I had this happen once. If I remember, we just either gave them money for it or gave them a book to replace it. So I still have a chewed up copy of Stuart Little around the house somewhere.

Well, she's holding my chewed up copies hostage until I bring her the new ones! The one that has the last 5 chapters "half eaten" I might let her keep, so show the kids what a puppy can do. The other one just had the cover torn off & I haven't read it, so I'll ask for that one back!

One school library I had to deal with for a lost book would only take $$$$ -- I offered to replace the book (exact same book but brand new) but was told MONEY ONLY. Never did get a straight answer - librarian quoted "standing orders" type of speil and wandered off leaving me standing at the desk.....I should have gone to the principal but at the time was just too fed up with the whole business....I didn't know DD had lost the book until the last day of school when they
wouldn't give her her final report (crying kid and all)....the librarian had been phoning parents and said we must have gotten overlooked.....LOL....still steams me thinking of it.

Actually, the books that most school libraries use are very very different from the books sold in book stores.

The books that are sold to the public in regular bookstores have a binding that holds up to "normal" use by children. The books that libraries buy have a special binding called Permabind (or something.) It is meant for heavy, institutional use. They usually look very similar, it's just that the binding is different.

However, I agree that your suggestion is a good one. Until the librarian can put in a new order and wait six or seven months for it to be approved by the board of ed, a good solution is to buy the books at the regular bookstore. At least that way, the books are available to the children, and that's the whole point of having a library in the first place!

Note that Carlotta Bull was able to buy the books with the stronger binding:
"I am getting her two brand new books with school/library quality binding (better than she had)"

The point about the binding is a good one, but it's also possible to replace the book with the proper binding, and it might be faster that going through the bureaucracy of the school.

Some libraries, though, buy regular books and send them off to a bindery (sp?) to get library bindings put on. You could ask the librarian if that is the practice, and buy new ones and pay for the binding. It is true that at many libraries, they won't use the replacement money or fine money to replace the book with another copy of the same book. So if it is a book you think is important for them to have, you might try to convince them to take a replacement rather than money.

It's actually quite ridiculous - the process that public school libraries have to go through to get books for our kids to read. It seems like it defeats the purpose!