Holds

Koha allows patrons to put things on hold. A ‘Hold’ is a way to reserve an item. Depending on your circulation and fines rules and hold system preference settings, patrons will be able to place items on hold for pickup at the library at a later date and time.

See the section placing holds in the OPAC chapter to learn how to place holds from the OPAC.

Placing holds in the staff interface

Note

Staff members must have the place_holds permission (or the superlibrarian permission) in order to be able to place holds.

There are several ways to place holds from the staff interface. The most obvious is using the ‘Place hold’ button at the top of any bibliographic record.

Detailed record in the staff interface

You can also click the smaller ‘Place hold’ link found at the top of your catalog search results, or the ‘Holds’ link found below each result.

A single search result in the staff interface

To place holds on multiple titles at the same time, check the boxes next to the titles in the search results, and click the ‘Place hold’ button at the top of the search results.

Note

This feature can be disabled with the DisplayMultiPlaceHold system preference.

You will be asked to search for a patron by barcode or any part of their name to start the hold process.

Patron search when placing a hold

If you’d like to search for the patron first and then the bibliographic record for the hold, you can open the patron record and click on the ‘Search to Hold’ button at the top of the patron record.

Row of action buttons at the top of the patron's detail page: Edit, Add guarantee, Change password, Duplicate, Print, Search to hold, Add message, Schedule pickup, and More

After clicking the button, you will be brought to the catalog search page where you can find the title or titles you need to place a hold on. Under each title in the result list, there will be an option to ‘Place hold for (patron name).’

Single search result in the staff interface, among the options at the bottom, there is Holds and Place hold for Eva Dillon

If you want to place a hold on multiple titles for this patron, check the boxes to the left of the titles, click the arrow to the right of the ‘Place Hold’ button and choose ‘Place hold for (patron name)’.

The arrow button next to the 'Place hold' at the top of the search results in the staff interface is pressed and the options are: Place hold, Place hold for Eva Dillon, and Forget Eva Dillon

Note

Once the holds are placed, you can choose to have Koha ‘forget’ the patron’s name by clicking the arrow to the right of the ‘Place hold’ button on the search results and choosing the ‘Forget (patron name)’ option.

Depending on how many items you choose to place a hold on at once, you will see a different place hold form. If you are placing a hold on one bibliographic record, you will see a list of all of the items you can place a hold on.

Form for placing a hold on a single bibliographic record

Patron: the patron’s name for whom this hold is

Estimated priority: this takes into account holds that are already placed on this title

Notes: enter any notes that might apply to this hold

Request specific item type: if the AllowHoldItemTypeSelection system preference is set to ‘Allow’ there will be an option to choose to limit the hold to a specific item type

Hold starts on date: if the AllowHoldDateInFuture system preference is set to ‘Allow’, and the patron wants the hold to start on a date other than today, enter the date here

Hold expires on: if the patron has specified that they don’t want the item after a certain date, or if you have limits on hold lengths, you can enter an expiration date for the hold in the ‘Hold expires on date’

Note

To cancel expired holds automatically, your system administrator needs to set the cancel_expired_holds.pl cronjob to run on a regular basis.

Non-priority hold: if you are placing a hold for internal purposes, such as checking for missing pages or needing to add a label, check the ‘Non-priority hold’ box. This type of hold will not prevent the patron who currently has the item from renewing their checkout.

To place a hold on the next available item (default setting), fill the next part of the form. For more specific hold settings, choose an item group in the ‘Hold next available item from an item group’ section or a specific item in the ‘Hold a specific item’ section below.

Section of the hold form to place a hold on the next available item. The section is selected and is highlighted in green with a green checkmark in the top left corner. Fields are Pickup at, and Holds to place (count), followed by a yellow Place hold button

Pickup at: choose the library where the patron will pick up the item

Note

The default pickup library is determined by the DefaultHoldPickupLocation system preference.

Request specific item type: if the AllowHoldItemTypeSelection system preference is set to ‘Allow’ there will be an option to choose to limit the hold to a specific item type

Holds to place (count): if multiple holds per record are allowed, you can enter a number in the ‘Holds to place (count)’ text box to place that number of holds for the selected patron.

Note

The ‘Holds to place (count)’ text box will only appear if the Circulation and Fines rules are set to allow a ‘Holds per record’ limit that is greater than 1, but not Unlimited, for this combination of item type and patron category.

To place a hold on the next available item from an item group, rather than the next available item on the whole record or a specific item, select this section and fill it out.

Section of the hold form to place a hold on the next available item from an item group. The section is selected and is highlighted in green with a green checkmark in the top left corner. The is a Pickup at field, followed by an item group table where the first column contains the selection radio button, the second column contains the item group name, and the third column contains barcodes for the holdable items in that group. The table is followed by a yellow Place hold button

Note

This section will only appear if the EnableItemGroupHolds system preference is set to ‘Enable’ and the record has item groups. You can choose to place a hold on the next available item of a group.

