Add New Patron Block Based On # of Items Claimed Returned
During the Circulation Forum at this week's IUG, a few libraries brought up their continued interest in going fine free, but also shared how they still faced challenges within their respective institutions from those who felt materials would not come back.
This is a realistic concern, especially for libraries that couple going fine free with the protracted loan periods made possible by autorenewals. It can sometimes be challenging to get customers to return things, so we appreciate the availability of patron blocks that will prevent checkouts, renewals, etc., but not penalize a customer financially, like the ability to suspend borrowing privileges based on the number of days overdue.
We'd love to see a new Patron Block added based on the number of items a customer has claimed returned. That number would be determined by the library, work in conjunction with the process of claiming an item returned, & be configurable via the Patron Blocks table, so when a customer hits x number of items claimed returned, they're block from borrowing until the items are found & checked in & the counter is reduced.
Shawn P. Farrell
shared this idea
-
Shawn P. Farrell
commented
This was functionality we had in a previous ILS, long before the fine free craze had captured the attention of so many. I would imagine, if introduced, it would be as optional/configurable as any other block.
When a library has a clearly communicated policy for items claimed returned & staff are trained to & actually do follow through with shelf checks, it can be as effective as any other block. At CHPL, in addition to immediate shelf checks when a customer claims an item returned, we run regular reports for staff to act on, that help minimize the number of items that have actually been returned. We also reset the counter annually for those with no active claims on their account.
-
Anna Pelepchuk
commented
I like this concept. However, I have found after working at three different public libraries, that there are many patrons impacted by the claim return process who have indeed returned the items they claimed to have returned. Another patron block does not address this issue. I'm thinking what would be more helpful if this idea came to fruition, would be the ability to manually remove claim returned items that were found at the library so a patron is not blocked simply based on the number of times they have claimed items were returned.