Anyone have a system/organizing method for library books & due dates?

[MommaOfalotta]

We check out a ton of library books and keep getting late fees. We aren't far from the library at all but when things get busy I forget to make trips, I forget due dates, etc. Especially when a lot of books have different due dates. (Mostly this happens when holds come in and I run and pick them up)

 

I've tried putting the receipts on the bulletin board but I don't think its too far from sight, maybe the fridge?

 

Do you have any systems/tricks/tips on keeping your books and due dates organized??

[fourisenough]

I rely heavily on reminder emails from my library.

[regentrude]

Can you renew online? Log in once a week on a fixed day and renew the entire batch.

 

Otherwise: mark due dates on the family calendar. Designate a specific library day and go to the library only on Tuesdays to renew/return/check out.

[katilac]

Library Elf is your friend:

 

http://www.libraryelf.com/Default.aspx

[bakpak]

I've made it a habit to check online every few days. I also started renewing (online) a few days early so that I can plan ahead if I find something isn't renewable. I have to check online for holds as well, as they still call for those (no email) & only sporadically do so. I also put the books that we're finished with in a bag ready to go back (sometimes already in the car, so I won't forget!). It's hard keeping track of so many books, but it's so worth it!! It's probably fun for kids to have their own cards, but I find it easiest to keep them all on one card (no limit is handy).

 

Good luck!

 

ETA: Renewing online in advance also means that I can lump multiple days together, which ends up making life easier. So say I had 5 books due on 10/22, 2 books due on 10/24, and 6 books due on 10/25, I might go ahead and renew all 13 of them today on the 22nd so now they're all due 3 weeks from today. Means less dates to remember. You might 'lose' a few days, but with our long checkout policy (3 weeks, can renew twice), time isn't an issue generally. If there's a much-sought-after new release that you suspect you won't be able to renew, trying to renew it early will give you a heads-up about that as well! 

[bakpak]

A friend of mine in Alaska had a nice attitude about library fines. She viewed it as a reminder to donate to the local library!! :)  I hate being late with books, but I always think of her positive attitude and end up feeling good that I'm contributing to such a wonderful resource.

 

 

[provenance61]

Ditto recommendation for Library Elf!  We have used it for over a year.  Can't say it solves everything...but almost.  We have multiple books from different libraries, and every day it sends me a reminder of the status of all our holds, books out, etc.

 

[boscopup]

A couple things:

 

1) Library Elf, as mentioned above. It e-mails reminders 3 days, 2, days, 1 day, and day of. It also lets you know when holds are ready. I currently use this service for free, because my library is beta testing, but I will pay for it when the beta runs out. Some libraries pay for subscriber service, so their patrons can use it for free. Check to see if you're a lucky one. :D

 

2) I go on the same day of the week every time, and I don't pick up holds until that day. My library day is Friday (every other week), and the Saturday or Sunday before, I put in hold requests for 2 weeks of school starting a week from then (ie, I'm giving myself time to pick them up almost a week later, and then I have 2 weeks of books). The library will hold the books for a week, so I can pick them all up on Friday and be just fine.

[Critterfixer]

My system is an old notebook with these headings at the top of the page: Book, Out and Due.  I use two libaries, so I will put which library in the margin of the list of books. When I get ready to make a trip to the libary I check off the books as I stack them for loading in the car. If I decide to keep a book because it isn't due yet, or I plan to renew it I will highlight the book to show that it needs to carry down to the next list. If a book was very good, and I may check it out again, I'll be sure to put the author's name beside the book title, so I can look it up the next time I want it.

 

It isn't fancy, but it does seem to keep fines to a minimum, and ensures that when a book goes missing under a bed that I know which one it was so we can locate it. I usually log books as soon as I get home from the library.

[Cosmos]

Can you renew online? Log in once a week on a fixed day and renew the entire batch.

 

This is what I do. We might GO to the library on any day of the week, but Wednesday is when I check due dates. Anything that is due in the next seven days gets either renewed (if allowed) or returned. Sometimes it means I renew something on Wednesday even if it isn't due until the next Tuesday. I "lose" days this way by renewing ahead of time, but it really helps me to keep from having overdue notices.  The library is very close to our house so it's easy to drop off books on Wednesday even if we weren't planning to go otherwise.

[Mom2OandE]

I average around 50 a month. We have a basket by the door. When a resource is used we log it in our reading or video logs and in the basket it goes. All videos are kept in the same spot and library books are kept on our rain gutter bookshelf until used.

