Club library - the future?

Gang - we need to have a discussion about the future of the club-owned games. Currently, the following games are still missing

Airlines Europe
Hanabi
Love Letter Batman
Merchants and Maruaders
Port Royal
Sushi Go
TTR Europe
Zombie Fluxx

Despite several pleas from Aneurin and I, we've had no luck locating them. It's disappointing but we have to assume £100+ of club games have been stolen. To avoid this happening, the larger, more valuable club games have been removed from the Uni Arms and taken home by numerous club members for safe keeping. We need to discuss the future of the library. It is almost useless if its sat doing nothing in people's homes and relies on people requesting games ahead of time and the people that have custody of them being available to attend when requested. It's also not good for new members or those that may not own games if the options are limited on a Tuesday.

Does anyone have any thoughts on how we address this? Do we have a, practicable, suggestion for storing them at the Uni Arms? We have £175.00 in the club kitty we can spend on trying to solve this and could fund-raise again if needed. Personally, I'd rather we be spending that money on refreshing the club library a couple of times a year to keep it interesting for new and old members a like.

Also, because I didn't keep a thorough enough record, could those that have taken ownership of the club games please post which ones they have so that we can update the list.

I have - Game of Thrones, Colloseum and Patchwork.

I've got Lord of the Rings & Escape from the Aliens

I'll check and update tonight - I've got three club games but the only one I recall right now is King of Tokyo.

EDIT: Kinsburg and Smallworld

As for managing the library - our only real options are:

1) Keep doing what we're doing (which I agree is impractical)
2) Stop offering the library (not ideal for the reasons you've already mentioned)
3) Approach Uni Arms and see if there is a lockable space we can store them

I know 3) was mooted back when this first came up but I don't know if anyone actually asked the question.

We’ve spoken to them. They reckon we can get a catch on the seats so they can be lockable.
They up for helping us with whatever we need for it really.
Doesn’t solve the problem if people are just leaving with games after a session though

Kes wrote:We’ve spoken to them. They reckon we can get a catch on the seats so they can be lockable.
They up for helping us with whatever we need for it really.
Doesn’t solve the problem if people are just leaving with games after a session though

That’s true - I was working on the assumption / hope that it wasn’t club members but people happening on the games outside of the club

Kes wrote:We’ve spoken to them. They reckon we can get a catch on the seats so they can be lockable.
They up for helping us with whatever we need for it really.
Doesn’t solve the problem if people are just leaving with games after a session though

Excellent, thanks Kes. I think the latches will be a good idea and relatively low cost.

We can fund the latches (any idea on cost?), do we need to do the work or will they do it?

Probably easier for us to just do it but if we need support then Danny will provide it. I can sort tools if needed

I haven't noticed but have you put a callout for the lost games in the Facebook group? There may be a whole host of people that could see that who may not have looked on here?

KendraArg wrote:I haven't noticed but have you put a callout for the lost games in the Facebook group? There may be a whole host of people that could see that who may not have looked on here?

Good idea... I'll get on that...

And Karl - I have Formula D still.

Who takes responsibility for the Facebook page nowadays, Rik? Can you post something on there about the games, please?

How do we progress the storage? Can someone take this up with the pub/Danny?

I have CO2.

I think the most important thing is that someone is responsible for the library. There's no point having lockable storage if they don't get put away at the end of an evening. I don't know who does that currently, if anyone?

Have any more games gone missing since we noticed these had gone? I think there's always going to be some losses. People can always walk off with them on an evening if they want to. I think we should just keep the library to stuff that's not too expensive, nothing worth over £20, and accept we'll have to replace it every so often.

The amount of money we've spent on the library it's definitely been worth having. A lot of those games see a lot of play. Settlers seems to get played every week!

Lizzy wrote:I have CO2.

I think the most important thing is that someone is responsible for the library. There's no point having lockable storage if they don't get put away at the end of an evening. I don't know who does that currently, if anyone?

I am one of the last players usually and I can assure that all remaining players are putting back all games at the end of the evening.

Great! Thanks for doing that Christos and for letting us know. It's reassuring!

Maybe we should consider returning some of the cheaper games to uni arms?

Anyone want to volunteer to help sort the storage out so that we can get the club library back in use?

I haven't got the time and it'd be nice if it didn't fall to Aneurin or I to sort it for a change.

So, no interest in helping out then?

