7 Guidelines for a School Book Rental Scheme
School book rental scheme
Here are 7 guidelines to assist you in implementing a school book rental scheme with parents agreement. 
1. Parents should be consulted in the first instance in order to get their agreement to the operation of the scheme. The cooperation of parents and school staff is essential to the success of a scheme. The main benefits for parents would be:
- significant savings in the cost to them of text books
- availability of books from the beginning of the school year
- access to a greater range of text books than would otherwise be feasible
- avoidance of traveling and queuing for books at shops
2. The initial capital required to buy a stock of books could be raised through a bank loan and/or through subscriptions from parents who will get future financial benefit from the scheme. A bank loan could be repaid over a short number of years out of the rental income. A membership fee for pupils joining the scheme for the first time could also be considered.
3. The yearly rental charge should be pitched at a level sufficient to buy additional or replacement books as required and to repay any loan taken out to buy the initial stock of books. This charge should be reviewed on a year to year basis.
4. The scheme should be confined to books suitable for re-use. Good quality second-hand books or new books would be bought. In buying books, durability such as the quality of the binding, would be an important factor. Books might be bought from pupils and past pupils as well as from local booksellers. Discounts and/or credit terms could be negotiated with booksellers for bulk purchases.
5. The scheme could be administered by a post holder. Parents and senior pupils could assist in the cataloguing of the books, applying the school’s identification marks e.g. the school stamp, and sorting the books into the individual lots for each pupil. The required books would be given to pupils on the first day of the school year. Each pupil would sign a receipt which would be retained in the school. The rental charge and membership fee if applicable would have been paid by parents in advance.
6. The books would be returned by pupils at the end of the rental period. Lost or damaged books would be paid for by pupils/parents.
7. The book grant for necessitous pupils would be used to pay the rental charges and membership fee (if applicable) for such pupils.
If you have any questions or require more details on book covering systems or how to set up a school book rental scheme, visit our website or contact us: + 353 1 460 2200