Circulation

Managing patron accounts is at the heart of circulation work. You’ll need to know how to search for patrons and understand the patron record structure. For new patrons, the registration process includes both staff-assisted and self-registration options. Advanced patron management includes grouping family members, merging duplicate accounts, and handling expired or lost library cards.

For special situations, you can add notes, alerts, and blocks to patron accounts, or use user buckets to make batch changes to multiple patron records at once.

The fundamental circulation transactions include checking out items (including pre-cataloged materials), checking in returns with proper backdating, and renewing items or editing due dates. You can also record in-house use for items that don’t circulate but need usage tracking.

When problems arise, you’ll need to handle lost and claimed returned items, check item status and circulation history, and manage the financial aspects through billing and payments.

Evergreen’s sophisticated holds system allows for multiple types of holds and complex management. The comprehensive holds guide covers placing different types of holds, while managing holds explains how to edit, suspend, and cancel existing holds. For book clubs and reading groups, hold groups allow you to place holds for multiple patrons simultaneously.

If you’re new to Evergreen circulation, focus first on mastering patron basics and simple transactions. Start with searching for patrons and the patron record structure, then practice checking out and checking in items. Once comfortable with these fundamentals, learn the holds system and basic payment processing.

Most circulation work follows predictable patterns: processing the holds pull list, handling book drop returns with appropriate backdating, managing patron payments and billing issues, and responding to patron notifications and alerts.

Experienced staff can leverage advanced features like user buckets for batch patron updates, hold groups for community programs, and offline circulation for planned maintenance periods.