Member Comment for Revised Circulation Policies

The SHARE Circulation & Resource Sharing Committee has proposed revisions to the Damaged Item Procedure, the Payment and Billing Policy, and the Patron Registration Policy. Please review the policies below and respond with any questions, suggestions, or feedback in the comments section below. All additions are marked in purple and excisions are marked in red. Please comment by June 5, 2025, for consideration by the Circulation & Resource Sharing Committee.

Damaged Item Procedure

This update is in line with existing SHARE procedures where the home library makes changes to the patron records and the owning library makes changes to the item records. It clarifies the responsibility of the each library regarding damaged items. Owning libraries mark items as damaged and determine the need to bill, and requesting libraries add charges to the patron record and contact their patron. 

Damaged Item

If a library's material is returned to a different location with damage, it should be sent back to the supplying library for assessment.

• Check the item in to track the location and deny any pending holds, so that they are routed to the next available item. Do not cancel the holds.
• Provide written documentation on the last patron, including name, barcode, home library, and note the nature of the damage.

If an item has minor damage, which does not prevent that item from circulating, the owning library should do at least one of the following:

• Mark the item with the date and nature of the damage.
• Make a note in the item record with the date and the nature of the damage.
• Use a check-in note to document the date and the nature of the damage.

If a library's material is returned and cannot be circulated, and the owning library decides to bill for the damaged item, they should contact the last patron’s home library to add relevant charges to the patron's account and contact their patron. They may also send a bill to the requesting library with a Bill for Item Form.

Payment and Billing Policy

This update includes options for replacement copies, ownership of damaged items, and a requirement to run overdue and billing notices.

PAYMENT AND BILLING

According to the ILLINET Interlibrary Loan Code, section VI, number 7, “The requesting library shall be responsible for borrowed materials from the time the materials leave the supplying library until they have been returned to the supplying library. If damage or loss occurs, the requesting library shall be responsible for compensation, in accordance with the policy of the supplying library.”

And section VI, number 9,“The requesting library assumes full responsibility for patron-initiated transactions.”

The patron should resolve disputes with their home library, not the supplying library.

Payment

The patron's home library is responsible for paying for the lost or damaged item if the patron does not do so.

Transacting libraries should allow patrons to clear their record by paying amounts owed. Member libraries may also discuss alternative arrangements, like a replacement copy. Please contact special libraries before sending payment for a lost or damaged item.

For lost or damaged items, any amount collected, including fines and processing fees, should be sent to the supplying library. The patron will be charged the amount identified in the patron's record.

Billing

Bills may be sent to the patron’s home library for lost or damaged items, including items lost in transit. The time frame for billing the patron's home library is no later than 18 months from the item's due date or last in transit date. Reimbursement should be made within eight weeks of receipt of the bill.

Damaged Items

The supplying library shall decide whether to charge the patron for damages. Once the item has been paid for, either by the patron or the requesting library, the payee will then own the item.

Fines

Any fine collection by reciprocal libraries may be kept by the transacting library. Unless the patron changes jurisdictions, the decision to waive a fine for overdue items belongs to the patron’s home library. Libraries may choose to set a specific threshold and return fines above the limit to the patron’s home library. They may deduct postage and handling fees.

Material Replacement Cost

Libraries are encouraged to use the list price of the item when possible, and to avoid excessively high default prices. The decision to charge or waive a processing fee belongs to the supplying library.

Notices

Libraries should run overdue and billing notices every day that the library is open. Unless the library is delinquent in running notices, lost status will be determined by the system software. If the system is not working as expected, please contact SHARE.

Patron Registration Policy

This update includes a few minor updates, as well as clarity of patron record retention, reciprocal borrowing PINs, and the inclusion of a new special jurisdiction exception for cards issued due to intergovernmental agreements. 

