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3.2. Circulation Policies

Last Updated 11/09/2023

What are Circulation Policies?

Circulation policies pull together user, library, and item data to determine how library materials circulate, such as: which patrons, from what libraries, can borrow what types of materials, for how long, and with what overdue fines.

Individual elements of the circulation policies are configured by the NC Cardinal team using specific interfaces and will be configured prior to setting up the circulation policies.

Data elements that affect your circulation policies

There are a few data elements which must be considered when setting up your circulation policies. These include:

Item Data
Shelving Locations
User Data

Item data

Several fields set via the item editor are commonly used to affect the circulation of an item.

Circulation modifier

Circulation modifiers are fields used to control circulation policies on specific groups of items. They can be added to items during the cataloging process. NC Cardinal has an established list of Circulation Modifiers to be used by consortium libraries.

The Circulation Modifier can be set from a drop down menu. It is the second option in the third column of the Item Editor page.

Circulate flag

The Circulate Flag in the holdings editor can be set to False to disallow an item from circulating.

The Circulate flag can be set via a Yes or No radio button. It is at the top of the left column in the Item Editor screen.

Reference flag

The reference flag in the holdings editor can also be used as a data element in circulation policies.

Select the Reference Flag using a Yes or No radio button. This field is at the top of the right-most column on the Item Editor page.

Shelving Locations

NC Cardinal has an established list of Shelving Locations to be used by consortium libraries. These can be checked in the Shelving Location Configurations page.

The third, fourth, and fifth columns of the Shelving Location Configuration Grid will be marked yes or no.

If OPAC Visible is set to "Yes", all items in that shelving location will be visible in the public catalog. If set to "No", the shelving location setting overrides the OPAC Visible flag in the item record.
If Holdable is set to "Yes" all items in that shelving location will be holdable. If set to "No", the shelving location setting overrides the Holdable flag in the item record.
If Circulate is set to "Yes" all items in that shelving location can circulate. If set to "No", the shelving location setting overrides the Circulate flag in the item record.

Shelving locations may also be used as a data element in circulation policies.

User Data

Finally, several characteristics of specific patrons can affect circulation policies. You can modify these characteristics in a patron’s record.

You may modify these characteristics while registering a patron.

You may modify them after a patron has been registered in the Edit tab of a patron record.

The user permission group is also commonly used as a data element in circulation policies.
Other user data that can be used for circulation policies include the juvenile flag in the user record.

Circulation Rules

There are generally three types of rules that effect how long items circulate and the consequences for overdue items.

Circulation Duration
Recurring Fine
Max Fine

These rules generally cause the most variation between organizational units.

Circulation duration

This describes the length of time for a checkout. You can also identify the maximum renewals that can be placed on an item.

Circulation Duration rules are designed with 3 levels. These values are applied to specific items, when item records are created:

short loan duration
normal loan duration
extended loan duration

You can find Circulation Duration Rules by navigating to Administration → Server Administration → Circulation Duration Rules.

The Circulation Duration Rules page has columns for rule name, max renewals, and short, normal and extended time frames.

Recurring fine

This describes the amount assessed for daily and hourly fines as well as fines set for other regular intervals. You can also identify any grace periods that should be applied before the fine starts accruing.

Recurring Fine rules are designed with 3 levels. These values are applied to specific items, when item records are created:

low recurring fine rate
normal recurring fine rate
high recurring fine rate

You can find Recurring Fine Rules in the Administration menu, under Server Administration. On the Server Admin splash page, select Circulation Recurring Fine Rules.

Recurring Fine Rule Configuration options include columns for name, categories of low, normal and high, and options for recurrence interval and grace period.

Max fine

This describes the maximum amount of fines that will be assessed for a specific circulation.

You can find Circ Max Fine Rules by navigating to the Administration menu, under Server Administration. On the Server Admin splash page, select Circulation Max Fine Rules.

The Max Fine Rule Configuration grid includes columns for Rule Name, Max Fine Amount, and Is Percent.

When creating a new Max Fine rule, set the Use Percent field to True if the maximum fine should be a percentage of the item’s price.

Turn on the "Is Percent" rule by clicking the check box located at the top of the pop up box when creating a New Max Fine Rule.

Edit existing rules by selecting them in the item list and choosing "Edit Selected" from the List Action menu.

"Edit Selected" is the second of two choices on the List Action drop down menu.

Circulation Limit Sets

Circulation Limit Sets allow you to limit the maximum number of items for different types of materials that a patron can check out at one time. Evergreen supports creating these limits based on circulation modifiers, shelving locations, or circulation limit groups, which allow you to create limits based on MARC data. The below instructions will allow you to create limits based on circulation modifiers.

Items Out - The maximum number of items circulated to a patron at the same time.
Min Depth - The minimum depth in the org tree that Evergreen will consider as valid circulation libraries for counting items out. The min depth is based on org unit type depths. For example, if you want the items in all of the circulating libraries in your consortium to be eligible for restriction by this limit set when it is applied to a circulation policy, then enter a zero (0) in this field.
Global - The Global flag will determine whether all of the org units in your consortium will be restricted by this limit set when it is applied to a circulation policy. Otherwise, Evergreen will only apply the limit to the direct ancestors and descendants of the owning library.
Linked Limit Groups - This should include any circulation modifiers, shelving locations, or circ limit groups that should be part of this limit set.

Example: Your library (BR1) allows patrons to check out up to 5 videos at one time. This checkout limit should apply when your library’s videos are checked out at any library in the consortium. Items with DVD, BLURAY, and VHS circ modifiers should be included in this maximum checkout count.

