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Before Investing in A School Rental Scheme – Some Basic Questions

Olivia@dbcgroup.ie — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 09:00:28 +0000

Here are some basic questions to help you make the most informed decision before investing in a school book rental scheme.

Identifying School Needs

Is the school reviewing its present scheme or considering the introduction of a book rental scheme?
What are the benefits/drawbacks related to the scheme?
Have parents, pupils been consulted?
Has the Board of Management been consulted?
Can a pilot project be introduced prior to the full implementation of the scheme?

Budget

How is the initial capital acquired to buy a stock of books?
What yearly rental charge is levied?
Is it the same for all classes/for all pupils?
How often is this charge reviewed?
What procedures are followed if the fee is not paid?
What arrangements are made for children eligible under the Aid for School Books Grant Scheme? (Refer to relevant circular)

Implementation of scheme

Who has overall responsibility for the administration of the scheme?
What books are included in the scheme?
Who purchases the books?
How books are identified – school stamps, label …?
Who is responsible for the cataloging and distribution of books?
Who is responsible for the covering, repair and replacement of books?
What system is used to collect the books at the end of the year?
What procedures are followed if books are damaged or lost?
What special storage arrangements are in place?
What happens to the books that are no longer required by the school?

Evaluation

How often will the scheme be evaluated?
What criteria will indicate that the scheme has been successful?
Who will be involved in the review?

If you have any questions or require more details on book covering systems, visit our website or contact us: + 353 1 460 2200

7 Guidelines for operating a School Book Rental Scheme

Olivia@dbcgroup.ie — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 09:00:25 +0000

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, visit our website or contact us: + 353 1 460 2200

DBC Group appointed European distributor for Powisicase iPad case

Colm — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 10:29:04 +0000

Yesterday, Powis Parker the world leader in document presentation systems and developer of the patented Fastback binding machine has appointed DBC group as their European distributor for its Powisicase iPad case.

The Powis iCase is manufactured in Berkeley, California, by Powis, a 28-year veteran company in the bookbindery business.
“Given our already high customer demand in Europe, it makes sense for us to provide distribution directly in Europe, making it cost effective and timely for our customers,” said Kevin Parker, CEO of Powis. “DBC Group has been a distributor of ours for many years and we are pleased to have them now carry our Powis iCase.”

Read full press release, click here

School Book Rental Scheme: Benefits & Grants Available

Olivia@dbcgroup.ie — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 08:00:27 +0000

Further to the Blog Post How to Set Up a School Book Rental Scheme, here is some information on the grants available when investing in a School Book Rental Scheme.

What is a School book rental scheme?

School book rental schemes can alleviate the costs of purchasing text books for parents and Pupils in both primary and post primary schools. Effectively, it’s a rental scheme that “pools” the upfront costs of purchasing books for selected classes or set of curriculum books by amortising both the cost of purchase and depreciation of the books over a set period of time, normally 3 years. In general, the scheme is administered in each school by the school principal in association with the Parent Teachers Association (PTA)

What Grants are available?

A grant scheme is available for students to help with the cost of school books. The scheme is mainly aimed at pupils from low-income families and families experiencing financial hardship. Funding for the scheme comes from the Department of Education and Skills. Broadly speaking, students who may be eligible for assistance under the School Books Grant Scheme include:

Families that are mainly dependent on social welfare payments
Families on low incomes, (for example, those receiving Family Income Supplement, and the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance)
Families experiencing financial hardship because of particular circumstances (for example, where there is prolonged illness of a parent/guardian, addiction problems, etc.)
Students who are in the care of foster families under arrangements made by a Local Health Office and students participating in Youthreach, VTOS and Post-Leaving Certificate Courses are ineligible for assistance under the School Books Grant Scheme.

However, in the current economic climate the rental scheme is rising in popularity amongst the general school community.

The rates for schools in the Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) programme are higher than those for non-DEIS schools. Payment of funding to be allocated to schools to provide assistance for books can be analyised as follows: (2011 Data)

Primary Schools: (As of April 2011)

The allocation to schools for books allows an additional per capita funding of:

Allocation to DEIS schools for books €21
Allocation to non-DEIS schools for books €11

Post Primary Schools (As of June 2011)

The additional per capita funding to be provided is:

Allocation to DEIS schools for books €39
Allocation to non-DEIS schools for books €24
Junior Certificate Schools Programme €60
Transition Year Programme €95
Leaving Certificate Applied Programme €151
Physics and Chemistry €13

If you have any questions or require more details on book covering systems , visit our website or contact us: +353 1 460 2200