Pickup at: choose the library where the patron will pick up the item

Note

The default pickup library is determined by the DefaultHoldPickupLocation system preference.

Select an item group on which to place the hold.

To place a hold on a specific item, rather than the next available item on the whole record or the next available item in an item group, select this section and fill it out.

Section of the hold form to place a hold on a specific item. The section is selected and is highlighted in green with a green checkmark in the top left corner. The section is a table with the following columns: Hold (radio button to select the item), Allowed pickup locations, Item type, Barcode, Item group, Home library, Last location, Call number, Copy number, Vol no. and Information. The table is followed by a yellow Place hold button

Select the item to place on hold.

Note

Enabling the DisplayMultiItemHolds system preference will allow to select multiple individual items in this section to place multiple item-level holds at the same time for the same patron. If the system preference is enabled, the system will allow you to select more than one item.

If necessary, change the pickup location.

Note

The default pickup library is determined by the DefaultHoldPickupLocation system preference.

If you’re placing holds on multiple records, you will be presented with the next available option for all titles. If no items are available for hold it will say so on the confirmation screen.

Form for placing holds on multiple bibliographic records. There is a warning message at the top of the page stating 'Cannot place hold on some items No items available: One or more records have no items that can be held'. The hold form contains the fields Patron, Notes, Pickup at, and Hold expires on date. They are followed by a table of the titles to place on hold with the columns Selection, Pickup location, Title, Priority, and Information. One line in the table is highlighted and the information column states 'No items are available to be placed on hold'. The other lines are selected. There is a 'Place holds' button at the bottom of the page.

If your library uses the patron clubs feature, use the ‘Clubs’ tab to place a hold for a club.

To place a hold for a club, click the ‘Clubs’ tab, search for and select the club name, and click the ‘Place hold’ button.

Club search box when placing a hold for a patron club

Managing holds

Holds can be altered and cancelled from the holds tab found on the left of the bibliographic record.

'Holds' tab of a bibliographic record

From the list of holds you can change the order of the holds, the pickup location, whether the hold is on a specific item or for the next available item, suspend, or cancel the hold.

List of existing holds on a record

Note

If the HoldsSplitQueue system preference is set, you will see the holds list split across different tables by either pickup library, item type or both.

Note

If the AllowHoldDateInFuture system preference is set to “Don’t allow”, you will not have the option to edit the date the hold was placed (the column labelled Date).

Note

Depending on how the HidePatronName system preference is set, the list may show card numbers instead of names in the patron column like in the image above.

Changing the order of the holds

Note

Staff members must have the modify_holds_priority permission (or the superlibrarian permission) in order to be able to change holds’ priorities.

To rearrange holds, make a selection from the ‘Priority’ drop-down or click the arrows to the right of the priority pull down.

In the table of existing holds on a record, the Priority drop-down is open

Warning

Clicking the double down arrow to the right of the hold will stick the hold at the bottom of the list even if more requests are made.

For example, if your library has home-bound patrons that are allowed to keep items out for months at a time, it would not be fair to other patrons if a home-bound patron were able to check out a brand new book and keep it for months. For this reason, the home-bound patron’s hold request would stay at the bottom of the queue until everyone else who wanted to read that book has already done so.

In the list of existing holds, lowest priority holds are indicated by the double down arrow with a line underneath.

In the list of existing holds on a record, the last hold in the list has the lowest priority activated.

Clicking the double arrow again will put the hold back in regular priority, in last place.

Changing the level of a hold

Version

This feature was added in version 23.11 of Koha.

Sometimes it can be necessary to change a hold that has been made on a specific item (known as an item level hold) to a hold that is not specific to an item and will be filled as soon as the next item is returned (often referred to as a record level hold). To change the level of a hold, make a selection from the ‘Details’ dropdown and confirm the change by clicking the ‘Update hold(s)’ button above.

In the table of existing holds on a record, the 'Details' dropdown is open and the option to set the hold level to 'Next available' is selected

Suspending holds

If a patron asks to have their hold suspended and the SuspendHoldsIntranet system preference is set to ‘Allow’, you can do so by clicking the ‘Suspend’ button at the far right.

If the patron gives you a date for the holds to resume, you can enter that in the date box and click the ‘Update hold(s)’ button to save your changes.

List of existing holds on a record, the first hold is suspended until 03/14/2023

Note

If the AutoResumeSuspendedHolds system preference is set to “Don’t allow” there will not be the option to put an end date on the hold suspension.

Note

The auto_unsuspend_holds.pl cron job is required to automatically resume suspended holds.

You can also unsuspend holds manually by clicking the ‘Unsuspend’ button.

If the SuspendHoldsOpac system preference is set to ‘Allow’, patrons will be able to suspend and unsuspend their own holds from their online account.

Deleting holds

To delete or cancel a hold, click the red trash can to the right of the hold line.

