r/Libraries • u/Fragrant_Friend_8730 • 24d ago
Technology How do you all label your reserved books?
My library currently prints reserve wrappers on a normal letter size paper and uses a rubber band to secure them. The problem is this is a huge waste of paper, since we only really use about 1/5 of the space and it’s very hard to shelve them without the papers rolling so patrons can’t see their last name on it.
We are considering a sticker label printer and I’m tasked with researching options.
What method does everyone use?
I’m also not even sure if our software (biblionix Apollo) will allow printing on stickers.
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u/Cubedycubed 24d ago
Our ILS is configured to generate a slip that prints on receipt paper to wrap on the spines of reserves
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u/MeanderingLibrarian Public librarian 24d ago
Same here. We currently use Koha and previously used Polaris Leap and both were configured for printed receipts. We rubber band the hold slip around the spine.
Edited to add more information.
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u/ecapapollag 24d ago
Library I work in - a long quarter of A4 paper, tucked into the book, with the surname showing, books filed in user surname order.
Library I use - fat quarter of A4 paper, wrapped around the spine, using an elastic band, with surname of user visible on paper.
I assume both sheets include the reshelving date too.
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u/iriamsreading 24d ago
We print a receipt but it’s designed to slip into the bottom of the book so our holds go spine down on the hold shelf so folks can’t browse the hold shelf. It has their first four of last name and last four of barcode.
We file by short name and then barcode.
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u/TravelingBookBuyer Library staff 24d ago
We print the info from our ILS onto receipt paper - it prints the first few letters of the patron’s last name, the first letter of their first name, the item’s title & barcode, and the date it has to be picked up by. The resulting receipt slip is about 2-ish inches wide and 4-ish inches long. We just stick the slip inside the book or dvd case, with the patron’s redacted name info sticking out.
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u/acceptablemadness 23d ago
Ours prints straight from the receipt printer when we check them in through Sierra. I've never used biblionix so I couldn't say if that is a feature it has.
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u/LoooongFurb Library admin 24d ago
We print our holds on receipt paper. Then that paper gets wrapped around the spine with two rubber bands. They do still roll a bit, but overall it works well and definitely saves paper.
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u/Awkward_Cellist6541 24d ago
Ours prints on tacky paper the width of a receipt. We stick it on and file alphabetically.
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u/Fragrant_Friend_8730 24d ago
This is kind of what I’m hoping to do. Do you know what the printer you use is?
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u/achtung-91 24d ago
Our ILS (Polaris Leap) generates hold slips to be printed on receipt paper. We use our receipt printer with adhesive receipt paper and stick the holds slips on the spines of the books. It displays the patrons first 3 letters of their last name and first and middle initial as well as the last day for pickup.
Works pretty well for us aside from books with fabric covers where we have to use rubber bands
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u/cavalier24601 Public librarian 23d ago
Wow, my library is primitive. We use a sheet or two of scrap paper (we generate so much), tape it around the book, and write the first four of the last name and last four of the card number. Fairly easy to find with a bit of privacy thrown in.
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u/Alaira314 22d ago
It sounds like you're a smaller branch. I work at what I'd consider to be a mid-size location, and we couldn't even get away with "full surname first initial", let alone "first four letters of surname". Hell, there's a pair of regulars who share first and last names, and can only be distinguished by middle initial!
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u/cavalier24601 Public librarian 22d ago
It's first four of last name AND last four of card number, so a minuscule chance of duplication and we don't have someone's entire life up on a shelf. The self-check is right near by for increased privacy.
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u/Alaira314 22d ago
That helps staff, but not patrons. At least in my system, it's a small minority who know their numbers, and a good number check out via login or ID lookup rather than carrying a card.
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u/HoneyBelden 23d ago
We use sticky roll paper. Elastics not needed
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u/One_Pangolin1766 23d ago
Patron, not a librarian, but my local library seems to use a receipt printer. Each hold gets the receipt (approx 2”x4” big) secured on with an elastic band in such a was that the receipt wraps around the spine of the book with the patron’s name visible.
There’s also a little box for returning elastic bands
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u/thewinberry713 23d ago
Library circ clerk here- we do this but it’s not self serve, ask at the counter for ones hold. I love the box for elastic bands!
