For years, we’ve kept a library book basket or box, but most days it was a jumbled mess of overdue materials. We just couldn’t seem to keep track of when books were due and were forever paying late fees (and late fees on books for 5 kids and 2 adults…well, you can imagine!)
I cut the plastic down to a rectangle that fit well on the side of my library box.
Then, I taped it to the side of the our library box with clear packing tape. It’s a little tough to see here, but I taped the top and bottom only, leaving the sides open.
Finally, I looked up online when my books were due (because I had misplaced my due date receipts–imagine that!) I had two different dates these books were due, so on two different pieces of scratch paper, I wrote the due dates and slipped them behind the plastic.
We do the same thing! Sorta.. I have a box for library books. Since most of my kids are small they have to read library books in the living room near said box. I set my phone calendar to ding at me 1 day before they are due to remind me. But the plastic sleeve idea for receipts is a great one. I’ll have to add that.
Great idea! Love it! We just keep them nicely in a pretty wicker basket. We go every week, so the books go back every week. That is starting to not work because my older son is checking out longer books and he has not been ready to return them. Then they end up late because I allow him to keep them, then we forget when they were due. I will have to try your idea and see if it works!
What a great idea! I have always just had a bag for each of the children and the bag has to stay in the family room. I usually just put the receipts up on the fridge…your plan sounds great!
We also keep library books in a designated basket. When I check them out I make a note in my planner on the day they are due, usually by just writing “1/19 – 7 books due”. Then if I’m wondering exactly which 7 books are due, I can just go online to the library site.
(Our library is also great about sending email reminders when something’s past due, and with a one week grace period before fines start, I can usually take care of the matter in time, particularly since renewals can be done online. That’s a wonderful service!)
Ooooh! Great idea!
We try to keep our daughter’s library books in her “library bag” (tote bag), but it’s in the wash, so I’ve lost track of them and have to search the house for them right now!
Wonderful idea. Our library graciously allows us to check books out longer if I tell them I am a teacher (homeschool). We need to do this because we (usually me) are late even then.
Oh, my daughter got that toy for Christmas this year=)…
What a great idea! We were just at the library last night with a shocking fee of $20 on my card! I had JUST checked our accounts the day before and nothing was overdue according to the internet account. But then I get to the library and all these books are over a week late! That’s not the first time there has been a glitch b/w what my internet account shows and what their account shows. So, perhaps your method would be much better!
Thanks for the tip!
i haven’t checked out books in a long time…for that reason!! LOVE this idea. perfect!!
Our library sends us email notifications to remind us when something is due and I also set up an reminder myself in my Outlook email.
Genius, Amy!!
~Sue from MOMYs
So organized! I lamely depend on reminder emails to get the books back on time, which still doesn’t always happen.
Great idea! I have the same problem! I may just do the same thing!
I like your idea!! I just have a basket for our library books and try to remember to check due dates online weekly. Your system is great!
We do have a dedicated library book location, on a bookshelf. What helps me is having a dedicated Library Day each week. The day of the week may vary each semester. But for long stretches of time we go consistently every week on, say, Mondays. Since materials are due every 7, 14 or 21 days, I only have to worry about what is due back once a week. Then that morning I log in and note what books are due, renew the ones I need to, and make a list of what to pack up. I also pack up any books we are done with even if they are not due, to be courteous to any other patrons who may be waiting to use them. Hope this helps!
Great idea! Thanks for sharing because I don’t have a system for library books. Just a big pile of books that I can’t keep up with. I will be making some changes soon!
My library books are always over due! The county I live in charges fines for late books, but one county over… they don’t charge any fines! So I go there…
GREAT IDEA. My overdue bills are crazy!!! Hubby gets sooo mad. Now I can solve that problem. Thanks
XoxoGapGirl
This is a great idea – I am always forgetting when they are due back. Our current system is that each kid made themselves a tote bag. The bag is for library books only. When they read the library books they are to return them to this bag. Then come library day we load up the book bags and off we go. The problem with this system is the due date challenge – we don’t go to the library on a schedule like some so we often have late fees. I might have to try this system!
I have a day planner that we live by… When we visit the library I enter the due date of our books before we ever leave the building… because, ahem, I have too often paid those same fines!
That is a great idea. I get mixed up a lot about what books are due when too.
