Have you ever requested a book that has come from another NOBLE library? Here is the story of the book’s trip via our transit bins:
1: You are looking for a book. It is not available at Beebe Library, but it is in the NOBLE Network (North of Boston Library Exchange).
Here is a map of NOBLE libraries. The red pins indicate public libraries (17) and the blue pins indicate academic libraries (7)–with a total of 24 libraries, with varied collections (e.g. Monserrat College of Art’s library may be very niche compared to a public library collection).
2: A hold is placed on a book from another library. This means the book is going to be found, shipped, & held especially for you! The library system sends the hold request to a library that owns the book.
3: These book requests culminate into something we call The Pick List. The Pick List is a list of books that need to be pulled from our shelves. Some of these books end up on our Holds Shelf, while the rest are sent to other libraries to fulfill holds. At the Beebe, staff members typically do the pick list at least a couple of times per day (around opening and closing time). How often staff run the Pick List depends on staffing and desk coverage–& every library has a different way of doing it. When a book on your account says “Waiting for Capture,” it has yet to be picked.
4: Library staff use the Pick List and a book cart to search through the stacks and find the books on the list. The size of each Pick List varies, sometimes having over 50 titles. Once the books are picked, they are brought back to the Circulation Desk and checked into the system–where they generate a message of where they are going. Then, they are placed in the transit bins behind the Circulation Desk.
5: Since the books in the bins are going to different libraries, they are sent to a nearby sort facility–where people go through each bin, scan each book, and send it on its way.
6: Every weekday (except in bad weather), a truck from the sort facility delivers transit bins filled with books that our patrons have requested. We trade with bins that we’ve filled for holds going to other places. When a book on your account says “In Transit,” it means that it is in a bin! When the bins are delivered, each book is then checked into our library and a notice is sent to the person who requested the book. When a book on your account says, “On Holds Shelf” it means it is ready to be picked up at your chosen library!
Extra quips:
Holds can be picked up anywhere in the NOBLE network. Your pickup library is set to where you create your library card by default, but you can request books to be picked up in other NOBLE libraries.
Sometimes, books cannot be found, as materials may be misplaced, lost, or stolen while on the shelf. There is a small chance that your hold cannot be fulfilled; when this happens, our system generates a list of “Hopeless Holds.”
Is there a book you’re looking for that is not in NOBLE? Librarians can search outside of the network–in Massachusetts, and even beyond! You can also create your own account on the Commonwealth Catalog (ComCat) to request books from various libraries in the state.
