We are a new club, comprised of mostly retired seniors. We have been receiving quite a bit of donated magazines, books, DVDs, VHS tapes and CDs lately. I am 1 of a group of 3 assigned to establish some library type system of control with a check-in/out process.
We hesitate to just put everything out for the taking because there is some value to the almost new, current version material and we really want it available to all members, noit just who gloms onto it first.
We are generally computer literate so spreadsheets and word documents and software is no problem.
Does anyone have some experience they can share with setting up such an animal and maybe what works/doesn’t? Perhaps somewhere a club library organization profile and hopefully free or cheap software if that is needed.
I use Readerware for my collection (currently about 2,100 volumes (don’t tell my wife)) but it is a little pricy and does not track loans. A few years ago I used BookCAT from FNProgramvare. It has a free trial period and does track books loaned out. Most libraries do not loan out their rare books or their reference materials. Shelves have to be stout. Books and magazines are heavy. The last time I was on the book collecting group there was a lot of discussion on how to finish the shelves to best preserve the books. Bare wood was a favorite as long as it is not a gummy soft wood that would bleed resin onto the books. Good luck. If you ask around you might find some old issues of MR if you are willing to pay the postage.