Overview

Most libraries import and remove patron records once a year. Depending on how you manage your patrons, there are different steps to ensuring your patron database is properly kept clean and up-to-date.

SIS

If you use GG4L, Clever, or SIF to update patron data in Alexandria, here are the steps you should go through each year.

1. Change patron locations (SIF only)

2. Update records

Enable your SIS integration in Alexandria and sync your new patron data. 

• Enable GG4L
• Enable Clever
• SIF Management
  
  

3. Change patron policies

4. Remove patrons

Confirm patrons to be removed

Remove gone and transferred patrons

Manual Import or FTP

Here are the steps to follow if your library updates patron data through a text file in a tab-delimited file format; most word-processing and spreadsheet applications support files in tab-delimited format. In most cases, patron data is readily available in a machine-readable format from your school’s front or district office.

1. Change patron locations

2. Run the import

Either set up and run a Quick Patron Import or Saved Patron Import (FTP). For FTP imports, you could either set up a daily schedule and wait for it to run the following day, or run the import to make sure it's set up correctly and then set the schedule to run daily.

Quick Patron Import

3. Change patron policies

4. Remove patrons

Confirm patrons to be removed

Remove gone and transferred patrons

Manual Entry

Some libraries, such as small schools and public libraries, update their patron records manually in Patrons Management. Exact procedures for users in this group will vary depending on your library type, but here are some general steps that may be helpful. Contact Customer Support if you need assistance figuring out the best procedure for your library.

If you have a school library, advance patron grade levels all at once. Some libraries do it at the end of the year, and others do it at the beginning of the year. Either way is fine, just don't skip it.

There are two ways to advance your patron grade levels for the next year. Advance All Grades in Patron Preferences is the easiest option, but the Advance Patron Grade utility allows you to advance a more select group of patrons. Patrons who advance past the final grade in the grade table are assigned the value for Last Grade, which is usually "Graduated". You may only need to do this step if you want to keep track of graduated students. Otherwise, your import will update grade information.

Advance All Grades

Advance all of your patrons to the next grade level at the same time.

1. Go to Tools > Preferences > Patrons.
2. Open the Grade Table tab.
3. Double-check the grade table and the Last Grade field for accuracy.
4. Check the Advance Grade After date, and change it if necessary. This is usually the graduation date or the last day of school.
5. Click Advance All Grades.
   
   

Advance Patron Grade utility

Need to be more precise about which patrons to advance? Select patrons by one or more options, including status, security group, policy, homeroom, grade, last name, and barcode.

1. Go to Tools > Utilities.
2. Select Patrons > General category on the left.
3. Choose the Advance Patron Grade utility on the right.
4. In the Selections tab, enter the criteria needed to select the patrons you intend to update.
5. Click Run.
   
   

2. Add new patrons

Go into Patrons Management and add new patron records.

3. Change patron policies

4. Remove patrons

You can either remove patrons in Patrons Management manually or use utilities to remove multiple patrons at once. If you decide to go with utilities, public libraries may want to remove patrons by card expiration dates, and school libraries may want to remove patrons who are graduated.

Confirm patrons to be removed

If you plan on removing patrons who are graduated, run a report before removing those patrons to see who will be included. This will ensure you won't accidentally remove anyone who isn't supposed to be removed.

1. Go to Tools > Reports.
2. Select the Patrons > Information category.
3. Choose the Patron Information report on the right.
4. On the Selections tab, choose the criteria for the patrons you want to remove.
   1. Patrons in Grade: Graduated (if you are a school library)
5. Click Run.
6. Download the report PDF from  Operations Management.
7. Check for any patrons who shouldn't be removed (staff, teachers, etc). If you find any, you'll need to modify their grade.
8. After making any necessary modifications, run this report again and get an updated list.
9. Once your list is acceptable, move on to removing patrons.

Remove patrons by card expiration dates

Run the Remove Patrons utility to remove those with cards that have expired.

1. Go to Tools > Utilities.
2. Select the Patrons > General category on the left.
3. Choose the Remove Patrons utility on the right.
4. In the Selections tab, choose the criteria for the patrons whose records should be removed.
   1. Patrons with Cards Expiring On: Enter a date range.
5. In the Options tab, choose if you want to remove patrons matching your criteria who still have items checked out or outstanding financial items. (Optional)
6. Run the utility.

And that's it! You may need to run this utility a few times, depending on your selection criteria.