Subcommittee Recommendations for New Profile: Institution

Subcommittee Recommendations for New Profile: Institution

Subcommittee Recommendations for New Profile: Institution

(This is an excerpt from a document presented at the May 2014 PINES Executive Committee Meeting.)

An Institution profile may be issued to institutions with a regular daily population or a population that is housed long term. Examples include school media centers, day care centers, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, or jails.

Cards should not be issued to users outside a library’s service area. The name on the card should be the name of the primary representative of the organization (ie, Director or Manager). This person must sign the application form to confirm that the institution will take responsibility for any fines and fees. The name of the institution and the names of any individuals allowed to check out items to the card should be listed in the account's Alert field.

  • Each Library System's Director shall determine which of their staff members are permitted to create user accounts with the Insitutional profile. The Director may also choose not to allow any Institution profile accounts for their Library System.
  • Each library system shall determine whether Institution cards are kept at the library or kept by the institution.

Do you agree with the above proposed definition and policies? / Responses / Percentage
Yes / 36 / 84%
No / 2 / 5%
Other / 5 / 12%

Other:

  • Would prefer no Institution cards
  • I really think the name on the account should be the institution and not the manager. There is a lot of staff turnover in some institutions.
  • I have the same concerns here about extended due dates an responsibility for lost/damaged materials for items borrowed from libraries outside the home library system.
  • Cards should be kept by the institution. The primary representative for the organization should have the responsibility of who is using the card. Library staff may not know if someone no longer works there or is no longer allowed to check out for the institution.
  • I am still not sure how the institutional works PINES wide. If my system does not do institutional profiles but other system does, do they get to borrow any books from PINES or just their system's holdings?

How long should an Institution account be valid before expiring? / Responses / Percentage
Two years / 25 / 60%
One year / 12 / 29%
Other / 5 / 12%

Other:

  • one year unless the institution changes directorship
  • 1 year or less; an institutional card for a school should expire at the end of July so that it must be renewed each year by the Director/Principal.
  • A year seems like it might work, but a 6 month renewal might be better---we have recently had a situation where the director of the institution had been replaced, within the time frame of their 2 year card agreement, and the new director refused to pay for lost/overdue materials on their account because they were not the "representative" at the time the card application was filled out. There should maybe be something added to the agreement that states regardless of change in card "representative" at time of application/agreement the institution is still liable for any charges billed to the account.
  • 3 - 5 years, otherwise too cumbersome for outreach to keep up
  • This depends on who it is impacting- just that system or all of PINES

How many simultaneous checkouts should an Institution user be allowed? / Responses / Percentage
Unlimited / 7 / 17%
200 / 2 / 5%
100 / 9 / 21%
50 / 19 / 45%
Other / 5 / 12%

Other:

  • one per student, client, etc.
  • 200 sounds reasonable, but the size of the institution will determine the number of cko's and needs. For example we deliver to individual schools who is the institution, but the requests are from individual teachers.
  • determined by system director to allow for adjustment for various sized collections
  • 50 with the ability to use an override
  • Who does this impact? Just that the system that chooses this option or all of PINES?

What is the preferred circulation period? / Responses / Percentage
14 days with 2 renewals / 10 / 24%
30 days with 1 renewal / 28 / 67%
60 days with 0 renewals / 1 / 2%
Other / 3 / 7%

Other:

  • 30 days with no renewals
  • 30 days with 0 renewals
  • Again, who is it impacting? We are seeing a lot of PINES holds on kids and YA materials disappear for months at a time because it keeps coming up for renewal at the library who borrowed it.

Should Institution users be charged overdue fines? / Responses / Percentage
Yes / 15 / 36%
No / 27 / 64%
Should Institution users be charged for lost, damaged, and long overdue items? / Responses / Percentage
Yes / 39 / 93%
No / 3 / 7%
How many simultaneous holds should an Institution user be allowed? / Responses / Percentage
50 / 22 / 52%
15 / 18 / 43%
Other / 2 / 5%

Other:

  • I do not believe they should be allowed holds outside the home lirbary system
  • Are these PINES wide? If not, 50.

Implementation:

Responsibilities

Each library system will need to review their current list of Outreach users and determine which of the new profiles to change them to (or, if they should be switched to a normal patron profile).

Timing

Options / Responses / Percentage
Allow users that are currently using the Outreach profile to continue with it until their cards expire. After the card expires, inform the user of the rule changes and change the account profile. / 15 / 35%
Inform all Outreach users of the rule changes and change the account profiles on a specific date. / 28 / 65%

Date

The group did not discuss a date to make this change.

December 2014 PINES Executive Committee Meeting - page1