April 2023

Quick Facts

• Shipping costs $3.00 per item.
• Mail can be set as the home/default hold pick-up location.
• Patron information about mailed holds is on the Books by Mail page on the public website.
• Holds are usually mailed within Oregon and Washington.

Procedure

How to mail a hold to a patron in Symphony:

1. See Placing Holds in Symphony.
2. Click the Place Hold wizard and find the patron and the item.
3. Click Place Hold
4. Check the box listed under Hold Info to select Mail Item to User.

How to set Mail as the home library/default hold pick up location:

1. Click the Modify User wizard and find the patron.
2. From the Basic Info tab, go to Library and select Mail.
3. Click Save. 

If a mailed item is not received by the patron:

1. Check the address and update as needed.
2. Click the Extended Info tab in the Display User wizard to check for any notes in the history to see if this has happened before. If it has happened twice, call the Contact Center because this may be a second clearing (waive) of fees.
3. From the Display User wizard click the Pay Bills helper.  Waive both the item that was lost and the shipping charges by selecting CLR_PATRON as the Payment Type.

4. Click Pay Bills and Close.
5. Click the Modify User helper to document this using the Extended Info tab and write your actions in a HISTORY field, e.g."CLR_PATRON $32.95 mailed hold not received. JZL/CEN 8/25/2020".
6. Replace the hold and put the patron at the top of the list.
   1. Click Display User and find the patron,
   2. Click the Pay Bills helper,
   3. Click Bills and select All.
   4. Right click the item and select Place Hold.
   5. Make sure to click Make Hold First in Queue and then click Place Hold. You have to enter an override “y” and click Override and Place Hold.

Policy

• Holds may be mailed to patrons for a fee of $3.00 per item.
• Some LOS patrons may receive and return mailed holds without fees.
• Holds may be placed through My MCL or Symphony by choosing the Mail pick-up location.
• Mail may be set as the Home Library/default hold pick-up location.
• Mailed holds will be routed to Isom for processing. The items are checked out to the patron before they are mailed.
• If a patron account is blocked, items will not be mailed. The patron will be sent a letter about the situation. Items will be held for 10 days to give the patron time to clear up the account.
• If a non-LOS patron returns an item in a mailing bag, the library will pay the return shipping fee the first time and add a message to the account. If this happens again, the return shipping charge will be added to the account.
• Holds are usually mailed within Oregon and Washington. Contact the Contact Center supervisor for special circumstances.