Discussion/Action Items
November 2008
AI1. Proposal to establish “Payment Plan” patron profile
Library systems using a collection agency and payment plans can temporarily change the patron profile to “Payment Plan” for individuals making payments on fees. The library system can notify the collection agency not to pull patrons with this profile for collections.The patron profile would be changed to the original after full payment of the fee. The profile definition/rules will mirror the current “Patron” profile rules. Reports can be run on the profile to gather various information, including number of individuals in a payment plan and last payment date. I have verified that this will work for Unique Management Services, Inc.
Subcommittee Recommendation:
19 Yes
0 No
AI2. Patron Inactivity
Under Current PINES policy, users are purged three (3) years after the last use of a PINES library card, if the card has not been blocked.
PINES staff recommends modification of the policy as follows:
- In the past, PINES considered “inactive” to mean that a patron’s card was permanently deleted if a patron had no items currently out and there were no bills on the patron’s account with no activity such as circulations, renewals, check-ins, payment of bills, or placement of holds for 3 or more years.
However, these days, a patron may be an active user of the following services which are unrelated to circulation (and yet tied to the user’s library card): library computers (unless “circulated”), in-library wifi access, e-books, audiobook downloads, or Galileo databases (whether or not authenticated through the OPAC). Even logging into a user account in Evergreen is not a “circulation” action. In many libraries “activity” is a far more complex picture than checking out a book, and disabling patron access to non-circulation services without good reason could have a negative effect on customer service.We recommend that “activity” be defined to include the actions listed above, and that any of these should serve to keep a PINES card “active.”
- Deleting/purging patron records. We at PINES strongly recommend against this, as patron history can become useful when patrons move back to a community—either because former patrons feel welcomed by the library, or because it alerts the library to the reappearance of problem users. Also, inactivating patrons accomplishes everything a deletion can accomplish without loss of community history. Finally, with deletions, we lose all statistical information associated with those accounts—data which could be invaluable for a library bond election or other local governance issue. Since Evergreen offers the flexibility to set cards to an inactive status as an alternative to deleting the record entirely, we recommend that PINES policy be modified to state that PINES cards will be set to “inactive” after three years of non-use.
Subcommittee Recommendation:
Issue 1: 9 Yes and 0 No; Issue 2: 9 Yes and 0 No
New Issue of ability to delete individual patron records (such as deceased) – 6 comments in favor
AI3. Proposal to not charge out of state patrons in Barbour County, AL
Quitman County is a new PINES member library added to the Kinchafoonee Regional Library System last summer. Previously, Quitman belonged to the Chattahoochee Valley Libraries, which maintained a reciprocal borrowing agreement with an adjacent county in Alabama.
Proposal 1:
Update current PINES circulation policy to allow for out of state patrons residing in Barbour County, AL to obtain a PINES card at no charge, waiving the $25 out-of-state fee.
“Quitman has long had ties to Barbour County, Alabama. Yesterday at the KRLS board meeting, there was surprising resistance to the idea of charging Alabama residents for cards.
We know about exceptions in the PINES policy for work or school or property ownership, but can there be any exception if an adjacent county from outside of Georgia offers free library services to Georgia residents?”
Proposal 2:
If PINES does not wish to allow the library to continue their current practice, could the library have a one-year grace period to allow the current Alabama cards to expire?
Subcommittee Recommendation:
Proposal 1: 2 Yes; 19 No
Proposal 2: 11 Yes; 10 No
Please forward this to the Executive Committee. Thank you.
My concern is not just with Barbour County, but also Henry County, AL. People who live quite near Fort Gaines use that library because it is much closer than Abbeville. They come to Fort Gaines to buy groceries at Rubo's which is literally across the street from the library.
The Quitman County folks want to be nice to Barbour County as most of the employed Quitman County residents work in Alabama! On the other hand, Jean points out that real money is being spent in Georgia by Alabama residents who come to Fort Gaines.
Jean and I wondered if there could be a special card that would NOT allow PINES holds, but would allow access to the local collection. Both county library boards want a relationship with Alabama residents. Jean, the Quitman board chair and I think that a card that cannot place holds atall would be a reasonable compromise. This would assure that no burden is placed on PINES, but it would allow friendly relations to continue in border counties. I think that this should be allowed in ALL border counties as it places no added burden on PINES. I hope that the PINES Executive Committee will give favorable consideration to this idea.
Norris
Norris Wootton, Director
Kinchafoonee Regional Library
913 Forrester Drive SE
Dawson, Georgia 39842-2106
229-995-6331 FAX 229-995-3383
Nominations for Acquisitions Subcommittee
Janet Boudet
Associate Director
Roddenbery Memorial Library
Nominated by Alan Kaye
Carolyn Fuller
Library Director
Henry County Library
Nominated by Carolyn Fuller
Peggy King
Business Manager
Chestatee Regional Library System
Nominated Claudia Gibson
Jessica Kuhr
Public Services Librarian
Fayette County Public Library
Flint River Regional Library
Nominated by Christeen Snell
Russell Liner
Non-Fiction Acquisitions Librarian
East Central Georgia Regional Library
Nominated by Gary Swint
Natalie Marshall
Acquisitions and Collection Development
Flint River Regional Library
Nominated by Walter Murphy
Leslie Partridge
Librarian
Lee County Library
Nominated by Claire Leavy
Leslie St. John
Assistant Director
Newton County Library System
Nominated by Greg Heid
Ceil Smith
Acquisitions, Training and Web Development Librarian
Three Rivers Regional Library System
Nominated by Joe Shinnick
Kim Spencer
Accounting
Lee County Library
Nominated by Claire Leavy
Tamela Thomas
Acquisitions Librarian
Uncle Remus Regional Library System
Nominated by Jeff Tomlinson
Elizabeth White
Business Manager
Oconee Regional Library
Nominated by Leard Daughety