HOLDS
What does it to mean to request a hold or to place a hold?
When an item that you want to use is already checked out to another library patron, you can ask that it be held for you when it is returned. By placing a "Hold", you are assuring your place on a list of other patrons who may also be waiting their turn. This is often the case with "best sellers" during the first year of publication. You may also want to have a Hold placed on a title that is not at the peak of its popularity, but happens to be in use when you are looking for it.
Place a Hold:
The Altoona Library catalog software allows individual registered patrons to place an electronic hold tag on the circulation record of the item selected. This means that an Altoona Library patron can locate the title needed in the catalog, see that it is already checked out, and activate a Hold on that record in his or her own name. This occurs in "real time" so that you are actually next in line to be called. You must, of course, have an Altoona Library barcode on your card and a PIN which can identify you in that database.
Locate the item in the Altoona catalog that you want held.
Place a check mark next to the title in a list of titles, or click on the title to bring up the catalog record for that item.
Click on the blue "request" button near the top of the screen.
Select "Place an Immediate Hold". The form before you has already identified the title you want from the record you selected.
Enter your Altoona Library barcode number and PIN. You may use your social security number instead (Alternate Number), however, only if already registered as a patron. The PIN is necessary with either number.
Submit.
You will be notified by library staff when the item is available to pick up.
Request that a Hold be placed for you:
The catalog software used by the seven smaller public libraries does not provide the ability to activate a Hold on the database unless done so by library staff with full access to database records. As you use our Web catalog from home, you may find items which you would like to have held. For that reason, we have provided a "Holds Request Form", allowing you to electronically ask library staff to place a Hold for you. This is not done in "real time", however, so there is always a possibility that patrons who request a Hold in person or by phone may be placed on the list before your message has been read and a Hold has been activated in your name.
The library will need specific information on who you are, what you need, and how to contact you. They will also need to verify that you are a registered patron at that site.
Your Name: Type in your name as it appears on your library card. This will help to eliminate any confusion over similarly named patrons.
Your Email Address: If you have an e-mail account and check it regularly, this may be the most efficient way to communicate. Playing "phone tag", if library staff need to clarify the title you are requesting, will slow down our ability to fill your request.
Your Phone Number: Please provide the number at which you can be reached even if you have provided an e-mail address.
The Library at which you are registered: Click on the arrow to view a dropdown menu of Blair County public libraries. Select the library at which you want to have a Hold placed. This form will automatically send to the e-mail inbox at that library. This is were you will go to pick up the item when it becomes available.
Your Library Card Number: Type in the 14 digit number from the barcode attached to your library card. If you have registered at more than one library, be sure to use the number for the library at which you are asking the item be held.
The name and call number of the item: Type in the title, author and call number of the item requested. You may be able to "copy and paste" this information into the Hold Request Form from the catalog record.
You will be notified by library staff when the item is available to pick up.