WFMW: Library Elf

I know many families, and homeschooling families in particular love the library. Our family goes once a week, and not just to pick up books about Greece or Rome, but also because the girls and I love to read. I do buy a great many books for school, but we also supplement with library books.

Between the history books for 2-3 children, science books, literature books, plus what the girls call "fun books" - this is anything that is not assigned for school, although they do sometimes read "school books" for fun, plus my books (family, homemaking, biographies, history, as well as novels), we have MANY books checked out of the library at one time. We have an entire shelf in our front room that is the home of our library books when not being read. Kelly calls it "The Smith Branch of the San Antonio Library." Kora and I both have library cards, and between the two we usually have 40-60 books checked out at one time. Keeping up with them all used to be a nightmare until I discovered Library Elf.

This is a website that has partnered up with many libraries across the nation, thankfully including the San Antonio library system. It is a free service in which they send you emails reminding you of upcoming due books, any over due books, alerts you to any books that are ready to be picked up after you have placed them on hold. You enter all the library cards your family has, and it sends you one email for all of them. You also get to control the settings of how often you receive the emails, how many days prior to the due date, etc.

Before I signed up with Elf over a year ago, we had library fines on a regular (as in monthly) basis. These have virtually been eliminated (leaving me more money to BUY books!) since then. I now get an email the day before I go to the library with a complete list of everything due the next day. This allows me to make sure everything gets turned in on time, or rechecked. This is has been a lifesaver for me! My husband likes the drastic reduction in fines as well.

So if you utilize the library, DON'T leave home without Library Elf!