Behind the Stacks

Tips and Tricks for your Library Account

WE KNOW FROM THE MASSIVE amount of library materials traveling through our Central Library hub every day that a lot of our customers like to place holds. It’s great to just type something into a search box and have your items pop up a few days later. But sometimes things happen and holds don’t get picked up. Maybe your pet lizard escaped, or you had to make an unscheduled trip to Vegas where shenanigans ensued ... really, all kinds of real-life woes can get in the way of your reading. Wouldn’t it be great to have some more control over your online library Evergreen account? Actually, there are a lot of tools in your account to manage your reading life:

> Choose notification preferences

(Text and email are best), including having your checkout receipts emailed to you instead of printed out. This is perfect if your dog keeps eating all of your receipts, or if you just want to save some paper.

> Turn on your checkout and hold history so you can start keeping track of what you’ve read, watched or listened to.

By default, your history is set to “off” in your account, but you can switch it on and start keeping track of your holds and checkouts going forward. “Did I read the 86th book in that sweeping historical fantasy series?” Turn on your checkout history, so that when your future self asks that question, your future self will have the answer.

> Make lists to share with other people — like your magic realism flash fiction book club.

There’s not a lot of members, but they sure are enthusiastic, so why not send them an email directly from the library catalog with a book suggestion?

> If you need more time, you can renew your materials.

If you’re having trouble doing so, there are a few possible reasons. Someone else may be waiting for that item, in which case it can’t be renewed. The item may not allow renewals, or may have run out of renewals (you get a total of four renewals on most books, which is enough to last you three months!). If you have more than 15 overdue items, they can’t be renewed. And if you have library fees, those need to be taken care of before anything can be renewed. Remember, we don’t charge late fines, so if you do have fees on your library account, there might be an issue with a damaged item or missing piece. If you have questions, contact your local branch and our library sleuths will get to the bottom of it.

> Suspend your holds

This is perfect if you’re going out of town, or if you just have too much going on to get to all of your books right now. If you choose to suspend some or all of your holds, you can decide what day you’d like them to activate again. The system holds your place in line, and if your turn comes on a waiting list, that item will go to the next person while you stay put. You can suspend holds for as long as you want, and it helps when you have a pile of stuff you want to read.

As always, feel free to contact staff at your local branch if you need assistance with your Evergreen account — being in control of your reading life is the best, and we’re here to help. I| S

— JAMIE STROBLE, audiovisual librarian