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4.5. Barring and Blocking Patron Accounts

Last Updated 08/28/2025

While Evergreen has built-in thresholds that may temporarily block a patron from checking out materials when they have reached a maximum number of items checked out, or exceeded a total amount due in fines, sometimes staff may find it necesarry to manually block a patron for actions or situations outside of circulation functions. The parameters for making this decision are based on your library's local policies. Regardless of the reason for the block, staff may use one of the following functions to enact it in Evergreen.

Barred vs. Blocked

Barred: Stops patrons from using their library cards and alerts the staff that the patron is banned from the library. The “check-out” functionality is disabled for barred patrons with no option to override.  These patrons may still log in to the OPAC to view their accounts.

Blocked: Whether set manually or as the result of circulation-related activity, a blocked account stops patrons from using their library cards and alerts staff that they are unable to checkout materials until the block has been cleared. In many cases, staff with higher permission levels may override a block to allow checkouts. These patrons may still log in to the OPAC to view their accounts.

Blocking a Patron (Manually)

Any blocks related to circulation ativites, such as exceeding max fines or checkouts, will be applied automatically and removed as soon as materials are turned in or fines are paid. To add a manual block for a non-circulation-related reason:

1. In the patron's account, navigate to the Notes tab.
2. Click the Create Note button.
   
3. Select Alerting Block on Circ, Hold and Renew from the Penalty Type drop-down menu.
   
4. Select which libraries this block should apply to: Branch for a single physical location within your system; System for all locations within your system; Everywhere for all NC Cardinal libraries in the Consortium.
5. Add a title and text to the note explaining the reason for the block and the actions needed to remove the block.
6. Add your initials to the bottom left text field.
7. Click OK.

If a patron attempts to checkout an item while manually blocked, they will trigger an exception with an error type of STAFF_CHR. Staff with Circulation Lead permissions or higher may override the block to allow the checkout.

When the criteria for removing the block has been achieved, staff may Remove or Archive the blocking alert to allow circulation to resume normally. See the section on Staff Generated Notes and Alerts (ADD A LINK ONCE PAGE IS CREATED) for more details on removing and archiving notes. 

Barring a Patron

A patron may be barred from circulation activities as determined by your library leadership. This action requires Circulation Lead permissions.

1. Navigate to the Edit tab in the patron account.
2. Check the box for Barred.
   
   
3. Click Save at the top of the page.
4. It is recommended, but not necesarry, to add an alert explaining the barring to the account.

When staff navigate to the patron's account, they will see an alert message indicating that the account is BARRED.

To unbar a patron, simply uncheck the box in their account and click Save.

Note: Barring a patron from one library bars that patron from all consortium member libraries.