...And Another Thing

Something that's a continual issue, circulation-wise, is the Customer Who's Using Someone Else's Card: we've had the policy for, what? HOW many years? You must have your own card to check out. Every day, though, there are multiple transactions involving cards-not-belonging-to-the-person-standing-in-front-of-the-computer. Last night we had two happen simultaneously: my colleague had an elderly lady attempting to pick up, with her son's card, her son's holds, and swore she's been doing it for years. At my computer, I had a grand-daughter returning (my pet peeve. I know, I know: I should get over this already but it does drive me nuts. I do NOT like being handed returns! Put them in the bins! Put them on the counter! Put them anywhere but DON'T HAND THEM TO ME IN THE CHECK-OUT LINE!) and checking out books for her grandmother with her grandmother's card. Claimed she'd been doing so for years. Hmmm. She- of course- could very well have been doing so (you'd scan her card, see a woman's name on the account...what logical reason would you have for doubting it was her?) but it is nonetheless not permitted as per our policy. I told her about Pelican Post, suggested her grandmother reserve holds to her granddaughter's card, suggested her granddaughter merely pick up books (none of them she wanted to check out was a hold) and use her own card (she said she had one in her own name) AND threw out the possibility of a family card if she resides with Grandma (no) but wouldn't do what she wanted me to, which was use her grandmother's card for her grandmother's books. She left with no books and is no doubt still angry about the "service" she received.

I don't doubt that a lot of transactions slip by us that involve check-outs not to the cardholder: it can get rather busy behind the counter, and you have to be continually on your toes. This issue expands to include renewals: we are to renew only for the cardholder, which can involve speaking to a three-year-old sometimes, and exasperation pretty much ALL the time. Someone has gone back to college and her mother wants to renew her books for her. Someone is traveling and his son wants to renew Dad's DVDs while he's in Antigua. We (well, not "we," as the customer is the person ultimately responsible for items he has taken out) run into another problem here as well: the item that cannot be renewed but is at someone's home merrily racking up a fine while the cardholder is in Tibet. THAT person is all but guaranteed to refuse to see his late fee as HIS responsibility.

Being consistent is the answer, but then there's the problem of using multiple libraries, many of which may very well have different policies. Why, then, wouldn't the customer assume it was his responsibility to know the differing rules? ILLs opens up a new arena for confusion: fines differ; circulation times and rules differ, and it's impossible to know every one of the different policies. The best we can do is say, "This item is from Madison PL and is due on ________; it may be possible to renew, but don't wait until the last minute, as there is no guarantee that this item can be renewed." Last night a very nice lady called up and needed a book right away, but we don't own a copy. I couldn't tell her anything about when her book would come in through ILL (impossible. Even a ballpark figure is pure conjecture, and I'd like to get hold of the person who assures customers that "it takes about a week") and she stopped being a very nice lady at that point. I hate having to deal with the exasperated customer who's been waiting for his hold to come in forever: I can certainly understand- there's stuff I'm waiting for right now that I placed holds on LAST APRIL- but can't adequately explain the many, many factors that go into making the ILL process work. It's a pretty complicated procedure. That said: I'd like to see my boxed set of "My So-Called Life" before I'm too old to enjoy it.