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Hi Brenda

We've always encouraged reading groups to collect the copies and have them issued on their reading group card, rather than as individual borrowers. This usually means that 1 person takes responsibility for the card itself, the reserving of the books and the collecting and issuing. Our library system will not allow a borrower to request multiple copies of a title online, so this always needs to be done by a member of staff. The money is then taken at that point, unless the reservation is made over the phone. Then, when the copies arrive, the reading group contact is emailed (we have stipulated that they receive notification by email where their account has an email address), and the books are issued on the reading group card. We have left it up to them as to how the payment is worked out amongst the group. 

We felt it would be fairer to charge by the reservation rather than by an annual group fee, as some groups do not use the library for all of their desired titles. This way, they only pay for what their group actually requests, rather than a 'membership fee' which they may feel was not giving them value for money. We are still giving them a value-added service by giving them 6 weeks loan rather than the usual 3 weeks, and a substantially reduced reservation fee for multiple copies. 

Craig Jones