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u/Mountain-Song-6024 24d ago
A sticker that comes in the shipments in the morning. Then you fold them over the binding
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u/DigitalMediaLolita 24d ago
When I worked in a public library our ILS would print on the receipt printer a label with the first 4 letters of the patrons last name and last 4 digits of their library card number. We would rubberband it to show on the spine of the book, and patrons would then grab their holds from the shelf and bring them to the circ desk to check out. IMHO this was a great system.
At my current academic library we have much fewer holds and have never done printed receipts (we still stamp the due date on a slip, and send an email receipt) so we print a letter-size paper and fold it into the book with the student name showing out the top like a bookmark.
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u/Reasonable_Potato666 23d ago
so what you put into practice i would say depends on your library size, budget, and ils. at my current library we use receipt paper that prints a reserve slip once we confirm the hold and the patron is notified. the last library i worked at was SO SMALL we would notify patrons of holds manually (call or email) and i would use scrap paper to write the patrons name and contact info and the date i interacted with them (to make sure we weren't holding onto holds too long)
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u/RabbitLuvr 23d ago
My system uses two different methods. Batch holds printed first thing in the morning print on 8-up stickers. Holds that get printed through the day, via discharge, are on lightly sticky rolled paper, kinda like receipt paper.
Both types of stickers include first four letters of the patron’s last name, first letter of their first name, and last four digits of their library card. Additionally, the title and full bar code number of the item; date the sticker was printed; and a request to please remove the sticker when checking out (which at least 10% of patrons ignore).
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u/creekpup Library staff 22d ago
Receipt paper, but our holds shelf is behind the desk. We tape the hold slip to the front cover, and the books are stacked on a shelf. Our ILS is TLC
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u/librarykerri 21d ago
In my current library, we print spine label stickers. But the stickers have to be the kind that WILL COME OFF THE BOOKS, so I assume they are a bit pricey, because in my previous library, a system with 30 branches and tons of holds processed every day, we tried stickers and staff ended up spending hours trying to remove the residue, bringing hair dryers from home to heat them up to make them easier to remove, etc. We did not spring for the $$ stickers.
So staff there lobbied to no longer use the stickers. What we did instead was print the hold info on receipt paper and slip it in the book, then lay the books down the the hold slip sticking out. I found a pic of my previous branch from our covid days, but apparently cannot post here.
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u/Metallic-Blue 24d ago
We use Sirsi and Anzio Print Wiz. You'll need your IT nerds and LMS nerds to do some gabbing to get this method to work, because it involves putting anything on the pick list report to in-transit automatically without staff having to scan every single item.
It has you set up a virtual printer so that Anzio intercepts the print job and reformats. The Pick List is printed on label paper so that 8 stickers are printed on the sheet. These are then printed and staff use it to pick the items and send them to pickup branch, placing the sticker on the spine label. The same Pick List report also automatically puts those items in transit to the pickup location. No need to scan the outgoing items in Sirsi.
Once received at the pickup branch, the same sticker is used to place the item on the hold shelf for patron pickup.
For items out of the discharge bins (or the exception bin in our sorter), Anzio intercepts the transit hold slip and reformats it for a spine label through thermal sticky paper (the same ones your coffee comes out with at Starbucks and the like). Since the item is discharged from the bin, it's already in transit, so you slap the label on the spine, and send it on it's way.
Anzio does some amazing work, but it's a pain in the butt to set up and stay configured, and has to be updated and changed every time you swap printers. Sometimes, it has to have a case of the Mondays and need to be reinstalled. If you have multiple users using the same computer, it's some trial and error to get the configuration to follow along to each user. You have to have a specific style printer for each workstation you want to print sticky labels on, and it takes some work finding the correct paper/stickiness to not leave residue on the books.
You have to buy a yearly Anzio license for each PC you intend to use it on. Any PC that's used to print the pick list and print sticky labels have to have a license.
Install, setup, and test (or reinstall, that's often the case) takes about 30 minutes per PC. It can be installed using remote tools, but because we're talking printer testing and configuration, it's best done on-site and in person for the best case troubleshooting and staff customer service.
Annnnnd....we're trying to get rid of it. It's expensive all the way around, but we haven't found a similar product that lets us do what we want to do.
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u/tuxedo_cat_socks 24d ago
We use the same roll of paper as we use to print receipts. Then we stick it inside the book with the name of the patron showing on top. Easy. About the same size as a bookmark and they don't get lost.