The club library will remain inaccessible to members, and no further purchases made to add to it, until we sort this, so everyone's loss.

I am happy to help out. Didn't spot the message.
Need to find some time to chat about what's needed and when to do it

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Aluminium-storage-trunk-lockable-chase/dp/B00N3055KE
May have to check dimensions under the seats but something like this with either keys or a number padlock could sit under or I can look at the seats and if it's ok with pub and its practicsl attach a clasp and then we just buy a number padlock

I'm not up to date on this issue. Does this thread describe all actions taken so far? Did we measure the seats or determine if a latch would work? If not, I'll come to the club a little earlier tomorrow to take the measurements. Might be hard to find an appropriate box that will fit, and I'm dubious about the latch option. But if we have to rule them out we can look for other solutions at least.

Have we confirmed with the pub that there is no other space we can use where they can be locked away for the week? If not, I wonder how they would feel about us leaving a lockbox in the corner of the room, near the speakers perhaps.

As far as I'm aware, we haven't done anything with the storage. Any help would be much appreciated, thanks Sam.

I'll speak to Aneurin about talking to the pub or speak to Danny myself if I see him.

Here's what I'm thinking so far, anyone please chime in if they have any thoughts

Locking down the seats does not seem to be straightforward and neither does fitting boxes underneath them. The best option suggested so far, in my opinion, is putting a lockable box or two up the stairs next to where we store the boards.

We don't want something too heavy or awkward to handle, especially as it needs to be carried down the stairs, but we need enough volume to store the whole collection. I think two boxes would be best, 40mx40xmc80cm or something similar.

One problem is that boxes seem to be expensive items! Here is a typical example of a box that looks to fit our purposes:
https://www.protective-cases.co.uk/product/lightweight-flight-case-800x400x400mm/

£120 each. The one Ian posted earlier is cheaper though, £54. Reviews say it isn't the most durable, though it doesn't really need to be. A combination lock would be much better than keys, though (no one needs to be a keymaster, anyone can be given the code). But either way, cheapest option seems to be £108.

So, first question is budget: what's in the kitty, and is that money available for purchasing such a storage solution?

I've also seen a few items on eBay that might do the job. I'll look more into second hand items when I next get the chance. I think odds are good we can find something better there. I'll also say I don't have a vehicle so I can't really collect or deliver them to the pub if that is needed, so if anyone with transport wants to help with that let me know.

Some good ideas, however, whats to stop someone from just walking away with the entire box?

You're not wrong, obviously, but my view is that nothing can be made theft-proof. There is technology out there to unlock a locked car door, override the disabler, disable the tracker etc etc. Even if you run a chain through the back wheel of your bicycle someone can easily steal the front wheel. You can only make things inconvenient enough that most thieves aren't motivated enough to bother. Putting the games in a locked box means it's a bit of effort to steal and I don't know that there is enough interest in Carassone Big Box to warrant that effort.

For what it's worth, if a whole box of games was stolen I'd have no hesitation reporting that to the police. Even if I did have to explain that, no, it wasn't filled with copies of Monopoly.

Thanks for the feedback, though. And anyone else who has thoughts, please let us know.

I think this could be good:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Outdoor-Garden-Plastic-Storage-190L-Utility-Chest-Cushion-Shed-Box-Waterproof/273926400436

Don't think it's too big but should fit any size of game, has a padlock and carrying holds, would fit at top of stairs but if turns out too unwieldy to get up and down stairs when full it also shouldn't get in the way on the pub floor in a corner. If we need two they can stack but I think one is fine, one or two games might not fit and have to go under seats but two boxes seems unecessary.

Would club treasurer be happy to reimnurse me if I go ahead and purchase this plus a padlock (approx £32 total)?

SamVS wrote:I think this could be good:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Outdoor-Garden-Plastic-Storage-190L-Utility-Chest-Cushion-Shed-Box-Waterproof/273926400436

Don't think it's too big but should fit any size of game, has a padlock and carrying holds, would fit at top of stairs but if turns out too unwieldy to get up and down stairs when full it also shouldn't get in the way on the pub floor in a corner. If we need two they can stack but I think one is fine, one or two games might not fit and have to go under seats but two boxes seems unecessary.

Would club treasurer be happy to reimnurse me if I go ahead and purchase this plus a padlock (approx £32 total)?

Looks good but we should check with the pub first to see if it is ok to store it there. Also maybe the padlock should be a combination type not the type with a key?