Thursday, December 11, 2008

Autumn Asks: Have you heard of the Library Elf?

Our family uses the library on a regular basis. In our town it does not cost to have a library card...but in some places we have lived it did. If they did charge here we would pay it...after grumbling about what are our tax dollars doing anyways???

DH uses the library mostly for school at the moment. It's not unusual for the girls and I to meet him at one of the branches after he gets off work. I pack a dinner and we make a picnic of it at a park or somewhere. Cheap family fun for us. Songbird reads alot and loves to go regularly. Mighty Mouse really loves to get DVD's and play with the puzzles they have.

If you are like me, you have a hard time keeping up with everyone's due dates. The library can become a money eater instead of a money saver when you are trying to keep up with 4-5 different card holders. And as the mom, we are automatically the Library Book Manager of the home. It's automatic.....you don't even get a choice.

This year I heard about the Library Elf. You go to the site and put in your zip to find out if your library is listed with them. If it is, you sign up for free. When you get about 3-4 days from a book being due, you will get daily emails until you have turned that book in. (And if your youngest likes to check out DVD's that are due in days instead of weeks and have huge daily fines, this is so important!)
The other thing I love about Library Elf is that it will notify you when your holds are in. I use holds and intra-library loans all the time.....and the staff is not always that good about calling and letting me know if something is in. This solves the problem. As soon as my book is logged in to my library I get an email. Saves me having to actually log on to the library site and check for myself - you know how hard that can be!!

So, if you are a library user, go check it out. If you are a fine payer, this is the site for you.

You know, it had to have been a mom that thought of this!

1 comment:

  1. That is so cool Autumn, I am going to have to check that out... My problem is more with video returns then books - I have gotten to the point where it is easier to rent a movie from the TV then block buster - I am bad that way!

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