[Publib] Displaying Reserved Items

[Judith Turner]

First off, I'm speaking from the perspective of a special library, not a public library so privacy laws or concerns were not an issue.  We always had a self-checkout system with borrowers filling out sign-out cards (circ. was never automated). At least once a week a library staffer would gather the cards left in the box and copy the info onto a version of the card.  This allowed us to maintain 2 files -- one by call no., one by borrower's name; there were no due dates.

During most of my years at MPM we had 3 reserve collections:
1) Museology books (DDC 069 mainly) on reserve for the UWM graduate students in the Museum Studies certificate program;
2) Popular current periodicals - Smithsonian, Natural History, Science, Nature, Scientific American, Curator, etc.  There were about 40 issues jacketed in clear plastic periodical binders in the display racks in the Reading "Room."
3) Newly cataloged books waiting for the staff members who'd initiated the purchase requests to come in and sign them out.

We occasionally had problems with the Museology books because with no OPAC we had no way of noting they were on reserve and so not available for ILL.  The collection included several dozen titles from Butterworth's (London), American Assoc. of Museums and other specialty publishers and not widely held bu OCLC member libraries.  We devoted a lot of effort to sending conditional responses explaining the books were only available for loan between June and August. We made a special effort to keep an eye on the collection to make certain items did not "walk" and to assess utilization so I could advise the instructor about removing little-used items to make space for new titles.

The popular science magazines walked out the door, especially after budget cuts eliminated student aides, paid internships and the work-study program we had through nearby Marquette University. We simply could not assign a person to the front door and get other work done.  Most of the periodicals wandered back eventually but every couple of years we had to order a new batch of binders to replace the "lost" items.

The new books available for checkout caused problems when Curator A would want a book ordered by Curator B, Educator C or Artist D.  In general we were able to mediate these situations but it was time-consuming. Sadly, some of these new books also walked out the door before requestors arrived to sign them out.
 
A less accessible collection of reserve materials would have been great if we could have set up a locked area.  An automated circulation system would have been a boon to provide the stats I needed for budget requests while maintaining user privacy. Bar codes and scanners to reduce transcription and filing errors on all those cards would have been a god-send.  Up until 2003 it all worked reasonably well but after that the cascade of financial irregularties revenue shortfalls, budget cuts and plummeting morale from top to bottom of the building meant the system created its own set of tensions, suspicion, jealousies and unhappiness, not a good situation in which to work. 
 
Judy Turner
Whitefish Bay, WI  
Blogging at: http://alms-jact.blogspot.com/
and 
http://judyct.wordpress.com/

"Donna Noble has left the library. Donna Noble has been saved." ---- "Silence in the Library"  (Doctor Who, Season 4, Ep. 8)