July 2025

Quick Facts

• NEW Hoopla and Kanopy use will update the last activity date in Symphony.
• Retention schedule details are listed under Policy.
• Most records are removed by report on a weekly basis.
• Symphony retains inactive checkouts, bills, and holds.
• All paper that contains patron information -- search lists, registrations forms, hold slips, etc. --  should be shredded immediately after processing. While patrons may discard or recycle hold slips in their possession, hold slips in the library's possession must be shredded.

Procedure

1. Batch deletion processes are monitored by the Symphony Specialists Team.
2. Bills and other fees older than three years are included in the standard weekly batch deletions.
   • If older fees that should have been removed show in a patron record, they should be cleared manually as CLR_LIB.
   • Because the reason the fees were cleared is obvious from the date of the fees, the $20/$50 limits do not apply and no clear History field is required. See Clearing fees.

Policy

• Most standard deletions from the ILS are done weekly.
• Patron records
  Patron records are removed from the ILS after three years without account activity. Weekly batch deletion of patron records is determined by the Last Activity date in the patron record.
  • Actions that update the Last Activity date are:
    • Checkouts
    • Checkins
    • Placing holds
    • Triggering/filling holds
    • Authorizations to use third-party systems or databases, including:
      • Checking out e-books, magazines, and audiobooks such as using OverDrive/Libby or Ebook Central
      • Using Kanopy or Hoopla
      • Pharos
      • Online databases
  • Actions that do not update the Last Activity date are:
    • Logging into your account, but not doing any action
    • Using Interlibrary Loan accounts (until items come in and holds are entered into Symphony)
• Juvenile patrons
  All bills accrued by juvenile patrons are removed when the patron turns 18 years old. These deletions are done weekly.
• Bills
  • Bills, such as shipping fees and lost item bills, are removed from patron records after three years have passed, whether they have been paid or not. These deletions are done weekly.
  • The removal date is calculated from the date the material was due.
  • Paid bills are retained in the ILS for one year.
• Checkouts
  • Checkouts are retained as lost item bills until the bill is removed.
  • Items that are checked in do not show as active or inactive checkouts.
    • Past checkouts for patrons who keep their reading history will be retained as long as possible, but are not visible in Symphony patron records. Patrons can see their reading history in My MCL.
    • Library Outreach Services (LOS) staff using the Outreach module can see past checkouts in the Symphony to help patrons find new materials.
  • Claims returned items are set to Missing each evening and are removed from the account. Claims returned items are counted in the Claims Returned counter, which is cleared on July 1 each year.
• Holds
  • Canceled and expired hold information is kept for 60 days
  • Filled hold information is kept for 30 days
• Comment and History fields
  • Comment and History fields that contain relevant information, such as name or address is OK or agreements about using the library, will be retained as long as needed.
  • Comment and History fields that are no longer needed, such as cleared fees documentation, will be deleted after 3 years. All staff can remove these fields when they see them.
• Item records
  • Billed and lost items are removed from holdings records after three years. Removing billed and lost materials automatically removes the fees from patron records.
  • Items checked out to the Missing user are deleted after one year.
• IMMS retains transactional data for statistical purposes, but contains no patron data.
• Shredding
  • All paper reports -- expired holds, address updates, etc. -- with patron information on them should be shredded as soon as they are completed and tallied.
  • All paper that contains patron information -- registrations forms, etc. --  should be shredded immediately after processing. This includes paper found in returned items.
  • Hold slips that contain partial names and partial library card numbers do not need to be shredded.
• All patron information should be deleted, erased, or shredded as soon as possible after necessary actions have been completed. 

Rationale

The three-year deletion schedule for bills and fees matches the patron and item purging schedules needed to keep the library's database accurate.

Bills are cleared from patron records when patrons turns 18 years old because these fees accrued while patrons were juveniles.