Email Notices

Borrowers have the option to receive all of their notices by email – that includes holds, overdue and billing notices, as well as an option for preoverdue reminder notices. (See other posts related to preoverdue notices. ) They can sign up for the service in person at any branch or via http://www.fresnolibrary.org/email.html. Requests made via the webpage will be handled by Support Services.

How do I activate email notices on a patron’s account?

• In the borrower's account, for Notice by: Select Email
• E-Mail Name: enter borrower’s name as it appears in the name field above. This information will appear in the To: field of the email. 
• E-Mail Address: Enter patron’s email address. It is important to be very accurate. One typo will cause the notice to fail. Case does not matter, although most people enter it in all lower case letters for easier readability.
• Preoverdue: Check this box if patron wants to receive a reminder notice 3 days before an item is due. They can opt out of this option if they choose and still receive all the other notices by email.
• Phone: Make sure all phone numbers are set to 'No Telephone Notices'
• Save

How do I stop or deactivate email notices on a patron’s account?

• Notice by: Select Stnd
• E-Mail Name: delete name
• E-Mail Address: delete email address
• Preoverdue: uncheck box
• Phone: If the patron wants to receive their notices by phone, set one of their phone numbers to 'Home' or one of the 'With Telephone Notices' options. If they want to receive notices by U.S. Mail, leave the phone set to 'No Telephone Notices' option.
• Save

What if a borrower’s email changes? Staff can change their email in Horizon, but borrowers can also update their own e-mail address directly from the "My Account / Profile" page in ValleyCat as follows:

• Go to fresnolibrary.org – Catalog – My Account
• Enter their library barcode and PIN
• Click the Review Address/PIN tab
• Email Information – type in new email address
• Click Update. It is immediately updated in Horizon.

What if the email address is incorrect? Notices sent to a bad email address are returned to a Support Services mailbox. The undeliverable email notice will be printed and sent via U.S. mail to the borrower. Their account will be reset to standard mail delivery so they will receive future notices by U.S. mail. A Message to Borrower block will be placed on their account to “Update Email Address and Reactivate Email Notices”.

Horizon still shows “Hold Notification – Mail” block for email notices. The hold notification block on the borrower’s account in Horizon will show “Hold Notification – Mail” even if they receive email notices. The Horizon block message does not differentiate between U.S. Mail and Email. The only way to tell if they have email notices activated is to look at their registration record.

Can borrowers receive notices by more than one method (i.e. email and phone)? No – they have to select one method of delivery – phone, email OR standard mail.

Can borrowers receive email notices in Spanish? No, they are only available in English.

rev. 1/2018