To delete/cancel a bunch of holds you can choose ‘del’ from the drop-down menu on the left of each line and then click ‘Update hold(s)’ at the bottom of the list.

The list of existing holds on a record, the Priority drop-down is open and the mouse cursor is on the 'del' option.

Alternatively, you can select the holds to be cancelled and click the ‘Cancel selected’ button.

Receiving holds

When items that are on hold are checked in or out the system will remind the circulation staff that the item is on hold and offer them options for managing the hold.

When you check in an item that has a hold on it the system will ask you to either confirm and transfer the item

Hold found pop up message indicating the item should be transferred to Centerville, the pickup library. The options are 'Confirm hold and transfer', 'Print slip, transfer, and confirm' or 'Ignore'

or just confirm the hold

Hold found pop up message. Shows the title and barcode of the item, folloed by 'Hold for' and the patron's name, category, address and phone number. There is a note 'Patron is not notified' and 'Main contact method: phone'. The options are 'Confirm hold (Y)', 'Print slip and confirm (P)' or 'Ignore (I)'.

If the item needs to be transferred, clicking ‘Confirm and transfer’ or ‘Print slip, transfer, and confirm’ will mark the item as in transit to the proper library.

If the item is already at the pickup library, clicking the ‘Confirm’ or the ‘Print slip and confirm’ button will mark the item as ready for pickup by the patron.

Clicking ‘Ignore’ will retain the hold, but allow the item to be checked out to another patron or change the status of the item (if it was returned damaged, for example).

The ‘Print slip and confirm’ or ‘Print slip, transfer, and confirm’ options will open a printable page that you can attach to the item with the necessary hold or transfer information.

Note

The slip that is printed is the HOLD_SLIP notice. It can be modified with the Notices and slips tool.

When the hold is confirmed, if the patron is notified, the ‘hold filled’ notice will be sent to them.

Note

The notice that is sent is the HOLD notice. It can be modified with the Notices and slips tool.

Note

If the HoldsAutoFill system preference is enabled, the circulation staff will not have to confirm the hold, but they will have the option to print the hold or transfer slip.

Hold found and confirmed message. The only option is to print the slip

If the HoldsAutoFillPrintSlip system preference is enabled, the print window to print the hold or transfer slip will open automatically.

Once confirmed, the hold will show as ‘waiting’ on the patron record and on the checkout screen under the ‘Holds’ tab.

Table of patron's current holds

The item record will also show that the item is on hold.

Holdings table in a bibliographic record in the staff interface, the item's status indicates that it is Waiting at Centerville since 07/28/2022. Hold for Mary Burton.

In some cases, a patron may come in to pick up a hold on behalf of someone else. In this case, make sure that the hold is cancelled when you check the item out to someone else. Alternatively, a check out might be attempted in error for an item that is already waiting for someone else. In this case you will be presented with a warning message.

Warning message when attempting to checkout an item that is currently on hold and awaiting pickup to another patron. There are two options: Cancel hold and Revert waiting status. And three buttons: Yes, checkout, Don't checkout and print slip, or No, don't checkout.

Cancel hold: in combination with ‘Yes, check out’, this option will cancel the current hold and check the item out to the new patron.

Revert waiting status: in combination with ‘Yes, check out’, this option will revert the waiting status of the hold (the patron who placed the hold will be back in first position in the queue) and check the item out to the new patron.

Yes, check out: this option will check the item out to the current patron.

Don’t check out and print slip: this option will open the print window to print the hold slip, the check out will be cancelled and the hold will remain.

No, don’t check out: this option will cancel the check out, the hold will remain.

If you check in an item that is already waiting to be picked up, a pop up indicating that a hold was found and the item is already waiting will appear. In addition to this, there is an option to allow staff to cancel the hold and choose a hold cancellation reason.

Note

Hold cancellation reasons are connected to the HOLD_CANCELLATION authorized value category.

Hold found item is already waiting checkin message

Confirm hold: this option will keep the existing hold.

Print slip and confirm: this option will open the print window to print the hold slip and keep the existing hold.

Cancel hold: this option will remove the hold.

If you cancel the hold and further holds exist for the item you will be presented with a new option to confirm the hold for the next patron.

A reason can be allocated to the cancellation of the hold. A notice can be sent to the patron explaining why this hold was cancelled.

Warning

If you want to send a notice with the cancellation reason, you will need to add a new notice with code “HOLD_CANCELLATION” if you do not have one already.

FAQ Category
Koha
Summary
Holds Koha allows patrons to put things on hold. A ‘Hold’ is a way to reserve an item. Depending on your circulation and fines rules and hold system preference settings, patrons will be able to place items on hold for pickup at the library at a later date and time. See the section placing holds in the OPAC chapter to learn how to place holds from the OPAC. Placing holds in the staff interface Note Staff members must have the place_holds permission (or the superlibrarian permission) in order to be able to place holds. There are several ways to place holds from the staff interface. The most obvious is using the ‘Place hold’ button at the top of any bibliographic record. You ...
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