Children's Books discussion
Conversations: books & readers
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How much do you use your library? (And how much money does it save you?)
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At my branch library, most of the donations were literally trash--books moldy and falling apart. However, sometimes people donated practically brand new books, in pristine condition, and if those books were already in the library's data base, we probably would add them to the collection. The books that were in so-so, used condition, but still usable went into the book sale.
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Yes, that's what my library does."
My library used to accept anything that I took in but their policy changed to just accepting one bag per week so when we moved and had to get rid of hundreds of books, I ended up taking whatever the used bookstore wouldn't buy and dropped them off at the local thrift store. I never dreamed people would be dropping off moldy/garbage books at the library -- that is really a shame. Everything we took was good quality.
I don't really understand why libraries have to order the books in order to use them but I know that is the case here, too, and I'm guessing it's some internal workings we patrons don't understand. It seems such a shame that there would be excellent books that are not accepted into the system. I am guessing it has to do with finances and cataloging or something like that. I remember once when I had to pay for a book that they claimed I had not returned (later they found it on their shelves!) that I had to pay for it, I couldn't just bring in a new book to replace it (even though that would have been much cheaper for me and, I would have guessed, much faster for them).
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I'm sorry you are not treated with respect by many patrons at your library. I think librarians and people who work at libraries are wonderful and provide a valuable service to the community. I did not intend criticism of those of you working there--many of whom, I'm sure, would prefer quiet, also. But I am curious as to how and why libraries, as a whole, have moved from a policy of quiet to one of tolerating noise. Perhaps, as Michael suggests, it comes down to just needing to compete with all the other stuff out there and trying to be as much as they can be rather than just a place for book browsing and reading.
(I do avoid the afternoons and storytimes at the library as those are understandably louder given all the kids -- but, like Lisa, my library can be noisy at any time. Sadly, all it takes is for one or two people/kids to be loud and that can happen any time of the day and frequently does. It's not just the kids. It's just that the old expectation of the library as a quiet zone is gone.)
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That IS a good deal! :-)
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Yes, that's what my library does."
My library used to accept any..."
Did the library at least reimburse you and apologise after they located the book they had claimed you did not return on their shelves?
When I was at the University of Waterloo, returned books being reshelved without them having been properly taken off of a student's account was such a recurring issue that if there was a problem, we were actively encouraged to check the stacks ourselves.
Manybooks wrote: "Did the library at least reimburse you and apologise after they located the book they had claimed you did not return on their shelves?"Kathryn, I’m wondering the same thing. I hope so.
I have had a couple of times over the years when they’ve said I have not returned a book, but they’ve let me wait to pay, and then they have found those books on the shelves.
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Kathryn, I’m wondering the same thing. I h..."
This was at my old district. I was a very good patron, checked out hundreds and hundreds of books and never lost one, and they knew me personally. They were nice about it. I asked them to check the shelves and they said they did but... obviously not carefully enough or maybe a patron had pulled it out and mis-shelved it (it was a picture book and they aren't as organized as the adult books). Anyway, when they found it eventually they refunded me the cost of the book but not the additional fee that was added for "cataloging costs" or something like that. I think that was an additional $11. I didn't think that was fair. However, I tried to consider it as just another "donation" to the library and not get too worked up over it.
At my new library, there are the usual book drops and then there is a book depository where you actually can scan the books directly into the system and they go in on a conveyor belt and you can see the titles come up on a screen as "returned" and get a receipt. I am so grateful for this feature! I already had a very odd mishap with the automated services where I had requested a DVD and had my husband pick it up on his way home from work. When he got it home it was not the DVD I had requested, and yet it had my name on the hold slip and showed it checked out in my name! When I went to return it with the automated system, it didn't ring up anything to my account. It was such a strange glitch. Fortunately, I tracked down a helpful employee who retrieved it from the bins and got it cleared off my account for me.
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Kathryn, I’m wondering the sa..."
Frankly, considering it was eleven dollars you should have fought the fee.
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Should have gone to the media :-)
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Kathryn, That $11 is ridiculous since it was 100% their error. I’m glad to tried for the refund and if they were adamant I guess your attitude about it is a good one. Your new library sounds wonderful!
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I know, the attitude that if you make a mistake you pay but if we make a mistake you also pay is totally unacceptable.
I was told libraries usually don’t accept book donations to be included in their catalog because of their strict criteria. This is unfortunate, at the very least they could have a bin of these books and offer them for free to the public.But I do LOVE my library and I know they have saved me a ton of money throughout the years.
Guess what I found on the bottom of my receipt for the first time? I saved $57.98 by not buying Audacity Jones to the Rescue
Trigger Yappy
Book Love
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I have worked for 40 years for Sno-Isle Libraries. In all that time, we have never charged fines for ovedue materials.Book donations go to our Friends of the Library group, who provide funds for children's, teen's and adult programs.
