Circulation Forum Minutes - August 2014

Date:  August 6th, 2014
Time:  1:30 - 4:00pm
Location:  Midwest City Library

Present – Julie Ballou (DN), Cheryl Mann (CC), Denise Ryan (BUS), Kevin Sendall (LO), Jennifer Adkisson (NW), Van Bielstein (VI), Kevin Cook (NW), Deborah Montgomery (SO), Vickie Ross (ED), Warren Anderson (RE), Debbie Robertus (BI), Sheila Fixel (DC), Mariah Box (MC), Jaime Hackworth (MC), Crystal Easley (DC), Jessica Morris (DN), Brittany Schein (BE), Jonathan Tolle (CH), Jerry O’Hare (BE), Nathan Clymer (AL)

Guests – Kay Bauman (LO), Stacy Schrank (PLA)

Meeting was called to order at 1:30pm.

Welcome

Julie welcomed attendees and reminded everyone that it is important to share Circulation Forum information with their coworkers.

Carl-X Customer Conversation Topics

The many upcoming changes will prompt questions and conversations with customers. We should try to put ourselves in their shoes and understand the changes from the customer’s point of view.  The group discussed some of the possible customer questions or concerns:

Why did we make the change?

Response: Many of the changes are things we have heard them asking for.  Tell them that we have been listening to what customers have been asking for.  Some of the things customers will be excited about will be:

• They will have the ability to “suspend holds” to get items in a particular order, spread them over time, or hold for vacations. They will continue to move up the list and stay at the top when they reach that point and their hold is activated when the suspend period is over.
• Immediately after check out, customers can renew items with no other holds for the full 6 weeks. Each renewal extends 2 weeks to the due date. This may be helpful for customers who are going out of town.
  
  • The down side to this is that customers will not be able to renew items to have them all due on the same date.
• Searching in the TLC catalog will easily show which items are available at that location.

Why are we asking for additional information such as birth date, gender, and email?

Response: Explain to customers that additional information helps to keep their identity safe and makes it unlikely that their account could be confused with anyone else’s account.Email will be the standard option for Coming Due notices.

What are the differences in the Hold notifications?

What we should know:Customers who choose USPS mail will receive 1^st class mail Hold notifications. It is cost effective for us to send notifications via email or text.

Response: For email hold notifications the notification goes out overnight and for text hold notifications the texts go out within 30 minutes.There are no longer any email confirmation responses and no USPS mail follow-ups to emails.

Why is an item listed as lost when the customer know they still have it at home?

Response: Items that are 60 days overdue automatically become “Lost” and create a block on the customer’s account.

Why is an item still on the customer’s account when they returned it?

What we should know: Items that are returned damaged should be left on the customer’s account. The damaged letter should be sent (the form will be updated to reflect Carl-X changes to the process).By leaving it on the customer’s account they are still able to use their card. After 60 days the item will go “Lost” and block their card until it is paid.

Response:Check to see if the item could be on the damaged shelf and if a letter was sent. Explain to the customer that leaving it on their account keeps it from blocking their card. Offer to assist the customer in resolving the problem whenever they would like to do that.

Why does the receipt only show the items that were checked out most recently?

Response: The receipts will be customizable and will not contain all information.A more detailed receipt can be printed when a customer requests it.

Why is a customer’s account blocked due to fines?

Response: There is a threshold ($25.00) that is based on the total amount of the fines rather than how long the fines have been on the account.

Why is a customer blocked from placing a hold on a particular item?

Response: Check and see if they already have that item checked out.If it is already charged to their account it cannot be placed on hold.

Why was an online library card application not accepted?  

What we should know:If the online account application was not accepted it may be because the approval for the online application keys off of the zip code entered. It must be a valid zip code for Oklahoma City or Oklahoma County.

Response:Investigate whether they live in OKC or OK County and if not offer option for annual fee card.

Why did a customer’s library account suddenly stop working?

What we should know: An online library application will create an account that will work for 2 weeks.The customer must visit a library to finalize the process.

Response: If a customer’s account has stopped working, check to see if they have finalized their online card application.If not, help them complete the process.

In future we will have one physical card for all the different card types. 

Response:Explain that although the physical cards are the same, there are still different types of accounts.

The “Grow Up” feature may prompt questions as to how we know and why we need the updated information. 

Response: Explain that the student card gives responsibility to the parent and also allows the parent to view and use the student card.

The default library is not set to a customer’s preferred location.

Response: Staff can set the default library for customers through Carl-X.Also, it is important for staff to be proactive and ask customers “where would you like your hold items to be sent?” when they are entering information for a new account.

Customers could lose account privileges if they have 3 Claim Incidents (Claims Returned or Claims Never Had).  They must understand the consequences of this feature before it is applied to their account.

Response:When a customer requests a temporary or permanent tracer as they were used in V-Circ, or if they simply report that an item on their account was returned or that they never had it try to avoid using a Claim incident:

• Always check the shelf and backroom at your location.
• If another library owns or could have been the point of return for the item, always call and ask for a shelf check. 
• Encourage the customer to wait a little longer if the item has not reached Lost status and they can still use their account. 
• Explain to them the consequences of having 3 Claim Incidents on their Account to be sure they understand that they will lost their account privileges until the first incident is no longer within the last 12 months.

Carl-X Holds

MLS is the only library system that uses stick on labels for their holds.  That is why the word used in Carl-X is receipt instead of label.

Hold labels can only be printed from the computer attached to the label printer.

Instead of printing the reserve labels there will be a daily pick list.  The items on the list will be located, checked in and then the option to print the label will pop up.  It is the same concept, just a different workflow. 

Summer Reading Feedback

Attendees reported that they felt that the online summer reading program went very smoothly.  They regretted the loss of personal interaction with customers. They reported that quite a few customers did not need the fine waivers.