1.2. Hold Policies

Last Updated 03/12/2026

How Hold Policies Work

On This Page

Before issuing a library card to someone, staff at every NC Cardinal library must search Evergreen for patrons with matching name and other identifiers. To search for a patron, select Search for Patrons from the Search menu in the menu bar.

Hold Policies are a set of integrated settings that control how holds are managed, targeted, and fulfilled. They are not applied directly to items, but insead utilize data about the patron, library, and record that work together to determine:

If a hold can be placed
What items may be targeted to fulfil a hold request

Libraries may have muliple policie that affect their items and patrons differently, based on how various factors interact. The main factors considered are:

Library data
Copy data
Patron data

Library data

The attributes of libraries, both as actual entities circulating materials and as conceptual organizational units in a hierarchical structure, play a large role in determining which items fill holds, where requested items can be retrieved from, and how quickly requests are filled.

User Home Library: The home library identified in the user's record.
Request Library: The library where the request was placed.
Pickup Library: Where a hold item is to be retrieved.
Item Circ Library: The library where a copy is shelved.
Owning Library: The library that owns the item.

These org units may interact in various ways to influence the circ policy. Most policies in NC Cardinal are set up to favor the Owning Library and Pickup Library as the main org unit facctors affecting holds.

Copy data

When you modify the attributes of a copy in the Copy Editor, those attributes can influence hold fulfillment as follows:

Circulation Modifier: Circulation modifiers can control hold policies on specific groups of items.
Holdable? flag: The Holdable? flag, if set to False, prevents that particular item from filling a hold.
Reference? flag: The Reference? flag, if set to True, can affect hold eligibility.
Copy age hold protection rule: This rule generally applies to new materials copy records, and limits where holds can be picked up for a set period of time. You can only apply copy age hold protection rules to individual copies.

Note: Although not a specific element of a hold policy, Shelving Locations may be set as non-holdable, which prevents all items within that location from filling holds.

Patron Data

The only piece of patron data, besides the home library, that may influence the selection and effect of a hold policy is the Profile Permission Group. Most Hold Policies in NC Cardinal apply broadly to all users, regardless of their profile. However, some policies are set up to block holds for patrons in certain permission groups, such as Juvenile.

Finding Your Library's Hold Policies

Administrators can check their library's hold policies by clicking on the Hold Policies link on the Local Admin splash page. However, the grid for these policies can be difficult to parse. If you would like to take a closer look at your library's policies, submit a help ticket. Someone from the NC Cardinal team will provide you with your policies and answer any questions you have.

Knowledge Tags

This page was: Helpful | Not Helpful