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I get a "courtesy notice" in my email the day *after* a book is due, and then I just go online and renew it.
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I believe then that their borrowing privileges are stopped til they return the book.
Cheryl wrote: "Carson City didn't charge fines. I wouldn't know here. ... I get a "courtesy notice" in my email the day *after* a book is due, and then I just go online and renew it."
Ours used to send an email warning you that a book is due in 3 days and that was plenty of time to renew it online, but now as long as there are no holds and you haven't already renewed it twice, they automatically renew the book and send you an email with the new due date.
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I get a "courtesy notice" in my email the day *after* a book is due, and then I just go online and renew it."
Ours used t..."
My library has started the automatic renewals as well and I love this.
Manybooks wrote: "Deborah wrote: "Cheryl wrote: "Carson City didn't charge fines. I wouldn't know here. ... I get a "courtesy notice" in my email the day *after* a book is due, and then I just go online and renew i..."
Mine too but I'm not a fan because when I want a book and it's checked out but not returned on time, it automatically gets renewed and that goes on and on...
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Are you able to place holds for the book if it is checked out? At my library, if a book is checked out and someone has a hold on it then I am not able to renew it and must return it so that prevents the on-and-on from happening. Of course, I suppose if it's under the branch that has the "no fines" policy then there is nothing to say the patron has to be prompt about it and I can see this being a problem for popular titles such as new releases.
I see both sides of the automatic renewal (my new district does this, too) because, on the one hand, when I am checking out obscure titles that no one really wants then it is frustrating to have to return them when no one is waiting for them. Also, it would have saved me money if my old district did this. In my old district they didn't do automatic renewals and there were a few times I had to pay several dollars just for being a day late on returns because I had maybe ten or twenty picture books out and for whatever reason, kid got sick or something, we weren't able to get to the library or do online renewal and at twenty-five cents per book per day, it added up. Then again, I do see the point that by not having books on the shelves patrons don't see them if they are browsing and might lose out on something they would like to have.
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This is my question, as well. I wonder if there comes a point the patron has too many overdue books if they would have their account suspended. But, I don't know... I asked about this when they started the policy and they said so far they hadn't had problems. Maybe I'm not giving people enough credit ;-)
I do know that it was a bit confusing and frustrating initially because not all of the branches in our district have the no fines policy. And not all of them do automatic renewals. So, I need to really stay on top of my account online and make sure what is coming due when. When they first started the policy, I didn't realize it was only the one branch and I had a few titles from another branch checked out that were coming due. I don't remember what happened, if we had snow or just I didn't have a reason for going to town and didn't want to pollute for four books or whatever it was making a special trip, so I was a few days late returning and got slapped with the fine because the books were from another branch.
That said, we had one book that got misplaced during our move and it just so happened to be one that still charges overdue fees. I was so worried because I was out of renewals online and I have NEVER lost a library book. I talked to them about how to pay the fee and the lady was so kind and renewed the book for me for another month until we could unpack more and I could find it! :-)
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I get a "courtesy notice" in my email the day *after* a book is due, and then I just go ..."
In our library, if someone puts a hold on a book, it cannot simply be automatically renewed.
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This is my question, as well. I wonder if there comes a point the pat..."
Nice that the librarian you talked to was so understanding.
I could put the book on hold but that would remove the instant gratification of grabbing it from the shelf and reading it before or after work! I could also get on a bus and go get it at another library. I haven't had time or energy to do that.
When there are holds on books in our system, there is no renewal. Our system "grants" a 2 week grace period on overdue books, after that time is up a "block" is placed on the patron's account, there are two choices to unblock a card, pay the amount the book is listed for in the system, or simply return the book. No items may be checked out or renewed as long as there is a block on the card. We also have auto renewal, up to 5 times providing there are no holds. Works rather well.
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That does sound reasonable and I wish that my local library had a five times renewal policy because sometimes, one just does not get to a book in time.
My library is putting how much you saved on the receipt now, but mine isn't very accurate since they are counting all inter library loan books at $100 each.
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Cheryl wrote: "Oh, ours never gave that detail... Interesting."They didn't give it, but it was easy to figure out. I thought it was high before, but when I picked up only one book (a newish paperback $7.99 at Barnes & Noble) and the receipt said you saved $100, I knew it could only be because it was ILL. Another time it said you saved $127. That time I had one hardcover nonfiction book and one ILL paperback.
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I'm guessing that they just don't want to spend time and effort evaluating each book that they don't have the actual amount for, so they just use a default amount. Does make me wonder what kind of books other people are borrowing through ILL to make that look like a reasonable amount.
