Loan Policy

Circulates?

Select if the policy requires an override when items are checked out.  Settings are as follows:

• This loan policy always allows for circulation: Override is not required.
• This loan policy only allows circulation with an override: Override is required.
• This loan policy never allows circulation: Staff will not have the option to override.

 Note:  See Circulation Account roles, Overrides for more information. 

Regular Loan Period

Specifies how long a patron may keep an item on loan after the item has been checked out.

• Loan Period can be restricted by the patron's expiration date, a fixed due date that falls during the loan period, a due date specified by an interlibrary loan system, a due date adjustment, or by a staff member during checkout.

• If a Renew Period is not specified the system will use the Loan Period to calculate the renewal period.
• Leaving Loan Period blank will result in an automated due date of 01/01/2099. 
• When the loan period is measured in days, weeks, or months, the due date will be set to the first day the library is open if the initially calculated due date would fall on a day your library is closed.
• Loan periods measured in weeks will be calculated in days (7 days for one week).
• Loan periods measured in months attempt to set due dates on the same date as the item was checked out.  For example, a one-month loan period where the item was checked out on January 27th will be due on February 27th.
  • If the loan period begins at the end of a particular month and the due date falls on a shorter month, the due date will move to the last day of the shorter month.
• When the loan period is measured in minutes or hours, use the Due Date Adjustment setting to determine the due date if the initially calculated due date would fall at a time your library is closed.
• Library hours are set on the Open Hours screen in the WorldCat registry section of the Service Configuration. The open hours of the item's holding location are used to set due dates. Branch hours are used when Branch Opening Hours Override Settings are enabled.
• See Check out for more information about changing loan status, renewing items, and check out exceptions.

Minimum Loan Period

Minimum guaranteed loan period. When an item is recalled, the recall due date will be adjusted so that the item is due after the minimum loan period.

• If automatic renewal fails, the Recall Period and Minimum Loan Period are used to calculate the item's new due date. 

Due Date Adjustment

Select an interval to make items due at or before the library's closing hours.

Due date adjustments are applied automatically at checkout and when an item is renewed by your library staff, the patron, or via automatic renewal. Overdue penalties and grace periods begin as soon as the item becomes due according to your policies.

 Notes: 

• Before choosing a due date adjustment, consider how changes in due dates and times might impact how overdue penalties or grace periods are calculated and when overdue notifications are sent to your patrons. Consider how your library checks in items that are returned while your library is closed.
• If your library uses periodic overdue bill structures or suspension structures, consider if patrons may be penalized more or less if, for example, your long loans were previously due at midnight but are now due at 8:00 pm or 2:00 am, respectively.
• The due date and time of items already on loan will not be adjusted based on any changes you may make to your loan policies. Instead, any new adjustments will be honored the next time an item is renewed or checked out under the updated policy.
  • If you would like to update your existing loans, consider using the bulk renewal client and enabling automatic due date receipt emails to ensure that your patrons are aware of their new due dates.
• Library hours are set on the Open Hours screen in the WorldCat registry module.

Short loans measured in minutes or hours have the following adjustment options:

Long loans measured in days, weeks, or months have the following adjustment options:

Include closed days in loan period?

Use the Include closed days in loan period? setting to control whether long loan periods measured in days or weeks should elapse only over periods that your library is open. By default, long loan periods will elapse over calendar days with automatic adjustments to ensure materials are not due on a day that you are closed. Your loan period must b e calculated in days or weeks for this option to appear.

• Select Yes (default) to continue calculating long loan periods over elapsed calendar days.
• Select No to calculate long long periods to only elapse over days when your library is open.

This setting will be applied automatically at checkout and when an item is renewed by your library staff, the patron, or automatic renewal. For open hours to be honored at renewal as well as checkout, the renewal period must also be measured in days or weeks. Refer to Open Hours to learn more about configuring normal and special hours.

 Note: The system will continue to automatically limit long loan periods. A limit may force a loan to be due when your library is closed. Any of these limits may force an item to be due on a day that your library is closed:

• The patron's expiration date
• A future fixed due date that is specified in your loan policy
• A due date specified by an interlibrary  loan system 
• A due date that is mandated by the offline client or a third-party service using the WMS SIP2 Service or NCIP APIs

The due date and time of items already on loan will not be adjusted based on any changes made to your loan policies. New adjustments will be honored the next time an item is renewed or checked out under the updated policy.

• To update your existing loans, refer to Bulk renew items to adjust due dates of a set of items already on loan. Also, use the automatic due date receipt emails to ensure that your patrons are aware of their new due dates. Refer to Additional Patron Notifications.

