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5.1. What are Patron Groups?
Last Updated 08/28/2025
Patron Groups
On This Page
Patron Groups are a library feature that allows patron accounts to be linked together for easier management. The Group Member Details page provides basic details about group members' accounts, including number of items out, number of items overdue, and balance owed. This page describes how to access group member details and basic actions that can be performed from the Group Member Details page.
Patron Group allow libraries to link related patron accounts together for easier management of those accounts, or to group a patron's main borrowing account to any external Internet accounts they may have.
Blocking penalties in Evergreen are based solely on individual accounts and cannot be established for grouped accounts.
Note: Most libraries only group one parent account with any accounts for children, since grouping adult accounts together can generate patron privacy issues. Staff should always be mindful of library policies regarding patron privacy and confidentiality.
What Grouping Does
- Link accounts together for easy access
- List number of overdue items and total fees owed for the group in lead account summary
- Provide an interface that lists all group members with the number of items they have checked out and overdue, and any fees owed per person
What Grouping Does NOT Do
- Allow parents/group leads to see a list of their children's checked out materials via the OPAC
- Alert group leads to newly overdue materials, holds ready for pickup, or new fines
- Block one group member for checking out items if another member is blocked
Group Member Details
Patron Groups are managed from within any of the group members' accounts. To access group member details:- Retrieve a patron account.
- Click the Other menu.
- Select Group Member Details.
- All group members will display in a list. The grid includes options todisplay the number of items out for each group member, the number of items overdue, and the balance owed ontheir accounts (if any).
Available Actions
In the Group Member Details Page, staff can perform the following actions by selecting members from the grid:
- Move Another Patron to This Group: Selecting this action allows staff to scan a barcode for an existing patron and add the to the group. If the newly scanned patron is currently part of another group, they will be removed from that group. You can find more details in this process in the page Grouping Existing patrons. (ADD LINK)
- Register a New Group Member by Cloning Selected Patron: Register a new patron and automatically add them to the group. You can find more details in this process in the page Grouping New Patrons.
- Remove Selected from Group: Remove a patron from this group. This action should always be performed when a patron has aged out of a juvenile profile.
- Move Selected Patrons to Another Patron's Group: If a different parent would like to take over as group lead, staff may move all the grouped juveniles to that patron's account. You can find more details in this process in the page Grouping Existing Patrons.
- Retrieve Selected Patrons: Staff may access grouped patrons' accounts easily by selecting this action from the Group Member Details page, rather than navigating back tot he patron search. Follow your library's guidelines and policies for sharing information about juvenile accounts with gaurdians.
When and Whom to Group
- 1 Guardian with 1 or more juvenile accounts
- A patron with a borrowing account and 1 or more internet accounts for different systems