The Seattle Public Library is changing its borrowing limits starting October 15.
The changes include:
Check-out limit: 50 items. Cardholders will need to reduce the number of items checked out to below 50 in order to borrow anything else.
Limit on placing holds: 25 items. Includes active and suspended holds, and holds available for pick-up. Cardholders won’t lose unfilled holds, but won’t be able to place more holds until the total is below 25.
I can understand not letting people check out tons of stuff at a time, but why do they care how many things a person has on hold? The library already limited the amount of time a hold is good for and the amount of time a hold can be inactive, which was annoying enough.
I keep a lot of different things on hold, more than the new limit will allow. I have DVDs and CDs on hold that have long waiting lists and take months to come in. There are lots of books I want to read that I have on hold. Most of my holds are inactive—I am not keeping anyone else from checking the things out—why does the library care how many there are?
This vexes me.
UPDATE: The communications director of the library e-mailed me with some more information about the changes, including this information that I found surprising:
Currently, only 7 percent of borrowers place more than 25 holds at any one time, yet their requests account for more than 44 percent of the total requests. Limiting the number of holds will allow Library materials to circulate more efficiently for more customers. Reducing the holds limit will allow us to stretch our budget for books and other items since we will need fewer copies per title, and it also will reduce stress on our technical systems.
Read the full text after the jump.
I wanted to provide you with some background (I apologize for the length but I wanted to be sure you had the full picture).
The Library has had to make a number of difficult decisions to keep operations sustainable during the continued down economy. We recently cut $1 million from our budget, which included eliminating positions, closing all operations Aug. 31-Sept. 7, and making other difficult reductions. In the current proposed 2010 city budget, a 5 percent cut – a $2.8 million reduction — is slated for the Library budget (as you know, the City Council is now deliberating on the proposed budget). To achieve part of that savings, a week-long systemwide shut down is proposed, as well as reducing operating hours (21 branches would be closed two days a week). At the same time we are experiencing cuts, our use has soared by 20 percent.
Our Materials Loan Policy had not been reviewed since 2003 and our system has expanded substantially since then. Given the high demand for limited resources in these challenging economic times, the Library has needed to find ways to maximize resources for all our customers.
Currently, only 7 percent of borrowers place more than 25 holds at any one time, yet their requests account for more than 44 percent of the total requests. Limiting the number of holds will allow Library materials to circulate more efficiently for more customers. Reducing the holds limit will allow us to stretch our budget for books and other items since we will need fewer copies per title, and it also will reduce stress on our technical systems.
Before landing on the 25 limit, we reviewed circulation policies at other libraries to see how they managed their collections with constrained resources. Regionally, hold limits range from 15-50. The King County Library System (a very popular system and is one of the busiest in the nation) for example, limits holds to 25 items (it just went up from 20). We initially considered a limit of 50 holds per person, but our analysis showed it wouldn’t generate the necessary movement in circulation.
We anticipate that the lower holds limit will change the pattern for some high-volume holds users who may find themselves placing holds more frequently, and for fewer items at one time. Given our circumstances, we see this as a reasonable alternative for most of our customers.
We recognize the lower hold limit will be a difficult adjustment, but we hope customers will understand what hard times we are in. These revisions will help us continue to sustain basic services at a time when there are significant pressures on our limited collections and staffing.
I hope you find this information helpful.
Sincerely,
Andra Addison
Communications Director
I’ve read on a couple of other blogs that apparently the library will order additional copies of books (or whatever) based on the length of the hold list if it gets too long. So this kind of makes sense for their end but I’d much rather wait a little longer for a book and not have to go through any weird rigmarole in order to place a hold on a book. My hold list rarely drops below 30 as it is.
no limit on bedbugs? cool.
I keep my hold list as sort of an ongoing reading list. And there are quite a few more than 25 books on that list. This annoys me quite a bit.
Maybe they can limit it to 25 active holds, cause you’re right, the inactive holds do nothing to hinder others.
you can move those inactive holds to the “my list” function instead. you lose your placeholder i think but still keep track of it on your library account. i know not the same but it’s an option.
if all you annoyed bitches have to hold less than 25, then everyone’s waiting list gets shorter.
Following up on #4’s point, you can make multiple lists for multiple categories. I currently have separate lists for DVDs, CDs, and books.
@5, not if the holds are inactive, Max.
