School Library Summer Loans

Question

What kind of policies do your school libraries have regarding loaning books over summer vacation?

My school does not have a summer library loan policy, but I'm considering implementing one next year. We have a large Arabic collection and the local public libraries' Arabic resources are limited, so the demand is there. My concern is that if students don't return to our school in the fall (this is not uncommon), I'll have no way of recovering the books. Requiring a deposit might help with this, but I'm curious to see how other schools handle the issue.

Answer 1

I used to work in a public library that partnered with the local high school every summer to offer summer reading materials. The high school would send us several boxes of materials which we would temporarily catalog. With their permission, we put a card pocket in the front with a card in it that had our identifying information and our bar code (at the end of summer, we pulled the cards from the pockets to remove our markings). I think we also put a colored circle sticker on the spine to indicate it was a high school book - these books were shelved separately. Kids (or any member) could check out the materials on their public library card, and they were held to public library due dates. The school library did not hold us responsible for lost books, and we chased after late materials just like we chase after all late materials. The books were returned to the school at the end of summer.

Answer 2

I allowed students to borrow up to 6 books over the summer. You could have a simple permission slip for parents to sign and include the fact that the books could be returned to the school office if they moved over the summer (assuming you have an agreeable office!). We lost no books.