BWI of STL Gateway maintains a large teaching library available to everyone at the meetings for education, trying on for fit, and practice. At the end of the meeting, all current members who have made the annual donation to the BWI of STL Gateway are welcome to borrow one carrier at a time from the library after learning to use it with an educator. Carriers are checked out for a period of one month, and as the library travels from meeting to meeting, you may return your carrier to any meeting within the one month checkout period. Our library currently has more than 135 carriers in many brands and sizes of ring slings, wraps, soft structured carriers (SSC), mei dais, and more, and we are always working to add more carriers!

Everyone who borrows carriers from the library must agree to our lending library policy, which you can review below:

Lending Library User Agreement:

All items in our lending library are available to be borrowed from meetings only and for a term no longer than one month, from one month’s meeting to the next month’s meeting. Carriers must be returned in the condition that they were lent out in. Carrier checkouts are available after the first hour and a half of the meeting.

Please read and adhere to the following:

1. You assume the responsibility for safely using all carriers and for inspecting the stitching and fabric on all carriers to satisfy yourself that the carrier is sound and suitable for use with your child, and you assume the risk of using a carrier. Each time you borrow a carrier, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless BWI of STL Gateway, its leaders and members, for any harm that may result to you or your child from the use of the carrier.

2. Do not expose a carrier to smoke or smoke residue. Do not use a carrier where people are smoking, and do not store a carrier in a place where there is smoke residue, such as in a car where someone smokes. This includes all kinds of smoke, tobacco, pipes, vapes etc.

3. Do not leave carriers where pets (cats, dogs, etc) could access or lay on carriers. There are many people with allergies and we would prefer not to have to launder carriers between meetings due to allergens.

4. Checkout is for one month only (from meeting date to meeting date) If you cannot return the item(s) within the first 15 minutes of the next month’s meeting, please return it to a leader in person before the meeting. You must bring it to a leader; leaders are not responsible for coming to you. If you chose to have a third party return it to the leaders, please arrange that. Leaders will not be responsible for third party returns. At times highly sought after or new carrier may have special check out terms. These terms will be listed on an addendum to this policy. Failure to adhere to the special terms including return times will incur late fees as listed below:

Late Fees
:

$1 – returned after first 15 minutes but before end of meeting at which due
$5 + $1/item/day for carriers not returned at meeting due; full value of carrier charged after 30 days if still not returned; Example: return the Monday after a Saturday meeting = $5 base late fee + 2 additional days late (Sunday and Monday) = $7 total. This is in addition to any laundering or damage fees.

5. Please return all carriers in such a condition that they are ready for the next person to check out. We understand that these carriers are meant to carry babies, and therefore may get dirty during your time with them. Many carriers require special care based on fiber type or construction and can be damaged with improper laundering. To extend the life of our carriers, DO NOT launder your carrier without notifying our chapter librarian at the email address on the carrier tag first so that specific laundering instructions for your carrier can be provided. There is no need to feel embarrassed for a dirty carrier, please speak to us first! A carrier returned in a soiled condition that prevents it from being checked out upon return will incur a cleaning fee. If the carrier is unable to be cleaned or is permanently stained it will be considered ruined. If fabric softener or bleach was used on a carrier it will be considered ruined.

Laundering Fees:

$3 – unapproved laundering, general (see “Major Damage” for laundering resulting in significant carrier damage)
$3 – washing for food, odor, pet hair, light dirt
$5 – treatment for stains

6. Please treat the carriers with respect. Carriers – especially wovens – sometimes sustain minor damage. Please never try to repair damage you have done to a carrier without speaking to our chapter librarian first. If your borrowed carrier has thread pulls, a thread break, thread shifting, staining, or other minor damage, inform our chapter librarian at the email address on the carrier tag. She will put you in contact with a volunteer to help you assess how best to repair the carrier. If you or a chapter volunteer can repair the carrier prior to the meeting at which it is due, no fees will be charged. If you need the repair done by a volunteer, please make arrangements to return the carrier AT LEAST one week prior to the meeting at which it would be due. If the carrier must be pulled from rotation to be repaired or has suffered irreparable damage or full loss, the following fee schedule will apply.

Minor Damage Fees:


$3 – Minor pulls – <1” in length; fewer than 3 $5 – Significant pulls – >1” in length; fewer than 3
$10 – Severe pulls – >1” in length; greater than 3
$3/break – Minor break – break both ends locatable; <1” between ends $5/break – Significant break – only one end locatable OR > 1” between ends
$10/break – Severe break – only one end locatable; >1” break
$5 – threadshifting ◦ $3 + replacement buckle cost – broken/damaged buckle on SSC

Major Damage
:

The full value of the carrier will be collected if the carrier has suffered damage which renders it unsuitable for continued use in the library such as tears, felting, structural damage, extensive smoke exposure, etc.

7. If you ruin a carrier, you are responsible for paying the actual replacement cost of the carrier, at new retail value, including shipping. The leaders in their sole discretion will determine whether a carrier is ruined.

8. Fees may not be waived without the vote of the President, Librarian and Meeting Leader. We don’t like charging late fees, but we also want to ensure that our library carriers are available for everyone to see demonstrated and to borrow. As such, the timely return of borrowed carriers from prior meetings is essential to our being able to provide education and support to caregivers in our community. Fees may be paid upon returning a carrier or will be invoiced via PayPal prior to the next meeting. Further library check outs will not be available until fees are paid.

9. Violation of these policies may result in termination of a member’s borrowing privileges.

Feel free to contact us if you have any questions about our library policies or carriers!