Fixed Due Dates

Set dates items are due at your institution. For example, the last date of the semester. (25 character limit)

• Fixed Due Dates are applied when an item is checked out or renewed.
• Fixed Due Dates should be configured well in advance on every applicable loan policy.  Configured dates can be removed when they have passed.  
• Renewals done by library staff or the patron will honor fixed due dates.  Automatic renewals do not honor fixed due dates.
• Fixed due dates have to be maintained on each loan policy.
• You can enter multiple fixed due dates.
• If a fixed due date has passed, it will no longer apply.
• As the check out date gets closer to the fixed due date, the loan period will shorten to reflect the fixed due date.

Loan Fixed Bill

Fixed amount applied to the patron's account when items are checked out. Create fixed bills on the Bill Structures screen.

• Setting a Loan Fixed Bill will prevent patrons from checking out items using a self-service machine.

Renew Period

Specifies the additional time that a patron may keep an item on loan after a successful renewal. This period is applied when a staff member or patron renews the item. 

• Renewals will not allow the new due date to fall when the library is closed.

• Renew Period can be a different value than Loan Period.
• If a Renew Period is not specified, the system will use the time set in Loan Period.
• Select if the Renew Period occurs after:
  • The renew transaction
    • Select this option if renewals should be calculated from the time of the renewal.  Time will only add to the loan period if the due date falls before the end of the renewal period.
  • The original due date
    • Select this option if renewals should be calculated from the item's current due date.  Time will always be added to the loan period when a renewal is successful.

Automatic Renewal

Click Yes to turn on automatic renewals. Staff or the patron can attempt to manually renew an item that is eligible for automatic renewal. Automation will resume the next time that the item is due.

• All items with this loan policy will be eligible for automatic renewal.
• Automatic renewal will fail if any of the following are true:
  • Patron account is expired, blocked, or suspended.
  • Patron account is in breach of policy.
  • Loan Limits have been exceeded, even if staff have previously acknowledged the policy exception.
  • Loan Policy specifies a Renew Fixed Bill (requires acknowledgment).
  • Item has been recalled.
  • Item is needed to fulfill a hold or item schedule.
  • Automatic Renewal Limit has been exceeded.
  • Automatic renewal has previously failed.
  • If a staff override is required for circulation.
• Automatic renewal will only apply to items once it is turned on, and the items are checked out or manually renewed. Items checked out before automatic renewal is turned on will need to be manually renewed or checked in and then checked back out for automatic renewal to apply.
• Generally, automatic renewals are processed at 07:00 (institution time) on the day that the item is due.
• It is recommended to set up an Overdue Grace Period for when items cannot be automatically renewed, so patrons have time to return the items without incurring fines.
• It is recommended to modify the Recall Notification Policies to explain that the item needs to be returned because it is needed by another patron or because automatic renewal is not allowed.
• If the loan count limit has been reached, automatic renewal will not occur.
• If the loan value has been reached, automatic renewal will not occur.
• If the auto limit renew time is set for longer than the loan limit renew time, the loan limit renew time will apply.
  • The number of automatic renewals is limited to the Automatic Renewal Limit.
  • The total number of renewals (automatic and manual) is limited by relevant Loan Limit Policies.
  • Automatic renewal will fail if either limit has been reached.
• Items are renewed if they are not needed to fulfill an outstanding hold request:
   

  Scenario	Is the item automatically renewed?
  There are no pending hold requests.	Ja
  There is a pending hold request but another item can fulfill the request.	Ja
  There is a pending hold request and no other items are available to fulfill the request. However, the item has not been on loan for the Minimum Loan Period.	Yes.
  There is a pending hold request and no other items are available to fulfill the request. The item has been on loan for the Minimum Loan Period.	No. The Recall Notification Policy is sent to the patron. The item's due date is adjusted per the Recall Period and Minimum Loan Period.
  There are multiple hold requests that cannot all be fulfilled by other available items. The item has been on loan for the Minimum Loan Period.	No. The Recall Notification Policy is sent to the patron. The item's due date is adjusted per the Recall Period and Minimum Loan Period.

Automatic Renewal Limit

The number of automatic renewals is limited to the Automatic Renewal limit. If you selected Yes in the Automatic Renewal field, enter the number of times items can be automatically renewed. If you do not want the field to apply, click the No Limit check box.

• The total number of renewals (automatic & manual) is limited by relevant Loan Limit Policies.
• Automatic renewal will fail if either limit has been reached.

Renew Fixed Bill

Fixed amount applied to the patron's account when items are renewed. Create fixed bills on the Bill Structures screen.

• Setting a Renew Fixed Bill will prevent automatic renewals and will block patrons from completing self-service renewals.

Regular Loan

Recalled Loan