MINUTES OF NOVEMBER 14, 2023, CIRCULATION MEETING
On Teams

UPDATES/DEMOS

A. Networks: WLS networking staff is separating stuff and public networks, staff wifi to be separate from public wifi. Public wifi can’t get on Evergreen as staff wifi can. Before moving a machine that’s plugged into the network, please contact WLS.

B. Browsers: When we migrated to Evergreen, WLS advised everyone to use Chrome as the preferred browser. However, things have changed and now Evergreen opens in MS Edge. WLS believes it’s a more stable browser, with fewer crashes. To make it go more smoothly, limit the number of tabs open in Edge to no more than four at a time; when you finish with a tab, close it. If you are using Edge for Evergreen and another browser for your other needs (Firefox, Chrome, etc.), you can have multiple tabs open without affecting Evergreen.

C. Patron Registration Form: We discussed modifying the patron registration form in Evergreen at the September Circulation meeting. Subsequently Allison Midgley sent out a survey to the heads of circulation at the member libraries and 13 responded. One of the potential changes was setting up a prompt for the proper formatting of telephone numbers. If the libraries agree on a format, we can have examples set for daytime phone number. The basic rule is that if there’s a field that no libraries use, it can be hidden, but if any library uses it, it can’t be hidden. It is not possible at this time to choose different fields for online registrations as opposed to in person registrations, or to enforce capitalization in the fields. Customization of Evergreen happens on the consortium level, not the individual library level.

D. Closed Dates Editor: WLS Support has been trying to create one document which shows all the libraries’ closed dates, but this is complicated by the fact that different libraries call the same holidays by different names. Libraries need to be consistent in naming holidays throughout the system. If a library is closing early (e.g., the day before Thanksgiving),you do not need to make it a closed day for purposes of holds and due dates. Libraries should edit their closed dates in November, or as soon as they have the dates for the upcoming year. If a library is closed for two days for the same holiday (e.g., the day before Independence Day and Independence Day proper), you can use the same holiday name for both days.

REMINDERS

A. Replacement Cards: Make sure staff asks if the patron uses Libby/Overdrive, in which case we need both the old and new numbers to merge the records in Overdrive. Find the person at your library who is in charge of Overdrive and give the information to that person. If the records aren’t merged, the patron might have problems in getting items from Libby. If the patron has a Libby account through another library system, you don’t need to merge the records.

B. Checkout and Fine Policies: Generally speaking, items follow the checkout library’s circulation policies. If you check out an item that belongs to a library that does charge fines, but you check it out at a library that doesn’t charge fines, the item will be fine-free. If someone returns items to your library and some of them have fines charged and some don’t, the difference might be due to the location where the items were checked out. There needs to be communication between tech services and the circulation staff about the library’s policies re: circulation periods, holdability, etc. There is information on the Solar Winds help site that covers these situations. Prior to the Evergreen migration in 2019, PLDA agreed on the basic loan durations for different item classes, which were then translated into Evergreen. If your library doesn’t have a custom circulation policy for a particular class of items, then the default WLS categories apply. For example, museum pass circulation modifiers are set by the library; if the library doesn’t set particular rules for this class, then they will revert to the broadest rule: 21 days circulation, fine, etc. If your library is creating a new category of item, reach out to WLS to find out how to set up the right circ modifiers for it. Be consistent in categories, and if you need to, run a report to see what different circulation modifiers your library has used.

C. Available Soon Items: Allison Midgley provided a report for each library of the items labeled “Available soon”. There are 40,000 “available soon” items, and probably only 15% should be in that category. Check your shelves, see if particular items need to still be “available soon”. If they’re not “Available soon,” put them in a bucket and fix their locations.

D. Check In Modifiers: “Retarget local holds” and “Retarget all statuses” shouldn’t be used all the time because they’ll slow the system down and can contribute to hold anomalies, especially for popular items with lots of holds. Use them as modifiers for items you’ve just linked, when you’re trying to change from “available soon” to “available.”

E. Circulation Contacts: Please confirm the circulation contacts for your library on the form Allison Midgley will send out. Also check to make sure your information on the IT Wiki is accurate.

F. Solarwinds: Log in to Solar Winds if you haven’t already done so. Use your username and your Evergreen password. If you go to Solarwinds from Edge where you’re signed into Evergreen, it should sign you in automatically. There’s an article on the IT Wiki about how to sign in (https://it.westchesterlibraries.org/wls-help-desk-support/#online-portal). You can keep track of your tickets and check FAQ’s about common issues. Allison is considering offering a Solarwinds update training in the new year. The Solarwinds URL is https://westls.samanage.com/login.

DISCUSSION

A. Expired Holds and Notes: When a patron’s hold expires on the shelf, is there any way to record what happened to the item? Canceled holds get purged. Active and recently expired holds will show up in the record. Look under “recently canceled holds” in the holds section of the patron record, and then check for the column entitled “cancel cause” to see why the hold was canceled. You can put a note in the record under the tab marked “notes” if you want to specify which hold was canceled when and for what reason.

B. Tuckahoe: TUK is about to start a 6 month renovation, which will limit system access to its materials and will limit its open hours. The library will be closed to the public from November 15 through December 2. Thereafter it will reopen at a temporary location in the common center in the same building as the library.

C. Expired Patrons: There are a lot of patrons whose cards are expired but who are still in the system. Allison and Lindsay ran a list of expired patrons as of October, 2023, which came to 7,000. This should be an ongoing process, but somehow it got stuck and isn’t running. WLS is looking into this with Equinox. Laura Burk at Greenburgh reported that as of March, 2022, there were 10,000 expired [GRE] patrons; it appears that there’s a secret table somewhere in Evergreen that lists all the people who have been in collection, and these people can’t be removed, even if they’re no longer in collections. From Fall 2022, it doesn’t appear that any purges were done. It’s possible that some of the expired patrons got caught because of migration, or because the only reason they were in the system was because they owed fines and their libraries forgave the fines. Concern that there’s a potential problem with the library’s state reports, what it will look like if it appears the number of library patrons dropped by a third in one year, when there was really a massive purge and the patrons purged hadn’t actually been patrons for years.

D. 2024 Meetings: On the second Tuesday of every other month:

  • January 9
  • March 12
  • May 14
  • September 10
  • November 12