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SeaStar
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| Posted: May 22 2012 at 7:59pm | IP Logged
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I am a library hound- I must stop in at least three times a week.
But it continually surprises me, and I feel like I must come up with some type of strategy to get the most out of my library.
I recently disocvered  that not all the books my library acquires are new publications- meaning that my library may get a book that is "new to them" that has been in print for a long while. Translated: if I do a search for a book and it's not in the system, that doesn't mean that it never will be.
Argh... I'm thinking of all the books I've tried to get from the library that they didn't have and I gave up on... who knows how many of those they may have now? I have to start keeping a list and recheck periodically. I don't think my library account allows for any type of wish list notification.
Today I was stunned to see fresh new bar codes on all the magazines. We have never been able to check out magazines before, so I have never paid them much attention (not exactly having time to sit in the library and read magazines, YK?). I don't know why I looked at them today- but I did and the cover of a neat looking children's science magazine caught my eye. I was able to take it home with me... whoa. 
And the checkout time for dvds was recently changed from 3 days to a week, and the overdue fine reduced from $2 to $1 per day. I found this out by accident as well.
My library does send out a newsletter, but none of these interesting tidbits are ever printed in them.
So, if you have any tips or ideas for staying on top of your library's doings, I'd love to hear them.
Also- what is your library's favorite feature?
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
SQUILT Music Appreciation
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mamaslearning
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| Posted: May 23 2012 at 7:26am | IP Logged
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A neighboring county's library system has drive-thrus! I love being able to request my books and not have to go in with four little ones all the time. Unfortunately, my local library did not add this feature when they built their new main branch. Shucks!
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Lara
DD 11, DS 8, DS 6, DS 4
St. Francis de Sales Homeschool
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Servant2theKing
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| Posted: May 23 2012 at 9:12am | IP Logged
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I absolutely love our area libraries' great websites, easily navigated online catalogues, generous hold systems, and the incredible blessing of library interloan. We regularly request holds online from our state capital library and dh picks them up just a few blocks from his workplace, saving SO much time, interruption in our schedule and costly gas.
We're able to request items from around our state, through the interloan system, and have them delivered four miles from our home! We're in a very rural area, so our local library is quite limited in their selection of materials ~ our capital library system and state interloan provide much wider selections.
We pay $50 per year for a capital library non-resident card, which more than pays for itself with gas savings ~ if we visited our capital library once a week it would easily cost $50 the first month (not including extra costs incurred every time we leave home).
A neighboring city has a drive-thru in their new branch ~ those are really nice! We no longer pay the yearly cost of a card for that libary, since we discovered it was much more cost-effective to use the capital system and do libary interloans to our local branch.
Libraries are such blessings to homeschooling families!
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mommy4ever
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| Posted: May 23 2012 at 9:25am | IP Logged
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We don't have drive thru, I use the library to get away one evening a week alone :) I often stop at the chapel before or after(the church was closed this week though!). I fine I get the most out if by using the website. I can search and reserve books, saves me time. I am in a city, so we have MANY branches. I can have all holds at my local branch. We can also request books, they often accommodate us. We also have interlibrary loan from anywhere in the province, including the universities and the Theology college!
I like the idea of keeping a list. Hmm. I think I need to start requesting books more often. Worst they'll say is no.
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Mom to 4,
1 graduated June 2012
1 in Catholic school
2 homeschooled(one considering art school!)
ardently praying for a new addition to our family.
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jawgee
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| Posted: May 23 2012 at 10:26am | IP Logged
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I love that my library website gives me a list of what I have out. It also tells me whether a book is available to check out or if it is already out, and then with the click of a button I can place a hold on that book and they'll e-mail me when it's available.
I also love that overdue items are only charged 10c/day. That's a relief when we're running a few days late.
Our library has an excellent selection of books - they're history, historical fiction, and nature/science selections are very good. They're Catholic selection is not so good, but our parish has a library so I make use of their books, too. Our inter-library loan is a pain, so I only use ILL if I really need a book and can't find it inexpensively elsewhere.
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Monica
C (12/2001), N (11/2005), M (5/2008), J (8/2009) and three angels
The Catholic Cup on Facebook
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Barbara C.
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| Posted: May 23 2012 at 9:26pm | IP Logged
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Our local library just built a new building in the past year, but even the old building had a drive-thru pick up window. You can request holds online, and they e-mail when they get them (either within that library or another library in their system). Then you can go in, pick them off the shelf, self-scan, and go, or call ahead to have them put in the pick-up window.
The only problem is that they seem to change which library loan system they are in every two or three years, and with every switch comes a new online card catalog. They're in the process of switching over again right now, so one day a full record for a book will exist and the next day the book will partially show up without a full record and you can't request it. Sometimes I have to search for a book multiple ways to find it...either it will only come up by title or only come up by author. 
The card catalog descriptions aren't very good either, so especially if I'm looking for books to use in homeschooling, I often pull up the Barnes & Noble website to compare content and reading levels before I make my requests.
But I keep a running list of books that I might want to read in a Word document. If I know that my library and none of the affiliated ones have it, then I highlight the text in red. From time to to time I go back to check on the highlighted ones to see if they've become available.
I usually do everything online and via drive-thru, but sometimes I walk there by myself in warm weather for a quick 20 minute trip. Unfortunately, I have to cross a busy street to get there, and I just don't feel comfortable walking it with four kids 9 and under.
They also put a small cafe in the new building, so when my parents visited last month, my mom and I snuck off to have candy bars, milk, and girl talk. 
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Barbara
Mom to "spirited" dd(9), "spunky" dd (6), "sincere" dd (3), "sweet" dd (2), and baby girl #5 born 8/1/12!!
Box of Chocolates
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SeaStar
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| Posted: May 26 2012 at 9:25am | IP Logged
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Barb- that sounds like a good plan.
Drive through libraries- GAH! You guys are killing me. If only....
I am intrigued by the capital library system... Servant- how did you find out about that? Is it available in every state?
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
SQUILT Music Appreciation
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Servant2theKing
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| Posted: May 26 2012 at 12:27pm | IP Logged
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Melinda, our capital area library system has numerous branches. One of the branches happened to be closest to us when we still lived in our former home. Since dh works in the vicinity of our state capital it's simply a matter of convenience to use that library system, as opposed to a neighboring city's much smaller library, for the same non-resident fee. The library system for our state capital is tied in with a statewide interloan system, which also services our local library, giving us additional options, since non-residents are not allowed interloan privileges through the state capital system. It doesn't make sense that we can use the same interloan through our very small rural library, but we basically enjoy the best of both library worlds.
I'm not sure what other state capitals offer. You might google the name of your state capital, along with the word library. If there's a website, check for features like branch locations, library patron information and interloan policies. HTH
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All for Christ, our Saviour and King, servant
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4Real Forums : Planning and Ordering our Days
Topic: Getting the most from your library
