Editor’s note: This is a weekly column that provides readers with insight into the happenings of the four county libraries.
Browsing the shelves at your local library can be a great way to stumble across your next summer read or spot a DVD to add to this weekend’s movie marathon, but sometimes, you may come to the library with a particular title in mind. Hopefully that title is available on the shelf at your local branch, but if it’s not, that doesn’t mean that you have to drive out of your way to pick it up elsewhere.
Botetourt County Libraries has four branches – Blue Ridge, Buchanan, Eagle Rock and Fincastle – and a Bookmobile. In addition, the Botetourt County Libraries system is a member of the Roanoke Valley Libraries (RVL) consortium, which also includes Roanoke County, Roanoke City, and Salem libraries. These four libraries (19 branches in all) have joined together to share resources with patrons. Your RVL card gets you access to all the books, movies, and music in all 19 branches, as well as many online resources like eBooks.
Items belonging to any branch of the Roanoke Valley Libraries can be requested, or “placed on hold,” for you to pick up at the branch that’s most convenient for you. Almost any item that is allowed to be checked out can be placed on hold. To place an item on hold, you can ask a staff member to do it for you in person or by phone, or you can do it yourself online at www.rvl.info. When placing a hold, be sure to indicate the branch at which you would like to pick up your item. There is no limit to the number of items that you can place on hold at one time. If an item that you have placed on hold is not currently checked out, it usually only takes two to three days for it to arrive at your selected location. Popular items, however, may have a waiting list.
Every day, library staff at each branch print out a list of items that have been placed on hold. These items are pulled from the shelves and then scanned into the computer system, which prints a ticket showing where to send each item. Staff then sort and place items into transit boxes. Every weekday, a courier picks up the boxes at each branch, loads them into a van, and takes them where they need to go.
When an item that you’ve placed on hold becomes available, a library staff member will call or email you to let you know that item is ready for pick up. Libraries will hold items for you for up to four days. If you can’t get there in time, call the branch where it’s held and ask if they can keep it longer. If you do not pick up your item within that timeframe, it will be sent back to the branch that owns it.
If you’d like to learn how to search the library catalog and place holds, be sure to stop by your local branch and ask the library staff to show you!
-Audrey Clark
