Home → Item Cataloging and Holdings Management → Item Actions → Marking Items Lost
5.3. Marking Items Lost
Last Updated 01/08/2026
How to Mark Items Lost
On This Page
Marking items lost changes the item status, stops the accrual of fines, and bills the patron for the item. Items are automatically marked lost after a specific time-period as defined in the library's settings. Staff may also mark an item lost manually from the patron's account.
Once an item has been overdue for the amount of time established by your library system, Evergreen will mark the item Lost in the borrowing patron’s account automatically.
When the item is marked Lost, several actions will take place:
- The item will go into the status of “Lost”
- The accrual of overdue fines will be stopped
- The patron will be billed for the item based on library-wide settings and the item price
The Lost item is still "checked out" to the patron and that circulation transaction remains open until the item is returned or the bill for the item is paid.
Optionally the patron can be billed for the item price, a lost processing fee, and any overdue fines can be voided from the account. Lost items can be included either in the "Items Checked Out" or "Other/Special Circulations" sections of the "Items Out" view of a patron’s record. These options are all controlled by library settings. Patrons can also be sent an email or print notification that the item was marked lost and billed to their library account.
Mark Items Lost Manually from the Patron Account
If a patron informs you that an item was lost prior to the date when Evergreen would automatically mark it lost, you can manually adjust the status and trigger the relevant bills.
- Retrieve patron record and click Items Out.
- Check the box to the left of the item to select it.
- Select Mark Lost (by Patron) from the Actions menu.
- The lost item now displays as lost in the Other/Special Circulations section of the patron record.
- The lost item also adds to the count of Lost items in the patron summary on the left (or top) of the screen.