Netflix puts a limit on an individual’s queue: 500! A friend maxed out.
What 5 said, but without the insults.
I’ve never understood inactive holds. Either you want the book or you don’t.
The library system for which I work recently removed hold limits. We found that only a very small number of people (not a few of them library staff) ever had more than 20 items on hold at any given time, anyway. By removing the limit, we made a few hard-core library patrons very happy, and caused little, if any, extra work for staff.
I’d be interested in hearing SPL’s reasoning.
Has anyone from The Stranger called and asked them?
Amazing how entitled some of you freeloaders are.
Artists and authors work hard, and most them don’t make shit for money. If you are going to benefit from their work, and you don’t want to wait in line, here’s an idea – pay for it.
@9, have you ever gone on vacation?
This is a shame, cause Ian had almost finished reading all the graphics novels in a number of series and this will make it ever so much harder.
@11, no, no, that’s just it! We want to wait in line!
@9- Not in years, actually. Fucking sucks.
@9 Ever want to read a long series, in order?
Aside from that, 50 items checked out at once?!?!? WTF for?
@11- Getting your book in a big library system is a great boost for an author. It means exposure, it means other libraries buy it (they move in herds) and it mean people go to the store for the sequel. I can’t afford to buy the couple hundred books I read a year. But I do make a lot of recommendations.
My hold queue is never over 15 and I try to make sure to return books as soon as I’m done with them.
Confidential to Patricia Briggs readers: Y’all are reading awfully slow.
Not knowing the process at SPL specifically…
Because processing holds takes staff time. Staff time = money. The more holds everyone is allowed to have, the more time it takes to print out notices (for those who don’t have e-mail notification), grab the books, prepare the book for pick-up, etc. There’s a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes at a library that the public has no inkling about.
And I imagine that since SPL has a hiring freeze, a $1M reduction in their budget, and recently had a furlough, some services have to be altered. If the public doesn’t feel the effects of a diminished library budget, who is going to complain to the city?
At one point the SPL was buying 1 DVD/CD for every 5 holds. The new, publicized DVDs and CDs (especially those at the beginning of the alphabet) would get 100s of holds. For instance the library purchased over 100 copies of Australia! (Lurhmann/Jackman/Kidman). Was there really that much of a demand for it or could borrowers wait a couple of weeks for this cinematic classic? How many copies of Australia are out on the shelf today, several months later? (I can’t get into my account to check right now, so flame away if I’m wrong and borrowers can’t get enough Australia!.)
A better solution would have been to limit purchases thresholds and use some judgment about long term demand for titles.
@16- I request the books one or two at a time. I find it easier than trying to manage a big queue.
From what I understand there was a big kerfuffle about this a few months ago within the library ranks. These are policies proposed by the new city librarian.
I think they also added a charge for interlibrary loans, too. Also, they added fines for late kids’ books, which hadn’t carried them before.
50 items out at a time is insane. I could see maybe a dozen, if you’re doing research. Three seems more reasonable.
@22 – not really. Sometimes we’ve had forty graphics novels and five paperbacks at home for a long weekend and read em all.
Fifty isn’t that much.
@23- You say “we” which means you had more than one account, thus making it more like “I had 20 books out.”
If you’re like me, you use your kid’s account when you’ve racked up too many fines on your own.
@22,
I regularly have a dozen out (a few books, several DVDs, a CD or three), and not for research, but I can’t imagine ever checking out more. How do you keep track of all the due dates? Maybe SPL is shooting itself in the foot on this one. It seems like someone nuts enough to have 100 materials checked out at one time would rack up tons of fines.
@9: An inactive hold lets you get to the front of the queue like the active holds, then allows those directly behind you to bypass you. When you switch it back to active after that, you’re at the front of the queue.
Picture yourself and a friend in line at the grocery checkout counter. Your friend remembers that he needs something else, so he runs off to get it. Instead of stepping out of line to later re-enter at the back of the line, you stay in. When it’s your turn, but you’re not ready to go yet because your friend has not yet returned, you let the person behind you go. And if your friend is not back by the time that person is finished, you let the next one go, etc. That’s inactive hold. When your friend returns, you’re next in line.
#23- you can’t say “not really” then go on to describe something kinda crazy, as if negates my point.
Of all the complaints I’ve heard for the central library, I think we have an answer for “there’s no books in it.”
