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Angie Mc
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How do you choose how many books to borrow from the library? Is the number based on your needs or library limits? Do you haul laundry baskets full of books home from the library or do you avoid the library because you can't afford the fines? Tell us more about your library books!
Love,
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Angie Mc
Maimeo to Henry! Dave's wife, mom to Mrs. Devin+Michael Pope, Aiden 20,Ian 17,John Paul 11,Catherine (heaven 6/07)
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joann10
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We have 30 book limit per card at our library and we have 6 people using their cards regularly.....which means we could have 180 books at a time...  but the big kids usually only have a few books out at a time.
I try and keep all the school and little kids picture books on my card, so it would be about 30 (although our little library often stretches the limit for us) 
I keep these books on two shelves in the living room and try to keep them in that room or at the kitchen table(our school table)....they do take them in their rooms and return them to the table at bedtime...it usually works.
I do check online every few days to keep track when books are due--and I can renew online--so that cuts down greatly on the late fees. I also rarely check out movies unless they are for school because the late fees are much more for videos.
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KC in TX
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Our library does not have a limit so that's nice. The overdue fine isn't outrageous either as it is in the next town which has a $1 per day per item fine. We usually end up with more than 50 because my son will borrow all the state books or all the country books at one time. 
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violingirl
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We have about 100 books checked out at any given time. Our card limit is 200 per card, so we're well under. I check everything out on my card. DH usually has 3 or 4 audio books out each month (he drives a lot for work), I usually have about 30 books out at a time for myself and between books we're using for schoolish things, readers for DS1 and other books the boys are interested in, we're usually right around 100 at a time.
Our fines are very reasonable, 5 cents per day with a limit of $1.00 per item. We can check books out for 30 days at a time, but you can renew them for up to 60 days after that as long as no one else has requested the item.
I *love* our library! It's the reason we are able to homeschool without great expense.
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Grace&Chaos
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I have to admit I'm pretty spoiled in this department. My mother-in-law works at the library in their admin office so there are never late fees. We moved here about a year ago and I still don't have a library card . I just call her every week with my list and she gets them for us plus whatever else she sees on the shelf (so it usually doubles what I've asked for). Our list includes books, DVD's, audio books and teaching materials. I love having an "insider" . (although my dh would argue that I still spend too much $ on books and we could start our own library system  )
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: Oct 26 2010 at 11:40pm | IP Logged
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I put 21-30.
Now that we live closer to the library and I am more *organized* I go once weekly and try to get only what we will need for the next 2 weeks or so (so I am always okay if I have to miss a library day one week).
As a result we have fewer library books at home at any one time than we used to, but we rotate through them at a faster rate.
When we lived further out and only visited the library monthly, I would regularly have between 50-100 books out at a time. But then I always ended up with fees.
I like this way much better!
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MaryM
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I voted 50+, but the upper range doesn't go up nearly high enough to cover the number I usually have checked out. I have between 150-250 checked out at any given time - about 200 right now. Our library has a 300 item limit per card (dvd and videos are limited to 10 though). I have been at the limit before a couple times.
My numbers are not based on needs but rather on additiction (picture book that is).  So I guess it's limits that keep me somewhat in check.
Funny story: Last year our neighborhood library was closed for 6 months for a remodel. When they reopened there was a lot of turn over of staff and most of the old familiar faces weren't there, so we had to break in new staff. Because of the volume on my card it runs slow on their computer system at check out. So I was telling the new librarian that it was because I had so many books checked out that it wasn't processing the card very fast. She said, "Oh, that shouldn't make any difference. Lots of people have a lot of books." When my account pulled up and it was around 270, she did a double take and she said, "You do have the most books I've seen checked out...by someone who wasn't stealing them."
Oh and here is a picture from a few years ago, of a library receipt for 210 books - it stretches almost across the street.
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Sharyn
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I was getting quite a few out until recently but what I was finding is that we couldn't get through them all in the 3 weeks you can loan for so I try to pick the best and go through them more thoroughly. But I don't know that I'll keep this as any hard and fast rule. Sometimes I get out 40 or so, weed out the not so good and drop those back to the library within days, so they can't get lost throughout the house, or as seems to happen when we have so many, my toddler rips the borrowing slip off. I'm so glad we have access to such a good library system, I have done hundreds of interlibrary loans, giving us so many great books to read, saving us from buying others that I realised weren't quite for us. Borrowing from the library is one of our greatest sources of learning at the moment. Also I often bring the baby in the pram, but she looses her spot on the way out so I can use it to take the books back to the car :)
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Carole N.
