3.4 My New Library - Managing checkouts.

This article will explain how librarians manage checkouts in flight using the Tasks dashboard. (LIBRARY, CHECKOUTS, TASKS)

The Tasks dashboard is a one-click management system for checkouts in flight. Each checkout is found in a row which displays the next-action for each checkout.
You can access checkouts in-flight by clicking the "Tasks" tab in the menu bar.

Clicking the title of a checkout will open a dropdown with useful information.

If the Tasks dashboard, you will be greeted with two filter dropdowns; Patron, and Primary Actions.
You can use these to filter by either one, or both filters at the same time.

Filter by Patron:

Filter by Action:

If a late fee is owed, two additional buttons are displayed below the normal "Return" button. Return+Paid and Return+Forgive. Either of these will zero the changes, and record the corrisponding action in the patrons record.

If the checkout is simply "returned", even though a latefee was due (Patron didnt have money to pay at the time of return), the latefee is recorded in the patrons account which can be accessed by going to "Patrons">then find the patron name and click on it, then scroll down to "Patron Late Fees" and select the appropiate action.

If a book is returned for which there is an active waitlist, the waitlist as well as the number of patrons waiting can be found in the "Waitlist" column.

When returned, books with an active wait will display special instructions to move the book to the hold shelf. After the "Move to hold shelf" button is clicked, if the patron has an email on file, the patron will be sent a message indicating that the book is waiting for him at the checkout counter. The length of a hold can be configured in the Library settings.

The book will then have a next-action of "Checkout to hold patron" and the waitlist column will display the library card number of the assigned patron.

Once the book has been checked out, the checkout life cycle continues as normal.

If there is not late fee for a book being returned, only the "Return" button is displayed.

Once returned, the next action is set to "Return to shelf", and after it is returned to the shelf, the final action is "Complete Checkout"

When a checkout is in either the "Return to shelf" or "Complete Checkout" status, the book is not available for any patron actions, and in the catalog the banner "Return processing in progress" is seen where "Add to Bookbag" is normally. Also the book cannot be placed on the waitlist.