check out policies

[janet perry <perrybros@HOTMAIL.COM>]

It seems to me that the main reason for having any limits on the number of
checkouts is concern about the number of books that never come back, and
never get paid for.  If we only knew ahead of time which families were
irresponsible, we could limit their checkout, and let everyone else have
whatever they wanted.  Up until this year in my library I had a strict rule
that, if a student didn't return all his materials (max 2), he/she couldn't
check out anything new.  This year I changed it.  I decided that it was more
important to keep books in kids hands than worry about lost books.  If a
student forgot to bring his/her books back, and they were due that day, I
let them check out one book.  The next week, if they don't bring everything
back, then they can't check out anything else.  This takes care of the kid
who is usually reliable, but just got busy that morning and forgot.  It also
keeps chronic problems from building up a library in their own home.  We use
Unison as our circulation program, and it is easy to see when a book was
due, so it's no problem for me to see who is eligible, and who is not
eligible to check out.  As a sidebar, for those of you who use Unison.  We
set the due date as the day BEFORE the class is due in the library.  That
way when we run the overdue list, we know who didn't bring their books back.
  Otherwise it won't register overdue until midnight.  Have a happy holiday
season!

Janet Perry, Librarian
Cerro Gordo CUSD 100, Cerro Gordo, IL
perrybros@hotmail.com


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