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I don't really use our library very much. I have had a hard time finding books on the Great Books lists. So I usually ended up having to purchase the books. We have used it for travel books and books on cooking and gardening that are centered on this area. Our library is small and we live in a remote area, so I think that may contribute.
We used our library at home extensively. They had a wonderful selection of children's books, reference books. The dc loved going to the library...
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lkselby
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I Love using my local library. I place holds and manage my account(s) on-line. I check out books to read myself and books for school -- this board is always recommending books that I just HAVE to check out. The curriculum guides we use often recommend books to go along with the topic. We don't end up reading every single book we check out.
I keep the books in a couple of places in the house, but try not to let them scatter too far. I do end up paying minimal fines once in awhile, but it is still MUCH cheaper than buying all the books.
We also check out movies and audio books. We also attend many of the programs our library offers free. This Saturday we are going to see a Children's theater group perform a Strega Nona story.
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guitarnan
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We can check out 99 books per card (there are two cards in my household), but we don't usually borrow that many because I live fairly close to the library. When we lived an hour away I usually had 50+ books checked out at a time.
I have a fine to pay right now because dh has not finished his book and we've reached the renewal limit. I have to remind him to finish it soon!
I could never, ever afford to buy all the books I read (3-5 per week, plus anything I read for work/home education purposes). The public library is truly a blessing to my family.
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Mary K
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The number of books I get out weekly depends on how many kids go with me.
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anitamarie
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Our library limits us to 99 items per card. Unbelievably, at one point last year, I was dangerously close. Mostly because my 2 youngest didn't yet have their own cards.
Anita
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DominaCaeli
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I have 100+ out at all times, mostly picture books and books for me (with a few readers for my daughter and DVDs for my husband and me to watch mixed in). Not sure what our limits are; I think they're 100 per card. We have two cards, and I only check out about 20 at a time since we can have ten holds per card (I always fill my request slots, and I don't do a lot of in-library browsing). But including renewals, I can usually have books out for 9 weeks at a time, so they accumulate. 
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Paula in MN
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We don't have a limit on the number of items we can have checked out, but we do have a limit (15) on the number we can request. We have been able to remove that obstacle by applying for an Institutional account, since those are available for schools.
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DominaCaeli
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Paula in MN wrote:
| We don't have a limit on the number of items we can have checked out, but we do have a limit (15) on the number we can request. We have been able to remove that obstacle by applying for an Institutional account, since those are available for schools. |
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I'll have to check out if our library does something similar. The holds limit is really what keeps me from having more out, so that would be super useful in the future when we are officially schooling.
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Celeste
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VanessaVH
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I am not sure if we have a limit, but I only allow 10 picture books for the kids, and no more than 10 for myself at a time, That is the limit I feel I can handle keeping track of! (My record on my own card as a teenager, when I was home-schooled was well over 50 at one time though)
I am really annoyed at the 10 book hold request limit, as it is proving difficult to get the books when I need them for the home-school preschool story-time I am doing at our co-op.... I have to order 10 books per week to make sure at least 5 are appropriate to read. And right now I am mangaging to get them coming in the day before story-time, so I am stuck in a rut of ordering less than a week before I need them!
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JuliaT
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We do not have a book limit and, until recently, we didn't have overdue fees either. I am not sure if the fees will curtail the number of books that we have or not. I am trying to be organized by writing out each book we have and then crossing it out when we take it back. If this doesn't work and the fees become too unmanageable, then we will have to stop taking out so many. This would make me very sad as we have a great library system in our province.
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ekbell
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Before the year starts I go over what we are studying that year, check out various book recommendations, see what our library has and write up monthly library lists. Every month I put that month's set of books on hold and poke around to see if there is anything else I'd like to take out. There's a limit but I haven't gotten anywhere close to it.
As for library fines, I've solved the problem of keeping track of my books by having a set place for library books and subscribing to Library elf.
I use the multiple card service so that I can know what my children have taken out and if they have overdue books.
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Kathryn
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Gosh...may be I should be embarassed that I answered 6-10 but honestly I could not keep up with anymore and I found myself paying waaay too much in fines therefore we just limit and use what I have around here a lot. We do live close and get a 21 day time-frame. I'm still just trying to organize my homeschool life so may be some day.....
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: How many library books at a time? (
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