Building a Homeschool Lending Library

Over the years I have used a wide variety of curricula and audio/video resources to help me in the home education of my children. Some of these were used by all three children; others were acquired to suit the particular needs of one child's individual learning style. In the process, I was building quite a good library and a body of knowledge of the various publishers. Then, I began to purchase resources (both new and used) that I felt would be helpful to me to further educate myself to be the best teacher possible for my kids. In time, I needed more and more bookcases to house what would become useful tools for my own children, those I tutored or taught, and eventually to become part of our homeschool lending library. This has been a great outreach for my family as the library continues to loan out materials for review, or a year's worth of use to new homeschoolers and veterans alike.

Homeschool families, co-ops and homeschool-friendly churches should make a concerted effort to establish libraries to serve their local cities and communities. With the increasing number of families making the choice to provide a distinctively Christian education to their children, being ready to help is a very pro-active and godly endeavor.

Our library required families to sign up to participate and fill out a lending agreement. It included the following:

There is no fee to borrow materials. However, library materials undergo normal wear and tear so we encourage donations to help us replace worn out materials and to expand the library.

Lending period is for two weeks unless special arrangements are made.

Books and other materials are to be returned in the condition they are received.

In the event library materials are not returned in useable condition, we require that the borrower pay replacement costs in addition to a service fee of $10.

Any problem with library materials should be brought to our attention immediately.

Materials are lent to you and your family and should not be lent to other individuals or families. If other families wish to borrow materials, they need to fill out an agreement in order to borrow directly from us.

It is the responsibility of the borrower to return library materials as agreed and not the responsibility of the library to call and pick them up. However, convenient arrangements can be made for pick up and delivery.

Lending privileges may be revoked at the discretion of the library staff.

Since we are now expanding the lending privileges, other conditions may be added to this agreement as experience dictates. In that case, you will be notified in writing of such changes, if and when they occur.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me: lessons.learned@yahoo.com