With the continuation of COVID-19, many libraries are changing how they do checkouts to limit contact. 

Read about what some other libraries are doing:

• Creative Ways: Local library continues services despite pandemic
• Librarians, visitors adapt to new practices for checking out materials
• Pasadena Public Library Offers Curbside Pickup Service

Each library's new checkout process will look different depending on location and various capabilities. We encourage you to consider these questions as you create a plan that works for your library:

• How will patrons pick out books?
  • Holds, reservations, lists, limited browsing, etc. (See our recommendation...)

• How will patrons pick up their books?
  • Scheduled days and times, phone and email notifications, curbside pickup, one class at a time, etc.

• Will patrons be able to renew books?

• How will patrons drop off their books?
  • Scheduled days and times, quarantining items, labelled boxes and carts, etc.

Preferences

Once you have decided on your new process, the next step is to configure various preferences to meet your needs:

Policies

Patron Policies

• Other
  • Maximum Hold Requests
  • Days to Keep a Hold Request
  • Day to Keep an In-Stock Hold Request

Item Policies

• Check Out
  • Maximum Renewals for Item
  • Transaction Period
• Overdue
  • Fine Rate
  • Grace Period (to avoid fines while items are being quarantined after drop off)
  • Declare Lost When Overdue
• Other
  • Allow Hold Requests

Security

If needed, does your patron security group have access to manage holds, access Patron Status, and perform renewals?

Circulation

Do you want to allow renewals for items that have pending holds? If so, turn on the Allow Renewals When Holds Are Pending preference on the Circulation Rules tab.

Remote Checkout Procedure

After configuring your preferences, these. However, keep in mind that 

1. Teach your patrons how to use Researcher to search, place holds, check Patron Status, and more with our patron-facing training videos. 

2. Patrons will place holds through Researcher (Search, Explore, Scout, or Browse). 

   Teach your patrons!

   Print our How to Place a Hold reference sheet and hand out copies to patrons.

3. Librarians can then run regular hold reports to view currently available holds and gather the items. Schools may want to select or sort by grade or location to make things more manageable.
   1. On-Shelf Holds report: This includes items that are in the library on shelves. Once you bookdrop them, they will become in-stock holds.
   2. In-Stock Holds report: These items should have been recently bookdropped, when an item is checked in, and it has a pending hold, there will be a notice on the Circ screen letting them know. These items would be easiest to have set aside until the librarian is ready to run the In-Stock Holds report to check them out. 
1. Expired In-Stock Holds report: If a library wants to keep the holds in place, and wait to check them out, then they can also run the Expired In-Stock Holds report to see what on their shelf has expired or cancelled
4. Not a specific report but when bookdropping items (if its checked out or it has an on-shelf hold) that have a hold request they can print off the hold slip to place in the book to know who that item should go to
5. If patrons are expected to pick up their items, come up with a way to notify them when their holds are ready.
6. Check out the items to your patrons. Usually this can be done the way you normally check out, but here are some tips:
1. If you are a school library with a scanner, use the Patron Barcode Labels (3x10) report to create a binder of printed patron barcodes sorted by their locations or grade. That way, you can easily go class by class and scan patron barcodes into Circulation, then scan the item book for check out. 
2. Group patrons by location in Circulation by opening the Circulation > Location (HW) tab. Select each patron to make them current.
3. Since the holds reports show both patron and item barcodes, use those as a reference to make patrons and items current.
7. Deliver or have patrons pick up the checked out items. Run a Loaned Items Information report to know which items go to which patrons.
8. When it's time for patrons to return their items, follow the procedure you decided on. You could have the items sit in the return box for a few days before handling them to check-in. Or, you could check in the items and then set them aside for a period before returning them to the holds area or shelves.
   
   

Textbook Checkout Procedure

For textbooks, we recommend checking out the textbooks to your students and then running a Loaned Items Information report sorted by homeroom so the teacher knows which student gets which textbooks. You can also print a checkout receipt for each textbook or patron by using the D Circulation Command after checkout.

Hands-Free Self-Service

You can also set up Self-Service to offer hands-free checkouts. Use the /selfservicein and /selfserviceout URLs to avoid pressing the mode button, and remember to turn on the Disable Receipt/Email Receipt for Check Out preference in the Station Settings. 

As for the physical set-up, consider using the Hands-Free Laser Scanner

eBooks

Encourage the use of eBooks! 

• http://support.companioncorp.com/display/ALEX/eBooks
• http://support.companioncorp.com/display/ALEX/Cataloging+eBooks
• List our partners of ebook integrations.

TextbookTracker - Check out textbooks to patrons then give the loaned items report to their homeroom teacher to know which student gets what textbooks. The only issue I can see with this is that depending on how many textbooks one student has will probably get confusing to know what goes where. 

*The more I thought about using the patron barcode report the more I don't know if it would work. Mainly because not every student from the same homeroom will be getting the same books, and we don't have a way to separate them out by subject.

(Print checkout receipts then maybe?… use D command after checkout.)