Sorting and Processing Items for Delivery

Fresno has changed how we mark and use our red and gray crates for sorting delivery materials. We used to mark crates for our rural branches with stripes and mark “FHQ” and “FRSN” for our metro branches. Starting now, we will mark all red crates “FHQ” and gray crates “FRSN.”

All materials for Central Circulation need to be in a “FRSN” crate. Those crates are not sorted and go straight to Central Circ. Even if you do not have enough materials for a full crate keep those items separated. Your driver will repack the materials if needed. If you have the room (and are not already doing it), make a specific space for the Central Circ crate in your shipping area.

For those items you do not separate, you can continue to put them in red crates or gray crates. These crates will be sorted at the delivery hub.

In an effort to save staff time and reduce repetitive motion injuries, staff should use only one (1) rubber band to attach the routing slip to an item in shipment as outlined below. Order number 33 rubber bands. This size is perfect to use on most standard, fiction-sized books, DVDs and CDs.

• Items in red, gray (non Central Circ) and yellow crates – 1 rubber band. Tuck the routing slip into the bottom of the item so the branch location is clearly visible on the front. Use one rubber band to secure it from top to bottom (vertically). These are crates that have a mix of branches and need to be resorted at the shipping/delivery hub.
• Items in blue, gray (Central Circ Only) and black crates - no rubber band just as usual. Tuck the routing slip inside the book/case with the HOLD/RETURN portion visible at the top. These are crates dedicated to a single branch and do not need to be resorted at the shipping/delivery hub.
• For A/V items in a case, do not insert the bottom of the slip inside the case. Simply wrap it around the bottom outside of the case with the rubber band. It is easier to remove the slip later and it saves your hands from opening yet another case.
• There may be some items that still need to have two (2) rubber bands to secure the routing slip so it does not fall off (i.e. an oversized paperback book). Use your own judgment.
• This applies to any and all materials we process at FCPL locations – even materials being sent to other System members. Other System member libraries may continue to use two rubber bands when they ship items to us. That is their prerogative.

Watch this short video for some Dos and Don'ts of attaching the routing slip to books, DVDs and audio books that need 1 rubber band. If you cannot see the imbedded video, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2GHOS4zKEw.

Processing Mail Returned Notices

Printed notices are sometimes returned to the library because of an incorrect address.

If the returned mail includes a new address:

• Update the customer's account as appropriate.

If the returned mail does not include a new address:

• Place the ACR: Address Correction Request block on the account. This stops any future printed or email notices from being generated. Any unreturned items will go into Lost status 60 days after they were due and the customer’s account will be charged accordingly.

Note: Do not replace the address with any other information or copy the old address to the Notes/Comments field.

Do not change the BType to FMR (Fresno Mail Returned). The use of the FMR BType has been discontinued effective October 2010.

Find Out Location of "Hold Shelf" Item

Here's two ways to find out the location of an item with a status of "hold shelf". Neither is very convenient, but they work.

Method 1

• F2 - Search for the item by title or barcode.
• Click Show Copies
• Click on the copy with the "hold shelf" status
• Send it to Copy/Item List (F10)
• Click Edit to open the item record, go down to where it says "Out to Borrower No."
• Look up the borrower# in circ and find out where the item is being held from their Blocks screen.

Method 2 (more cumbersome if there's a lot of copies with Hold Shelf status)

• F2 - Search for the item by title or barcode.
• Go to Request - View Title Request List
• Click on an item with "hold shelf" status
• Click Borrower Requests
• Look to see if that item matches the specific item barcode you're looking for.
• If not, go to another "hold shelf" item in the list and check that one's Borrower Requests.

How Holds are Filled

Here's an overview of how items are selected to fill holds within Fresno County. Horizon has a series of "priorities" it uses to select an item to fill a hold with a Fresno County pickup location.

BTW...nothing in the borrower's registration record affects how a hold is filled - not location, btype or bstat. It's all based on 1. pickup location and 2. where hold was placed (whose catalog was used or what location Horizon was logged into to place the hold). Also see Dos and Don’ts of Changing the Hold Pickup Location. 

• When a hold is placed with a Fresno pickup location, Horizon first checks to see if any Fresno items are available (checked in) to fill it.
• If there is an available Fresno copy and there is more than one copy checked in, Horizon will select the copy that has been sitting on the shelf the longest.
• If there are Fresno copies, all holds with a FCPL pick up location will be filled first before holds at other jurisdictions. That is how a Fresno customer can be #10 in the list and receive their copy before #1-#9 who have pick up locations outside of Fresno's jurisdiction.
• Note: Horizon is not so finely tuned it can select the geographically closest item to the pickup location. So don't expect Horizon to look at only metro items to fill metro pickup locations first, then go further afield to the east and west side locations. That degree of fine tuning is not possible.
• In some instances when everything else is equal, the time of day the pull list report is run can factor into which Fresno copy fills the hold.
• Also, as soon as an item is returned and checked in, it may go to fill a hold regardless of who has it showing on their pull list at that moment. That is why you may check in an item from your pull list only to discover it is not needed any longer to fill a hold.
• If there is no Fresno copy available, Horizon will look for an available copy at another jurisdiction to fill the Fresno hold.
• There are some Fresno items that will only fill holds within Fresno County: video games (FVIN) and reference (FRE). These items are not available to fill holds outside Fresno County.
• This link (https://www.sjvls.org/services/special_loan_rules) shows the loan policies by format for each SJVLS jurisdiction. This tells you what items are allowed to fill holds from one jurisdiction to another.

Similar priorities apply to every jurisdiction. Horizon will always look to see if there's a copy of the item in the same jurisdiction as the pick up location before looking further away.


rev. 2/2020