Lending library folks – a request

Shelf books are simply the books on my shelves. :). As opposed to the books stored in individual totes for each FIAR unit.

I have families who have young children doing FIAR. For each title in the FIAR curriculum I have pulled go-along books for the lessons in the guide and placed them in a tote. For example, The Story about Ping has the main title as well as books about China, ducks, buoyancy, etc. all pulled together in it’s own tote. If a family wants to study the Ping unit, they simply grab the tote and go. All the books are conveniently in the tote along with a list of the books and what topic each goes with. I have a tote for each title in vols. 1-3 and B4FIAR…79 in all. Totes vary in the number of books they contain, usually anywhere from 10-15 books. Some have more. Patrons who are only using the library for these totes pay $60 per year and can check out up to three totes at a time.

Other families are not using FIAR with their children. They simply join to have access to the 16,000+ books on the shelves arranged by Dewey in all subjects. They may check out as many books as they would like for 4 weeks with a possible 2-week renewal if no one has reserved a title. The fee for this is $75 per year.

Some families have children of many ages and want to use the entire library. Patrons pay $125 per year. I do prorate for those joining mid-year.

You can see what I’m talking about here. http://childrenslegacylibrary.blogspot.com/p/photos.html

The totes under the windows are the B4 totes. The others are in a closet that my husband installed shelves for that purpose.

Hope that helps. The fees paid in no way come remotely close to covering what I spend. I try to raise other funds by selling books and more recently becoming an Amazon affiliate. For years it all came out of our pocket but finances are very different now. I can only add more books as I raise the money.

I’m really a dinosaur in the technology department. I still write checks! (Actually I had a debit card but it was hacked three times so I said forget this!) Paper is working well for me but I want to get my books barcoded so badly. The main disadvantage to the way I’m doing it is that I only have the record on that piece of paper. It’s not saved in the computer so if someone puts a hold on a book, I have to go through the check-out sheets to see who has it if I can’t remember (often I can but with hundreds of books being checked out each week, it’s getting harder for my aging brain.)

My books are shelved by Dewey, loosely. This means that most of them do not have the specific call number on them, and the reason is TIME! It takes SO MUCH TIME to get each book catalogued. I have Michelle Miller’s database (which is fabulous, btw) and for many books I’m entering, she already has all the info listed for that book, including the Dewey number. I simply click that I own that book, put my barcode label in and I’m done. For books that I own that she does not, I run a search on the subject and see what the Dewey number is. Michelle puts her historical fiction in the fiction section. I don’t. My historical fiction goes in its place in history with the corresponding Dewey number. The Winged Watchman in WWII, The Bronze Bow in Ancient Rome, etc., so I have to research the Dewey number there as well. I find myself avoiding working on this because of the time it takes. So I have nearly 14,000 of my nearly 17,000 books that are not done and every book I buy just puts me further behind, I’ve been toying with the idea of starting over and using a number/letter system I’ve been thinking of. I’ve been considering posting the question on the library loop so you may see that come through if you’re on it. But I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. BE WORKING ON YOUR BOOKS NOW! Don’t wait until you open with thousands of books because when you’re busy running the library itself, you likely won’t find time.

As for dealing with lost or damaged books, I have a policy letter outlining how the books should be cared for and emphasizing that the patron is responsible for the books in his/her possession. The patron must sign the letter. I usually point out, if someone is checking out my Chestry Oak, Book of Marvels (both of which are checked out) Andy and the Circus, Captain Kidd, etc., what the current replacement is for those books and that they might want to guard them with their lives. 🙂 My library is called Children’s LEGACY Library for a reason. My patrons know these books belong to my children and we are delighted to share them but they must do their part in preserving this legacy.

Sorry to always go on and on. I just wanted to let you know that, while I have been doing this for several years and may “appear” to have all the answers, I don’t…and I still have things I’m struggling with. Technology probably will always elude me. I don’t mind doing things the old-fashioned way. I prefer it. But I must get this database things under control for the sake of the legacy I’m trying to preserve.