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What does it mean to Reserve a book at the library?

2.6K views 11 replies 12 participants last post by  clane  
#1 ·
What does it mean to reserve a book at the library? How far in advance can you reserve a book?
 
#2 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by laurabelle1317 View Post
What does it mean to reserve a book at the library? How far in advance can you reserve a book?
at our library, it means to have a book held or transferred from another library so that we can check it out. libraries vary in the length of how far in advance they will hold books and for how long. i can reserve books online and then they call when they are available.i would call and ask and see if you can do it online...it super easy that way. we can also do it over the phone.
 
#5 ·
It varies, depending on the library, but generally you can reserve books online with your library card and pin number. Some libraries charge a fee for each hold they place on a book (I learned that the hard way!) and will only hold the items for up to a week.

Reserving books online has saved me so much time! It's hard to look for books with DS crawling all over the place. It's also nice because I can reserve books from all the libraries within our network, giving us access to many more books. I highly recommend it!
 
#6 ·
In our library it means the book you want is checked out. They put your name in the computer and the book is set aside for you when it's checked back in.

ILL (inter library loan) is when you request a book they don't have and they try and get it from another library.
 
#7 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Jenivere View Post
In our library it means the book you want is checked out. They put your name in the computer and the book is set aside for you when it's checked back in.

ILL (inter library loan) is when you request a book they don't have and they try and get it from another library.
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that's how it works at my library too.
 
#8 ·
In our library system, when you reserve a book they pull it off the shelf for you or transfer it to the library of your choice if it's at another branch (we have about 12 libraries in our county system that are all connected). If it's already checked out they pull it for you when it is returned. They used to mail you a slip that said your books were ready for pick up and you had 2 weeks to pick them up before they were reshelved. But now they send an email when your books are ready and you only have 1 week to get them.
We reserve books on line. There is no fee but you can only have up to 20 things on hold at a time per library card. I know some hs'ing families get a card for each family member so they can hold a lot of books at once. Our library lets youcheck things out for 3 weeks at a time and you can renew once, so you can have the book for a max of 6 weeks. Unless someone else places a hold on it. Then they don't let you renew it.
I love putting my books on hold online. it is sooo much easier than scouring the shelves with my 2 kids only to find out that all the books I want are at 6 other libraries in our system and I have to have them transferred anyway. LOL! It usually takes 1 day for the books to be ready if it's at the library I use. It can take 2-3 days if it's at another library and has to be transferred.
 
#9 ·
When I reserve I give my card number/pin and sometimes name. My online account will list each thing I have on order,and *place in line* so to speak.New dvds are very popular and being the 156th person to reserve something is not uncommon.I can see when something is *in transit* or recieved. I usually have a week to pick items up.Depending on the card/library I used I can keep things for a week to a month. I order books,dvds,and cd-roms. I don't have any fees.
 
#11 ·
at one library we used to go to, you can reserve books online and they will pull them aside for you and you just go to the desk and pick them up. at the libray we go to now, reserving means that a book is out and once it comes back in it will be put aside for you and they will call you when they have it. I have a book reserved right now for dd, it is listed as available but it is relatively new to the library and they haven't gotten around to shelving it yet *shrug*

There is also interlibrary loan, where you request items of your library that they do not have and they will get them from another library for you.
 
#12 ·
Laura, for our system, you can go online with library card # and password, view titles and place them on hold. You will select the branch you want the book to go to and that branch will call you when it is available for pickup. They will only hold it two days. After that it is returned to it's "home" branch or released to the next person in the list for a title. I like "browsing" the library at midnight if I want. Hope that helps!