To create this limit set, you would add 5 to the Items Out field, 0 to the Min Depth field and select the Global flag. Add the DVD, BLURAY and VHS circ modifiers to the limit set.

Creating Circulation Policies

Once the data elements that will drive circulation policies have been established, circulation policies can be created in the staff client by the NC Cardinal team. NC Cardinal circulation policies follow the rules of the library (Org Unit) that checks out the item (***see below for an important note about how this does not necessarily apply to Library Settings). Libraries can submit a help ticket to request changes to their circulation policies.

Best practices for creating policies

NC Cardinal has default consortium-level circ policies that serve as defaults for any materials and permission groups that do not have a more specific rule established by the org unit checking out an item.
When a library system has a circulation rule that differs from the default, the NC Cardinal team can then create a rule for that system. Policies can be set up to inherit values from that default consortium rule.
One of the goals for consortium circulation policies is to minimize conflict between or duplication of circulation policies to avoid unnecessary complexity.

Example 1

The table below displays a facsimile of consortial and system-level circulation rules as you might see them set up in Evergreen.

org_unit	duration_rule	recurring_fine_rule	max_fine_rule
CONS	21_day_2_renew	NONE	NONE
SYS1	NULL	25_cents	3_dollars

In this example, the consortium has decided on a 21_day_2_renew loan rule for general materials, i.e. books, etc. Most members do not charge overdue fines. System 1 charges 25 cents per day to a maximum of $3.00, but otherwise uses the default circulation duration.

Example 2

The table below displays a facsimile of a different set of circulation rules as you might see them set up in Evergreen. They are all set to the Consortium level, but reflect different circ modifiers.

org_unit	grp	circ_modifer	circulate	duration_rule	recurring_fine_rule	max_fine_rule
CONS	Users	book	TRUE	21_day_2_renew	5_cents	2_dollars
CONS	Users	dvd	FALSE	14_day_1_renew	25_cents	5_dollars
CONS	Users	music	TRUE	14_day_2_renew	10_cents	3_dollars

This example includes a basic set of fields and creates a situation where items with a circ modifier of "book" or "music" can be checked out, but "dvd" items will not circulate. The associated rules would apply during checkouts.

Example 3

The last example shows a facsimile of circulation rules that limit circulation by user type as you might see them set up in Evergreen.

org_unit	grp	circ_modifer	circulate	duration_rule	recurring_fine_rule	max_fine_rule
CONS	Users	book	TRUE	21_day_2_renew	5_cents	2_dollars
CONS	Users	dvd	FALSE	14_day_1_renew	25_cents	5_dollars
SYS1	Adult	dvd	TRUE	14_day_1_renew	25_cents	5_dollars
CONS	Users	music	TRUE	14_day_2_renew	10_cents	3_dollars
SYS2	Users	music	FALSE	14_day_2_renew	10_cents	3_dollars
BR3	Users	music	TRUE	14_day_2_renew	10_cents	3_dollars

This example builds on the earlier example and adds some more complicated options.

It is still true that "book" and "music" items can be checked out, while "dvd" is not circulated. However, now we have added new rules that state that "Adult" patrons of "SYS1" can circulate "dvd" items.

Settings Relevant to Circulation

The following circulation settings, available via Administration → Local Administration → Library Settings Editor, can also affect your circulation duration, renewals and fine policy.

Auto-Extend Grace Periods - When enabled, grace periods will auto-extend. By default this will be only when they are a full day or more and end on a closed date, though other options can alter this.
Auto-Extending Grace Periods extend for all closed dates - If enabled and Grace Periods auto-extending is turned on, grace periods will extend past all closed dates they intersect, within hard-coded limits.
Auto-Extending Grace Periods include trailing closed dates - If enabled and Grace Periods auto-extending is turned on, grace periods will include closed dates that directly follow the last day of the grace period.
Checkout auto renew age - When an item has been checked out for at least this amount of time, an attempt to check out the item to the patron that it is already checked out to will simply renew the circulation.
Cap Max Fine at Item Price - This prevents the system from charging more than the item price in overdue fines.
Lost Item Billing: New Min/Max Price Settings - Patrons will be billed at least the Min Price and at most the Max Price, even if the item’s price is outside that range. To set a fixed price for all lost items, set min and max to the same amount.
Charge fines on overdue circulations when closed - Normally, fines are not charged when a library is closed. When set to True, fines will be charged during scheduled closings and normal weekly closed days.

***An Important Note Regarding Circulation Policies vs Library Settings

As explained above, NC Cardinal circulation policies follow the rules of the library (Org Unit) that checks out the item. This means that if Library A receives and checks out an item from Library B through resource sharing, Library A's circulation policies will be applied, not Library B's (despite being the owner of the item in question).

However, this is not necessarily the case with certain Library Settings.

For example, the setting Charge item price when marked damaged is dependent upon the owning library's Library Settings. If this setting is enabled, when an item is marked Damaged, staff will receive a popup notification asking if they would like to charge the patron the price of the item. If this setting is disabled, no notification will appear. The item will still be marked Damaged, but the patron will not be charged.

Returning to the example above, suppose Library A has this setting enabled, but Library B has it disabled. The patron from Library A who checked out the item returns it to Library A in a damaged condition. Staff from Library A mark the item as Damaged, but they do not see any notification asking to charge the patron the cost of the item. The item is marked Damaged in the catalog, but the patron is not charged. This is because the item belongs to Library B, and Library B does not have this setting enabled. The Library Setting of the owning library, Library B, takes precedence over the Library Setting of the library where the item was checked out, Library A.

If staff from Library A mark one of their own items as Damaged, they will still receive the aforementioned notification. Similarly, if they mark an item as Damaged that came from an owning library with this setting enabled, they will likewise receive the notification.

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