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It’s either fund a new wing at the library or keep track of the books that are due
Ken has long teased me that I’m funding a new wing at the library through my overdue fees. When Reid was born, I vowed to straighten up and fly right. There’s nothing to highlight your faults and bad habbits than thinking of passing them on to your kids. I’ve made that vow before, usually after a period of tracking where each penny goes, with mixed success. The city libraries tries to be helpful and provide a printout of the titles and the due dates of the books that you are signing out. My problem is that I visit the library several times a week and often go to different branches. I’ve learned 4 good ways to cut down on the overdue books:
1. Ask for a printout of *all* books we have signed out, rather than just the newest acquisitions as the default is. (Thanks, Melissa for telling me about this.)
2. Go to the library’s website to view what books are due when. They list the soonest due first for ease of figuring out which ones to hunt for first.
3. Online renewal is always an option, even if you’ve finished the book but can’t put your hands on it. Beware of relying on this, though, since you can’t renew if someone else has requested the item.
4. Those special, sturdy, brightly-coloured library bags that the friends of the library sell are really worth the expense. We use many cloth bags each week for many different things. Reserving the bright blue ones for library books helps to locate them. We still have to be vigilant about putting the books back into the bags, of course.
So, these are the things that work for me this Wednesday. For more tips, visit Rocks in My Dryer.
September 19, 2007 at 7:19 am
Great tip! I’m convinced they hate me at the library! Maybe I can get back in their good graces.
September 19, 2007 at 10:07 am
I have to admit that we stopped getting books from the library because (in our case) we were funding the new building. I may look into this again. Thanks for the inspiration. Ann’Re
September 19, 2007 at 1:41 pm
Great ideas! My library always emails me when they are almost due. Otherwise, I could fund a wing of the library, too!
September 19, 2007 at 4:00 pm
Just reading your tip sent me to the library website. Sure enough, two books were due yesterday. Heh, heh. Thanks for the reminder! My husband HATES it when we let those late fees creep up. With five kids (each with their own card) we have a smattering of fines going at all times.
Duckabush Blog
September 19, 2007 at 6:38 pm
I found the neatest website. http://libraryelf.com/ If you library doesn’t support it - ASK! You can have them email you remainders BEFORE they are due. I have mine set to email me ONE WEEK before they are due and daily afterwards. Saves a bundle on fines.
WFMW junkie
September 20, 2007 at 4:34 am
Everyone, being late with books is way better than not reading and libraries need our money and our visits to stay open. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t gone through phases of “it’s cheaper to buy, especially used, than borrow”, too. As for Library Elf, thank you, thank you, thank you!
September 20, 2007 at 1:52 pm
There’s a new service at the OPL, where they will e-mail you to tell you that your books are due. I keep meaning to look into it (I too am funding not just a wing but an entire suburban branch of the library) and haven’t gotten around to it. One of these days! I think it’s called “ELF”.
September 21, 2007 at 1:07 am
These are all great ideas! I’ve got a library fine to pay as I type!
Thanks for sharing!