Re: [IUG] 'Unlimited' Renewals

[Janet Fine <janetrfine at hotmail dot com>]

4.25.12
 
Hi Shona,
 
We're a midsized suburban library with a Main Building and 3 Branches.  We allow 6 renewals on all material except periodicals and museum passes for which there are no renewals.
We have  4  loan periods: 28 days, 14 days, 7 days and 3 days.  In essence, the maximum amount of time that an item *should* be checked out for is 7 months (1 checkout + 6 renewals). Patrons may renew overdue material only after fines are paid.  The majority of renewal are done online by the patrons themselves.
 
Most patrons are very appreciative of the extra time, but on occassion patrons question why if an item is on hold they cannot renew it or if they have already renewed the item 6 times they cannot renew it again. There will always be patrons who want to "push the envelope" a bit.  Our patrons place alot of holds--we process about 230,000 a year, so most of the new material cannot be renewed until interest has waned. All in all, it works very well and a "circ is a circ."  If a patron is looking for an item that is checked out, we always offer to
put the item on hold.
 
Good luck and please call/email if you have any questions.
 
Kind regards, 
Janet Fine 
Department Head, Circulation and Computer Services 
Great Neck Library 
159 Bayview Avenue 
Great Neck, NY 11023 
(516) 466-8055 ext. 205
 


> From: oyerly at andrews dot edu
> To: innopac at innovativeusers dot org
> Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2012 10:18:06 -0400
> Subject: Re: [IUG] 'Unlimited' Renewals
> 
> We're an academic library, so our circumstances are not the same as yours.
> However, this might be of interest. 
> 
> Our undergraduates have a three-week checkout, with 2 renewals. This takes
> them a good way through the semester.
> 
> Our graduates have 3 months, with 2 renewals, and our faculty 6 months, with
> 1 renewal. In the past, if a doctoral student or faculty member would ask
> for extensions, we would usually override them and not worry about it.
> However, we stopped this practice when we realized that some books were
> being lost because the loan period had gone on so long the patron simply
> didn't remember what they did with the materials. Some of these books were
> not easily replaceable, or simply unavailable. Now the graduate students
> bring their books back after 9 months and check them in. Faculty bring (or
> send with a designated representative) theirs after 1 year. Both check back
> out the ones they wish to keep.
> 
> We have fewer lost books, and fewer shelf copies to buy to compensate for
> the ones on "permanent" loan.
> 
> Good luck,
> 
> Anne Oyerly
> Building & Stacks Manager
> James White Library
> Andrews University
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: innopac-bounces at innovativeusers dot org
> [mailto:innopac-bounces at innovativeusers dot org] On Behalf Of Koehn, Shona
> Sent: Monday, April 23, 2012 4:01 PM
> To: IUG INNOPAC List (innopac at innovativeusers dot org)
> Subject: [IUG] 'Unlimited' Renewals
> 
> We are currently working on updates to our circulation policies and are
> considering offering our patrons the option of "unlimited" renewals. (What
> we really mean is allowing them to renew as many times as they want to for
> up to 1 year as long as there are no holds.)
> 
> Is anyone else (particularly in a public library setting) doing anything
> similar?
> 
> If so, how is it working for you?
> 
> If you have before, but don't know, why did you stop?
> 
> Are there any particular consequences of which we should be aware?
> 
> Thanks!!!
> 
> Shona Koehn
> Web & ILS Administrator
> Tulsa City-County Library
> 918.549.7305
> skoehn at tulsalibrary dot org
> 
> 
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