 

As far as checking them out. I order the books I need twice a month. I place holds one week prior to needing them usually on Sunday or Monday. I then pick them up between Fri and Sun. Those are my resources for two weeks. I try for all of them to go back together. I repeat my hold cycle every two weeks.

[ThatHomeschoolDad]

I get texts from our library, but the system is kinda funky and not always reliable.  I figure our monthly fines are the cost of doing tote-bags worth of business.   I am definitely going to check out library elf, however!

[FriedClams]

As I check out I put a reminder in my phone. Our library emails but I find using my phone works better for me.

[Ellie]

The only thing that worked for me was going to the library every Wednesday and returning all books every week, even if we hadn't read them yet. Pathetic, I know. :glare:

[happypamama]

The only thing that worked for me was going to the library every Wednesday and returning all books every week, even if we hadn't read them yet. Pathetic, I know. :glare:

Lol, that's a huge advantage to homeschooling in the days of computers and internet!

 

I get email notices from the libraries a couple of days in advance, but I also have my google calendar set up to send me an email one day a week to check one system's list and an email a different day of the week to check the other system's list. This has really cut down on my overdue books. If we pick up a hold on an unusual day, I just renew it the next time I renew books from that system, to keep them all on the same rotation, even if it means losing a few days of use with an item. It's a good half an hour to one of the systems, the one with the bigger selection, but DH is up there about every week or two, so I try to coordinate due dates with his trips up there.

[Ellie]

Lol, that's a huge advantage to homeschooling in the days of computers and internet!

 

I get email notices from the libraries a couple of days in advance, but I also have my google calendar set up to send me an email one day a week to check one system's list and an email a different day of the week to check the other system's list. This has really cut down on my overdue books. If we pick up a hold on an unusual day, I just renew it the next time I renew books from that system, to keep them all on the same rotation, even if it means losing a few days of use with an item. It's a good half an hour to one of the systems, the one with the bigger selection, but DH is up there about every week or two, so I try to coordinate due dates with his trips up there.

 

Oh, see, all that Internet and checking e-mails and everything would be way too much like work for me. :lol: I prefer just going to the library weekly. :D

[chaya]

library emails help.

 

also, I go to the library weekly and when I take out new books I always ask for another receipt listing the books I may still have out. otherwise I tend to forget a book or two.

 

I tried the basket idea but invariably books found their way under the sofa or behind a bed. if I didnt remember I still had it out I wouldnt know to look for it.

 

with all that, I average a few dollars/month in late fees. not terrible for all that free reading material.

[KAM]

My dd12 has the job of looking up everyone's library record each week, making renewals, and noting what needs to be returned. When the kids were all younger I had a set day each week when I looked up the records. It can be a major pain, but it beats the fines! We do go to the library more weeks than not and again, my dd has the job of making sure everyone has the items on the list that need returning.

[JanetC]

I also use Library Elf, with the calendar feed automatically going to my Cozi calendar.

 

 

[Tracy]

I just always go to the library on the same day each week and take back everything that is due that day.  I can check online, so that makes it easy.  

[Word Nerd]

I rely on Library Elf and my libraries' (I use two) online systems for keeping track of due dates. We usually visit our main library the same day every week, and that helps too. We try to keep all items not being read or watched in a library bag (one for each library), but there are always a few strays I have to hunt for.

[xixstar]

Just signed up for Elf. I rely on emails and text messages about due dates from the library. I also have a line item budget for library fees as well - ha. DH always teases I could own many for the price I pay, but not compared to the hundreds we check out.

[katilac]

<snip> Library Elf, as mentioned above. It e-mails reminders 3 days, 2, days, 1 day, and day of. It also lets you know when holds are ready. I currently use this service for free, because my library is beta testing, but I will pay for it when the beta runs out. Some libraries pay for subscriber service, so their patrons can use it for free. Check to see if you're a lucky one. :D <snip>

Just a note that you only have to pay for Library Elf if you want multiple cards on the same account - you get one card for free.

 

If you like, everyone who has a card can sign up for their own LE account, as long as they have their own email. Of course, this is handiest if your setup allows forwarding all the LE emails to one account.

[provenance61]

Janet, how do you set Library Elf to feed into your Cozi calendar? I use both, but don't know about this feature...

 

[kubiac]

We're in the "regular visits" camp. I do keep an eye online, but our best system is weekly visits always on the same day AND a dedicated box by the front door for library books. On the way out, I sift through the pile and collect all the ones that we're done with or that are definitely due and put those all in the car.

[My3girls]

Wednesday is library day. I check online and renew what needs to be renewed, place holds on books that we'll need the next week or so, then return books we're done with and pick up books that are in from previously placed holds. By always checking out on Wednesday, books are always due on Wednesday which makes things much simpler.

