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Place a Hold

Want to be next in line to borrow? Just place a hold.
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No copies available, or browsing our physical items from home? Be the next in line.

 

Placing something on hold at the Racine Public Library is the best way to reserve a physical item or be the next in line to check something out. There’s no need to keep checking the catalog — we’ll let you know as soon as the item is ready for you to borrow.

How do I place a hold?

How to Put Physical Items on Hold

 

  1. Use the Racine Public Library’s physical catalog to find an item you want to place on hold.
  2. Then, click the “Place a Hold” button.
  3. In the box that pops up, first enter your library card number and PIN to log in. (If you’re already logged in, the box will automatically take you to the next step.)
  4. After that, use the drop-down menu on the box’s right side to choose where you want to pick up your hold.
  5. Finally, click the “Place Hold(s)” button at the bottom of the pop-up box to finalize your choice. You have succeeded if the text in the window changes to say “Success! You will be notified when holds become available.”

 

How to Put Digital Titles on Hold

 

  1. Find the title you want to place on hold in our digital catalog through its website or the Libby app.
  2. Click “Place Hold” on the item.
  3. When the confirmation screen pops up, click “Place Hold!” again. If the screen changes to say “You have placed a hold,” you’ve succeeded.

 

Note: You can also borrow digital titles through hoopla and Comics Plus. The titles here are always available, so no holds are needed! 

How long will I have to wait?

Physical Holds

 

You can see in an item’s listing in our catalog the estimated wait time for an item, if there’s a line for it. While we can’t give an exact estimate of when your hold will be ready, once you’re the next person on the list, you can get the item as soon as we prepare it for you. Items at our library typically take one business day to process, and items we have to collect from other libraries typically don’t take more than five business days to prepare.

 

Digital Holds

 

You can see in a title’s listing a rough estimate of how long it will take for your hold to be ready. Or, if you go to your account in our catalog or the Wisconsin’s Digital Library website, you can also see how many people are ahead of you in line. Once you’re the next person on the list, you can view or download your title immediately.

How will I know when my hold is ready?

How We Notify You about Physical Holds

 

We’ll notify you according to your preferences when your hold is ready. We’ll notify you by email by default, but if you’d like to be notified by mail, automated call or text instead, just ask a library staff member for help.

 

If you need to update the email, address or phone attached to your account before then, you can do so through the catalog. Once the page loads, navigate to My Account > Personal Information and click the “Edit” button. From there, you can then edit your contact information. However, note that you can’t change how you want to be notified on this page — a staff member has to make that change for you.

 

How We Notify You about Digital Holds

 

In Wisconsin’s Digital Library, you get to decide how you’re notified. To set your preferences, open the Libby app and go to Main Menu > Settings > Manage Notifications. From there, you can decide if you want a notification, just an in-app icon, or no alert when one of your holds is available.

 

If you set your notification settings through the website version of Libby, the notification you can set up will be an email. If you use the Libby app instead, the notification will be an alert on your device.

What can I place on hold?

Physical Items You Can Place on Hold

 

You can place anything you can find in our catalog on hold. However, if you can’t find something in our catalog, you can try an interlibrary loan.

 

Digital Titles You Can Place on Hold

 

You can place on hold any of the titles you can find in Wisconsin’s Digital Library or the Libby app. Note that you can only place holds on 10 titles at a time — but you can check out up to 10 more.

Where do I check out my holds?

Where to Pick Up Physical Holds

 

If you get a staff member’s help to place a physical item on hold, then just let them know where you want to pick your item up. You can pick up from the Racine Public Library, our Bookmobile or another library in the SHARE Consortium.

 

When you use our catalog to place a physical item on hold, you can instead select your pick-up location yourself from the pop-up box’s drop-down menu.

 

Hint: If you need to change the menu’s default pick-up location, then just visit My Account > Personal Information > Preferences. There will be a drop-down menu called “Preferred Pickup Library” where you can select the library you’ll use the most.

 

After that, if you pick up from the Racine Public Library, you can find anything you put on hold on the shelves to the right of the main entrance. Just bring it to the front desk or a checkout station, and then you’re set.

 

Where to Check Out Digital Holds

 

When your hold is ready in Wisconsin’s Digital Library, just open the website or app. From there, find the hold on your shelf, then click “borrow,” and it’ll be moved from your holds to your digital shelf.

How long can I keep an item on hold?

How Long We Hold Physical Items

 

You have seven days to pick up your hold before we put it back on the shelf or, if applicable, offer it to the next person on the hold list.

 

How Long We Hold Digital Titles

 

Once your title is available in Wisconsin’s Digital Library, you’ll have three days before the item will go back on the (virtual) shelf or be delivered to the next person in line. Before then, you’ll want to make sure to either borrow, delay or cancel the hold through the website or the Libby app.

 

Delaying your hold lets you decide when you want it to be delivered. When your chosen delivery date comes, you’ll be the next in line to get the title once someone returns it.

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