There’s a 50 item limit here in SF as well, but only 10 of those can be media (DVDs, CDs, etc.), and they have tighter due dates.
Buy books you cheap fuckers…..
HELLO?!!!! – But have you heard about the fact that 21 of the neighborhood branches could be closed Friday AND Saturday, PLUS operate on reduced hours if the proposed Seattle City Budget is approved by the City Council? This is in addition to the fact that anohter furlough is in the proposal I’m sorry, but let’s not whine about holds and check out limits right now! Email all your city council members and the mayor and tell them you want to Save Library Hours! You can find all their addresses and more information at http://www.friendsofspl.wordpress.com
And by the way, our holds are being limited because there is a high demand for the collections but the Library’s collections budget hasn’t been increased to keep up with the ideal budget.
I cant believe people are bitching about a limit of 25 holds. My library system recently halfed our hold limit to 5 (even for staff ). This is because the courier service to shuttle books between branches was just too expensive (gas prices & all) . What, do you think the library has a magical book transporter? Also, it takes a lot of staff time to pull holds for books that are already checked in. Patrons place holds on books that are checked in at other libraries (or even the branch they are standing in) because they don’t want to drive a few miles or search for it on the shelves themselves. Limiting the number of holds makes people be more scrupulous in what requests they place.
An unlimited number of holds means that everyone will put everything they want on hold. A limit means that people will be more selective, lessening wait times for all.
Buying books is not very environmentally friendly. Libraries are great because they buy books for a higher price to compensate the artist for fewer sales and then allow us to share a book many times. I agree with post 29. I don’t agree with our libraries having their budgets cut. It’s not fair that Seattle residents pay taxes to provide social services to legions of homeless, but that 85% of them list their last address being outside of Seattle. Seattle spends more on homeless people than all of the other cities in Washington combined. Meantime those of us who chose to have a home in Seattle have to do with with higher taxes, but fewer parks and libraries that every year have their budgets cut more. I don’t have anything against the homeless, but maybe the rest of the state should help us pay for their run away kids, unemployed and mentally ill people who come to our city looking for help.
I emailed the library when this was announced asking if there was any thought to allowing someone to have more holds then the new limit of 25 by paying an additional fee? For example an extra $30 a year. Similar to what the library charges for visitor or non-resident cards. The response I got from Andra Addison is below. I personally am of the opinion that the limit should be at 25 active holds and not total active & inactive hold. Similar to others who have commented I use the hold list as a to read list. Inactive hold allow others to skip ahead of me in line without any impact to others until my hold is reactivated.
Librarian 1: Greetings from The Seattle Public Library!
Thank you for your e-mail and for your suggestion regarding charging for enhanced services at the Seattle Public Library. You had suggested, for example, allowing customers to pay an additional fee so they could place holds beyond the current limit.
You have clearly spent time thinking through what the Library means for you and other residents, and are willing to step up and help out. I appreciate your entrepreneurial spirit!
Applying fees for increased service is a great tool for businesses. In some ways the Library acts like a business – we seek to serve more customers, look for efficiencies, and scrutinize expenses.
But we are different in a very important way – we are committed to providing free and equal access to services for all people who qualify for a free Library card, regardless of economic situation. While offering additional services for a fee is a fine idea for a business, it runs counter to one of the Library’s founding principles.
It is generous of you to spend your time brainstorming ways to help us with our budget constraints. Please feel free to send me other ideas. Thanks for your support of The Seattle Public Library.
Andra Addison
Communications Director
The Seattle Public Library
anyone griping about the hold limit is a fucking pig.
@30 exactly!!! I’ve been using SPL online holds like crazy for years, but I’m well aware that each one involves quite a bit of extra manual handling / transporting by the staff. $60 of my property-tax bill goes straight to SPL if I understand correctly, and I sure get my money’s worth.
The limit on holds is partly because the entire holds list (active/inactive) must be re-processed every day by library catalog servers. So the more people who have holds, whether active or inactive, = more time (and more money) spent on the reserves lists, which change hourly, if not more often.
A workaround for catalog users is to use the My List function. You can put things into folders of your making. IT is working on a catalog upgrade that will smooth the process of placing a hold from the My List function, so that should help too.
Thanks to everyone who supports libraries!
@36 – then maybe they should redesign their frickin queue db so it uses a combination of latent and static queries … such as those which you’ve been able to do in any decent RDBMS since oh the 90s ….