Adding Patrons

Hello!
I volunteer manage my church's library, and I was wondering if it's possible for patrons to be able to add themselves (i.e I don't have to enter each parishioner and student individually, they can just add their name when they go to check-out a book). There are too many people at the parish, including students at the University we serve, for me to add them all individually. Is there a way, with full-circulation enabled, to allow them to create an account when they log in, or does it have to be generated by an admin. If this isn't possible, is there a way I can allow them to check-out a book without having to have a patron ID (obviously not with full-circulation, and it would be preferable if they could input their name somehow).

Currently, I'm just learning the system with a personal plan for my own personal library before I pitch TinyCat to my parish priest. I don't know if that would affect me being able to understand and access the system, but I figured I'd ask now so I can (hopefully) have it figured out before then! Thanks!

- Damien

Hi Damien,

Thanks for your message. Unfortunately, as a security feature, patrons cannot add themselves to your TinyCat, you or a staff admin must add or import them to the system:

• You can read more about the "Admin Users" feature (for staff/volunteer admins) here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/335236. The thread explains where you can add users and how to use the feature generally. You can also check out our Help page at https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/TinyCat:_Settings_%C2%BB_Admin_Users, which explains how users can be added, how they can log in, and more.


• You can import patrons in batches from the Admin > Patrons page here: https://www.librarycat.org/admin/patrons. Feel free to check out the Help page for more information: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/TinyCat:_Circulation_%C2%BB_Patrons.

Additionally, I've seen some libraries make their own workaround of sorts, so that patrons can be added remotely:

• By modifying the "Ask About This" feature in TinyCat (from https://www.librarycat.org/admin/settings/detail, it's how anyone can request info about an item to the library admin), you can request new patrons to leave a note in the library for the checked-out items, and/or fill out the "Ask About This" (usually renamed to "New Patron Checkout" or something obvious) pop-up with their info, so the you can add them and the checked out books later.


• You could also add a link to a Google Doc (on your TinyCat homepage) for folks to fill out/register, so you can add them to the system.

I hope this gives you some ideas! Please let me know if you have any other questions, or if there's anything else I can do to help.

>2 kristilabrie: Great, thank you for the tips!

If I'm using a microsoft form to create a patron database to batch import patrons, do I have to include "middle name" and "suffix" on the form? Im looking at the PatronImportSample file and it has these fields.

>4 LACCAdultEd: You shouldn't need to include that information! If you're creating an import spreadsheet, it is definitely a good idea to include those columns, but you can leave them blank. The only two necessary fields for imports should be some kind of name and barcode. You can find more information about the process here: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/TinyCat:_Circulation_%C2%BB_Patrons, but please let me know if you have any more questions.

Thanks. I'm definitely a little confused. We aren't using barcodes, but we do need to have patron have a unique ID to use the library. If I enter something in the barcode column manually just for the sake of making it possible to import the database of patrons, what will that do to the user experience? Will patrons need that info in addition to their Patron ID to access the library and check out books? This part is definitely challenging for me.

>6 LACCAdultEd: No worries, you're nearly there! The "patron barcodes" and "patron IDs" are the exact same thing. So just enter your patron's unique IDs in that column, and their names in the name column, along with any other information you'd like to include in the import. Totally okay to leave other columns blank.

I hope that helps! I know that the double-naming of barcodes/patron IDs is a little confusing, sorry about that.