The State Library of Iowa asks libraries to purge patron accounts that have been expired for three years or longer –so long as they don’t have any fines or fees. JPL has not done this for the past ten years, so please expect to have more people come in telling you that they have a card but you don’t find them in the system. In these cases, you will just make them a new card.
On Sunday we purged accounts, but there was a minor issue. The accounts that were purged were accounts that had not been used to check out a physical item in three years or longer. This inadvertently deleted cardholders who have been renewing their cards and using digital resources like Libby. The issue has been corrected for future purges, but we will need to help these users who were deleted on accident Sunday get access. The users that were actively using Libby but deleted on accident will get a message from Libby saying “Please Verify Card.”
If a user comes to the library with their library card and the barcode does not pull up an account, it is easiest to make them a library card like you normally would with an application, etc., but reuse the card that they present. This will keep their barcode the same if they are Libby users.
If a user comes to the library to borrow materials and they do not have their old library card and their account isn’t in the system, you can make them a new library card. Just ask them if they used Libby and have any holds or current checkouts. If they say yes, please let them know that we will need their old library card number and we can merge their new account with their old account. If they don’t know their old card number, you can help them find it by opening the libby app, clicking on the three lines at the bottom of the screen, and clicking on manage cards. This will pull up their card number. Write down their name, old library card number, and new library card number on the patron needs attention form. We will merge their old accounts so they will be able to use Libby with their new card but keep current checkouts and not get displaced from the holds list. Otherwise, go ahead and make them a library card as usual.
*It is important that you get their old library card number if they do not want to lose their holds. We will need that to merge their accounts. *
If a user calls in saying that they can’t access Libby and you can’t find their information in our system, ask them to look for their library card number on Libby by opening the Libby app, clicking on the three lines at the bottom of the screen, and clicking on manage cards. Then you can make them a new library card (over the phone) using the information they provide. Then mail the new card to their address. You can also give the card number to them over the phone to help them get on Libby immediately. If they had holds or a current checkout, please write down their name, old library card number and new library card number on the patron needs attention form. We will merge their old accounts so they will be able to use Libby with their new card but keep current checkouts and not get displaced from the holds list.
*It is important that you get their old library card number if they do not want to lose their holds. We will need that to merge their accounts. *
*For cards you are recreating over the phone, please just put “will show ID when they visit the library” in the DL field.*
If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to ask an Assistant Librarian or Department Head. Thanks for your help.