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Maybe that amount includes shipping and handling both ways?
While some libraries do charge a fee to lend their books via ILL, many do not. Often there are reciprocal arrangements made in order to bypass those fees. For free lenders, the only transactional costs involved are shipping (I deal with this stuff daily - many libraries reuse shipping envelopes...). Some libraries make use of media mail rates, so we could be talking under $3 to send a book. $100 is absolutely ludicrous. Are we to assume that this goes toward defraying the cost of the ILL librarian's salary? The institutional overhead (rent, electricity, water, Internet, hardware and software, mailing supplies, OCLC membership, etc. etc. etc.) necessary to provide ILL service? That kind of thing gets figured in on big grant proposals, but I think it's inappropriate to assume it applies here.Again, my position on these "savings" is: ask yourself whether you would pay that much. I can't imagine there are many people who would shell out $100 per book to purchase every ILL book they have requested.
Isn't that the reason you request any ILL? That you don't want to purchase it. Most of what I request are books that don't have nook versions.
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I see his point, but I think the thread is relevant and interesting anyway.
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That said, I know the library does save me hundreds of dollars every year because I would still have to buy some of the books used as I simply cannot go without a fresh supply of books for myself and my children ;-) Also, just for fun, the board games section -- we have checked out probably fifty board games this year. Of course, I would never pay for fifty board games in my house so that "savings" is grossly exaggerated. But, were it not for the library we probably would buy a few and that does add up. So, I'm very grateful for libraries! :-)
(I'm not sure when libraries began circulating board games, video games, musical instruments, globes, cake tins, craft supplies... I certainly don't remember it when I was a kid! Sometimes it still feels really weird to me to see a guitar or a fishing pole next to the books in the HOLDS section!)
Was this the right thread?As of about a month ago, my free library became truly free because it did away with overdue fines (except for materials from other library systems) and you pay only if you damage or don't return something. They are also automatically renewing items that don't have holds on them. They do that 2 days before the due date but the renewal is for a full 3 weeks after the due date.
I like it so far and still intend to return everything on time. We are all still waiting to see how it works in the long run.
Kathryn, I think my public library does just books (all formats), DVDs and BluRay, CDs, sheet music, and I don't think anything else. We do have a couple of tool libraries around. I'm not sure about games and toys but I do think it's a good idea.
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I suppose it's easiest for a library to do something like that if a donor gives them a good set. For example when a baking grandma passes and all her cake tins are suddenly available.
The library in Elko, NV, had portfolio satchels for preschools with Big Books and assorted lesson plans and duplicatable handouts, etc.
Iirc, either Mpls or St. Paul lends video games.
I think jigsaw puzzles would be a good fit, too.
So if we know anyone who collects useful reusable stuff, we should talk to them and to their library!
Cheryl wrote: "I think jigsaw puzzles would be a good fit, too.."I'd love jigsaw puzzles but it would be incredibly frustrating if you got toward the end and a piece/pieces were missing. I could see that happening.
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I'd love jigsaw puzzles but it would be incredibly frustrating if you got toward the end and a piece/pieces were missing. I could ..."
Sure, but damage happens, it's a risk with any borrowed item. I've had plenty of books with pages unreadable, CDs with tracks scratched, etc. If the items were donated first, so the only library cost was 'cataloging' them, I think it'd be worth it. My opinion. :)
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I'd much rather they keep a record of that money, or no record, than this one. I coulda sworn I opted out... in any case, it should be opt in. Remember when it was in the news that Homeland Security was looking at these records (in the US)? I'm pretty sure I haven't borrowed anything interesting in the last two years, but I'm seriously considering seeing if they can erase that somehow.
Children's Books
Books mentioned in this topic
Audacity Jones to the Rescue (other topics)Trigger Yappy (other topics)
Book Love (other topics)
Slater's mill (other topics)
We do get a lot of donations that are unusable, unfortunately. A lot of people around here seem to store their books out in a shed or something. I pick through everything that comes in. I tape and glue and scrub and hide names written on end papers and so on. I've already told my boss that I will be an unofficial volunteer, I'll buy my own spine labels and donate stuff already labeled when I'm no longer working there.
I feel bad for librarians who are told they aren't allowed to add donations. I used to get told I had to ask for permission for each item, but, a few years ago it turned into a free pass and I could just use my own judgement. I'm so glad, because I would get told not to bother to add Wimpy Kid cause we already had a couple copies. Well, our branch now owns anywhere between 9-12 of each of those books and they are still always checked out. It's a running joke now of how many Wimpy Kid books I could add and still never have one on the shelf. Same thing with Dog Man and Captain Underpants. It would be heartbreaking to have to put kids on a waiting list for those books and watch donated ones get sold at the book sale.