Borrow By Mail (sometimes abbreviated to BBM) is functionality that allows patrons to request material and have it mailed or delivered to them. This is a licensed feature.

Processing centers: One or more branches can be designated as a processing center. When this is the case, the pickup location for a Borrow By Mail request will default to a designated processing center and the item will be routed there using normal holds routing. The processing center would then be responsible for sending the item to the patron rather than the item's assigned branch.

Loan Period: You can specify how many days should be added to the normal loan period so that the patron can have the item for the expected length of time while accomodating for shipping.

Notices: Polaris does not send notices of successfully filled BBM requests; instead, the item is mailed with a cover letter that explains the charges (if any), item data, and return instructions. If the checkout of a Borrow By Mail item fails due to patron blocks, Polaris can generate a failure notice to inform the customer. This is an optional feature that is enabled in the Borrow By Mail request parameter.

Settings

The settings specific to Borrow By Mail are located in System Administration under Parameter->Request->Borrow by mail. All parts of the setting can be changed at any level of SA except for the processing centers tab, which is only available at the System level.

Processing Centers tab: Choose which branches, if any, are processing centers.

Options tab: Enable Borrow By Mail, choose a processing center, choose whether or not there are notes or a PAC message, choose to suppress BBM charges for Outreach Services patrons, and set how many days to add to the loan period.

Limits tab: Set up which patron codes are allowed to place BBM requests and how much they are charged for it. Set up which material types can fill BBM requests.

Print & Notices tab: Set up which address is listed as the return address (item or processing), and choose whether to send failure notices and how.

Workflow

First, a Borrow By Mail hold request is created. This can be done in the PAC if the functionality is enabled for the patron's registered branch; the pickup location will show as "Borrow By Mail" to the patron rather than a branch name. Or the hold creation can be done in the Polaris client by the staff member checking the "Borrow by mail" box underneath the pickup location dropdown.

Next, an item is located to fill the hold. It is checked in and either changed to a status of Held, or sent to the processing center, where it will need to be checked in again so the status of the item and hold request is changed to Held.

Request manager

To check the item out to the patron, highlight the hold in Request Manager. Click the "Bulk Check Out" icon in the top right, of right click on the hold and select "Bulk Check Out." When a BBM item is checked out, both the item and the hold are changed to a status of Out. The hold will be deleted when the item is returned.

To the right of the "Bulk Check Out" icon is the "Print Borrow by Mail Mailer" icon. Select the hold(s) you want to print labels for, click the icon, and a cover letter, mailing label and return label will be printed.

The staff member mails the item and the return address label to the patron. If the package has a tracking number, they can enter it in the Tracking field of the hold request workform.

When the patron is done with the item, they return it to the library using the included return address label. If they return the item late, or do not return it at all, the item will follow the same overdue/billed/lost processing as a non-BBM item.

For more information, see the Polaris Help files "Setting Up Borrow by Mail Circulation" and "Bulk-Processing Borrow by Mail Items."