PATRON REGISTRATION

Ownership of Patron Records

The library that registers the patron will own that record and will accept full responsibility for maintaining correct information. Only the library in the service area where the patron lives can change information in the patron record, with the exception of blocking and non-blocking notes, which can be added to a patron account by other libraries, taking into consideration patron confidentiality.

Acceptable Forms of Identification

Acceptable forms of identification include a valid photo ID from a government agency that contains the potential patron's legal name and must be presented by all adults at the time they request a library card.

Proof of residency is determined by the individual library.  

Required Fields

Academic and Public Libraries require birthday, address, and an identification number. School and Special Libraries do not have required fields.

Libraries should use the address from materials the individual provided for proof of residency. The identification number can be from a driver’s license, state ID, government ID, or student ID. If the identification is outside of the state of Illinois, indicate the state or type of ID at the end of the number or in the Other field.

Library Card Expiration

Expired library cards must be renewed at the home library.

The registering library will accept full responsibility for maintaining correct information in the patron record.

The registering library must develop a schedule to purge their expired patron records, in accordance with Illinois record retention laws.

Interlibrary Loan Registration

There will be one record for each interlibrary loan library in the database, owned by IHLS. Libraries should not register interlibrary loan libraries themselves but should contact SHARE designated staff to create a record if one is not found.

Jurisdiction

Library patrons should only have one public library card. When a patron moves from one public library to another, the patron's new library will modify the previous library's patron record, instead of creating a new record. Special exceptions are listed below.

Children of Divorced Parents

The library will not mediate between divorced parents. Each parent, signing as the financially responsible party, may request a library card for children in their respective household. Children of divorced parents may have dual cards in differing jurisdictions or in the same jurisdiction, dependent on each address. Parents will be responsible for monitoring the use of their children’s library card. A parent may request that either the library card or identification of the financially responsible parent must be present to check out materials.

Intergovernmental Agreements

A library may enter into intergovernmental agreements (IGA) with other community agencies and offer either a limited student access card or a full access public library card as part of that agreement, following all applicable SHARE policies and procedures for each type. If the patron is eligible for a public library account in their library service area, they should be issued a card, even if they have an alternative student account or an account in a different jurisdiction through the intergovernmental agreement. It is recommended to alert nearby libraries about the IGA if they will notice an increase in patron activity.

Property Tax Exception

Patrons that own property in two different library service areas are entitled to receive library cards as taxpayers in both areas, if requested. The patron must provide proper documentation.

Staff Member Exception

Library staff members who live in one library service area and work at another library may have both a personal card and a professional card. 

Merging patron records

Public Libraries should not merge records of patrons from a different library type. Academics, Schools, and Special Libraries should not merge patron records.

Reading History

The use of patron reading history lists will be determined by each individual library.

Reciprocal Borrowers

Reciprocal borrowing means the right of a person who holds a valid, in-good-standing library registration card from a full member public library to borrow materials on site from other library system full member public libraries under the same conditions that the library provides those materials to its patrons, subject to reasonable restrictions approved by the library's governing board in accordance with requirements of the library system's resource sharing plan and this Part.  Illinois Administrative Code, [23 IL ADC 3030.110].

Reciprocal borrowers should have only one account in the SHARE database. Reciprocal borrowers must present a photo identification and a valid library card for their home library, if that library does not belong to the SHARE consortium.

The individual library will determine how to verify the information presented and will choose the manner to barcode cards for reciprocal patrons, such as using the barcode from the patron's home library, or a separate barcode.

The patron type must be set to a reciprocal code in the database.

The expiration date must be set to the expiration date of home library or set for one year.

Reciprocal borrowers are not eligible for electronic resources or interlibrary loan and should not be given a PIN or password. The library should enter a PIN the patron cannot guess, in order to prevent the system from entering a default PIN in the overnight processing.

Transitional and Affiliate Member Registration

Transitional and Affiliate members will be registered as a patron of their closest IHLS hub, with one barcode per library. Materials requested by these libraries will be processed by IHLS staff at each of the IHLS hubs.