Textbook Circulation

When I was in school, it was the teacher's job to keep track of textbooks. We would sign out our textbooks at the beginning of the year, filling out a form that included our textbook number, its condition, and our agreement ( or our parent's) to pay for any damages or lost books. At the end of the year, or whenever we finished the class, we had to bring our book to the teacher and fill out the rest of the form stating any damages and the fine cost. If we lost the book or there were damages to it we had to pay. I don't remember what the consequence was for not paying, but I'm sure there was one. At the high school I am currently student teaching at, we were just informed that the media center will be responsible for circulating books next year. We were told in a very rude email that the board decided that textbooks will be returned to the media center where they will be checked out to students next year. I understand that this may better help to keep track of the books, but with no library aides and so much the media specialist has to take care of, this seems like an overload. What are the textbook circulation policies in your school? What do you think about this new policy?