Our library is on the list at http://www.libraryelf.com/ They send me e-mails when I have holds waiting for me, when things are due and when things are overdue. It is a GREAT service, and I don’t know how I kept track of things before library elf.
Oooh! That is AWESOME!
We have several of those canvas re-usable shopping bags that we keep our library books in.
Each person in our family (except the 5 yr old) takes an empty one to the library.
They are allowed to fill it with as many books as they can carry in it (each sack can hold about 15-20 books – but the 7 yr old can’t carry that many – LOL.)
We have an empty ‘returns’ sack hanging on a doorknob in our hallway.
When someone reads a book – it goes immediately into the empty sack, and then that sack is taken back (weekly) to the library.
We get notified by email the day before a book is due, so if I get an email – I’ll go through the sacks and pull out whatever needs to go back that hasn’t been read.
Blessings,
Michelle
We have a 3-rack metal bookcase on rollers that I found at a garage sale for $1.00. It holds about 40 easy readers and chapter books.
I really like that it is the metal kind without a lot of extra material to it, and that it stacks upward because it takes up VERY little space!
I posted pictures today on my blog:
A House On Fire
Oh my gosh amy I read your article and it is exactly how i have been feeling. When my babies were coming quick and even i was loving it. Now I do not get pregnant right away and i think I know more than God. Great article gives me a lot to think about. I really do wnat that contentment and I know the Lord is the only one who can give it to me.
Well I might try your idea. It seems my books are always late too. I do have a very forgiving library who rechecks the books for me if i have forgotten. I know it won’t be that way if we move into the city. So I better figure something out.
I have no system – except reading fast, and trying to get them back on time – though usually they are about 2 days late (if not later!). Love your system!
Belfast education and Library Board doesn’t charge for overdue children’s books- which only inspires laziness, I’m afraid! And the shocking temptation to use their cards for my books- but I resist, I do! (And pay my fine!) The cloth bag lies behind their activity boxes on the step down into the dining/everything-else-because-the-table’s-there-room!
Amy, this is a great idea. Very resourceful and creative. You gals amaze me.
Library books have not been rented due to the fact that I’m always late, so this is definitely a great tool for me.
Thanks!!!
Hi Amy,
Thanks for stopping at my blog today. I love the name of your blog along with what it means.
I like this idea – you even recycled the plastic! When my kids were young they each had their own book bag. We went to the library every week, so I knew when the books were due.
We just bring our bag of books home and they must have them read in a week or two to be returned. As fast as they are read, they go into a pile on the dryer to be taken out and dropped in the box at the library the next trip to town. I don’t allow books out of the kitchen that aren’t ours.
WE did this too… only with a lovely basket instead. The books got transfered to a big tub like that to take in the car. The tub had handles so that we could carry all our books to and from the library to the car! It was a two person job I tell ya. To keep from paying fines, I wrote the date the books were due on my calendar, and taped the library printed receipt to the bottom edge of my calendar or inside one of my kitchen cupboard doors where I kept other important info.
But alas, we are back in Peru and there are NO libraries here. Oh the tragedy of it.
It’s nice to read your blog! We have 5 kids too. I saw you over at THL and then linked over from Sarah Cate’s blog.
Amy in Peru
http://apilgrimsproject.blogspot.com
We’re very lucky that our library sends out email notifications that say the books are due back in 4 days…then 2 days. Has saved me a whole lot of late fees.
My husband and I haven’t checked any books out at our library yet. Yeah, we’ve been here 9 months and haven’t checked out a single book. Crazy, eh?
BUT, we’re working through all the books we actually own first. At least half of them neither of us have read yet LOL
We keep Gabriella’s (she’s 6) books on the counter near the door. She gets a HUGE stack every time we go and reads them each at least 3 times before we take them back. We just told her she can read them as often as she wants, but she has to put each book back when she’s done reading it. That way we don’t have to go hunting for books when they’re due back … and Hannah (she’s almost 16 months) can’t get to them and accidentally tear the pages.
As they get older (or as Jason and I start checking out books ourselves), though, we’ll probably do a basket instead.
And I write it on the calender when they’re due back. Even though the library puts a “price tag” sticker on the books with the due date. It’s just easier for me to keep track on the calender since I’m at it daily anyway.