Another excellent idea.  Clearly we need to pay more attention to the paging slips.  :)

Deb Hemmye
Library Director
Huntington Woods Public Library
26415 Scotia Road
Huntington Woods, MI 48070
248-543-9720, ext. 686

Currently listening to Sunrise on the Reaping, by Suzanne Collins



From: "Laura Orlowski" <info@jonesvilledistrictlibrary.org>
To: "BERRIEN SPRINGS COMMUNITY LIBRARY" <bsclibrary@comcast.net>
Cc: "Deb Hemmye" <dhemmye@hwoodslib.org>, "Michlib" <michlib-l@liblists.org>
Sent: Thursday, December 18, 2025 10:59:14 AM
Subject: Re: [Michlib-l] Re: MeL barcodes

Deb;
One "trick" we have found helps when adding "b" or 't" or the zv# after the barcode doesn't work.
Check the patron name on the paging slip and go to their account on Sierra, then match the item with the "in transit" item - this should show you how the barcode appears. 
Also, sometimes hand-typing the barcode works when scanning doesn't.
I hope this info helps,
-Laura at Jonesville District Library

On Thu, Dec 18, 2025 at 10:53 AM BERRIEN SPRINGS COMMUNITY LIBRARY via Michlib-l <michlib-l@liblists.org> wrote:
Hi Deb
 
Check the barcode on the Paging Slip.  I find that some libraries have 0's or a T in front of the barcode; sometimes with a T space and sometimes without the space.  I put the b before it and the library code in after it as well.  
 
Hope this helps!
 
Irene (Jones)
ZV032 BSCL 
Berrien Springs Community Library
215 W. Union St.
Berrien Springs, MI 49103
269.471.7074
269.471.4433 fax
On 12/18/2025 10:38 AM EST Deb Hemmye via Michlib-l <michlib-l@liblists.org> wrote:
 
 
Good morning all! 
 
I have two questions on this balmy Thursday morning: 
 
  • What "tricks" do you use when a barcode on a MeL item doesn't scan?  We first add a "b" in front of the barcode, then we try adding the "zv172" Rides number at the end, then we try both.  We've also tried adding the Rides number at the front of the barcode. It feels like we are getting more and more of these barcodes that won't scan for us in MeL, so I thought I'd reach out and see what everyone else is doing.
  •  
  • Second, what do you do if you simply cannot scan the item into MeL?  We process it for the patron anyway since we can keep track of it through our own ILS.  We've tried looking the item up by title in MeL's "Search/Requests" function to see if we can somehow mark it as received through the patron's account, but the titles never come up.  
 
I would love to hear about any ideas or processes your library uses!  
 
Deb Hemmye
Library Director
Huntington Woods Public Library
26415 Scotia Road
Huntington Woods, MI 48070
248-543-9720, ext. 686

Currently listening to Sunrise on the Reaping, by Suzanne Collins
 
 
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