to 50 times, unless someone has requested the item. Our library system pulls from libraries all over the city, which is wonderful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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