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 

Informing Patrons

Tell your patrons about the library's new policies and procedures. You'll want to make sure they know how to use Researcher to search, place holds (through Search, Explore, Scout, or Browse), check Patron Status, renew items, and more. If they need  with our patron-facing training videos.

To send out a mass email with this information, use the Send Email report.

Reports and Notices

As patrons begin placing holds through Researcher, 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.

• On-Shelf Holds report: This includes items that are in the library on shelves. Run this report to get a list of items you need to retrieve. Once bookdropped, they will become in-stock holds.

• 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. If an item is checked in and has a pending hold, you'll be notified in Circulation that it's now an in-stock hold. Put those aside until you're ready to check them out.

• Expired In-Stock Holds report: If your library wants to keep holds in place and wait to check them out, run this report to see what has expired or been cancelled.

Set up the In-Stock Hold Notice report in the Email format . You can customize the message with any instructions patrons may need (pickup times, how to set up appointments, etc).

Checkout

Once it's time for delivery or pickup, check out the items to your patrons. Usually this can be done the way you normally check out, but here are some tips:

• 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 a patron barcode into Circulation before scanning the item for check out. 

• Group patrons by location in Circulation by opening the Circulation > Location (HW) tab. Select each patron to make them current.

• Since the holds reports show both patron and item barcodes, use those as a reference to make patrons and items current.

Delivery/Pickup

Deliver or have patrons pick up the checked out items. To know which items go to which patrons, run a Loaned Items Information report or use the printed transaction slips.

Returns

When it's time for patrons to return their items, follow the procedure your library has 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 teachers can properly distribute the textbooks and know who gets what. You can also print a checkout receipt for each textbook or patron by using the D Circulation Command after checkout, which will indicate who gets that textbook or stack of textbooks.

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 setting in the Station Settings. 

As for scanning, consider setting up the Hands-Free Laser Scanner so that patrons and librarians can scan barcodes by simply hovering them under the scanner. 

eBooks

Of course, we recommend utilizing eBooks in your library and school as much as possible.

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.)