[JanetC]

Janet, how do you set Library Elf to feed into your Cozi calendar? I use both, but don't know about this feature...

On Library Elf:

 

Log in to the website, under User Services -> My Account -> Options -> Delivery Method you will see a green ICAL link. Copy that link. (Usually something like right-click/ copy-link-location)

 

On Cozi:

 

Log in to the website, under your calendar pick Set Up -> Internet Calendars. Click on "Add Internet Calendar" and paste the link copied above in there.

[Stars]

We have separate baskets for the different libraries, and we go on the same days each week.  Also, if we return some books and keep others for the next week, I try to have the librarian go ahead and recheck the old books so they'll all be due the same day.

 

You'd be surprised how quickly my family got used to moving gingerly around giant woven baskets full of books. 

[Maela]

Wednesday is library day. I check online and renew what needs to be renewed, place holds on books that we'll need the next week or so, then return books we're done with and pick up books that are in from previously placed holds. By always checking out on Wednesday, books are always due on Wednesday which makes things much simpler.

This; except our day is Monday. We have a special box that we keep our library books in right next to the bookshelf that holds the books we own.

[mumto2]

I log in to all cards every Sunday evening. Renew everything due in the next week. After the first renewal everything due same day. :) basket for returns. All books not actively being read on the same bookshelf so they can be found easily if the renewal doesn't work.

[boscopup]

Just a note that you only have to pay for Library Elf if you want multiple cards on the same account - you get one card for free.

 

If you like, everyone who has a card can sign up for their own LE account, as long as they have their own email. Of course, this is handiest if your setup allows forwarding all the LE emails to one account.

Good point! I use two libraries, and one of them doesn't email me when holds are ready. In Library Elf, the Premium version does that.

 

Those who want to use iCal support would also need the Premium version. Basic version just tells you when books are due or overdue.

[happypamama]

Oh, see, all that Internet and checking e-mails and everything would be way too much like work for me. :lol: I prefer just going to the library weekly. :D

LOL, if I lived near the library, that would be easy.  As it is, I live on the border of two counties, at least 20 minutes from anything, including a grocery store.  So I pick and choose which direction we go in based on which direction has the most stuff I need.  If it's a week when I need to get to BJ's, for instance, that's a completely different direction from one library system, but if it's a week when we're going to park day, that's a totally different direction from BJ's and the library system up there.  So while I go out about once a week, it's not always the same day, and it's not always near the same library system.  (If something's due or ready to be picked up when we're not going to be nearby, DH stops on his way home for me.)  But in my parents' hometown, where they live five minutes from the library and grocery store, it would make sense to have a regular outing day which included a regular stop at the library.

 

I do realize that I'm not the usual, though. :)

[katilac]

Good point! I use two libraries, and one of them doesn't email me when holds are ready. In Library Elf, the Premium version does that.

 

Those who want to use iCal support would also need the Premium version. Basic version just tells you when books are due or overdue.

You know what I find weird? My library will not email reminders of when books are due, but they do email when you have a hold ready. Like, fifty times, lol.

 

We will occasionally get, on some bizarrely inconsistent basis, a phone call when we have overdue books. Sometimes, we even get this weird notice in the mail, the layered kind where you have to peel away the edges to open it (kinda like a netflix envelope). It looks expensive to print and mail, and of course usually arrives AFTER we have returned the books.

 

How is an email not easier??

[Korrale]

I have issues with my library's email system. I miss reminders because it emails me about 3 library emails a day about stuff I can't attend. Lots of book clubs and things like that. So I often delete them right away. And sometimes miss my reminder.

My library does have an app which comes in handy.

 

I have just recently started trying to keep all the library books in 1 place. Often then end up all over the house. Now they sit by the front door in a carry on suitcase or 2, depending on how many we have.

 

I also don't mind fines. I see them as a contribution to the library system.

[Pen]

1) trying to go on a particular day so everything is always due that same day 1, 2, 3, or 4 weeks later depending on the type of material.  Trying to especially limit the 1 week materials (which also have the highest fines if late).  4 week books are only 5cents per late day as I recall, but DVD's are a dollar a day, so I try to take that into account when we are checking out and sometimes I will say no to anything that needs to be back in just one week, if we have a lot to do the following week.

 

Not running in for holds, but waiting for our regular library day.

 

2) trying to be more realistic about what we can actually read in a given time so that less is checked out.   It makes less to manage and fewer late fees, and lower ones if I do get messed up.