Successful Curbside Pickup Services: Best Practices
Hi all, Looking for feedback from any library who ran a successful curbside pickup process prior to EO 2020-20 when all of that had to cease. I'd love to hear how you addressed these questions: 1. Did you impose limits on # of titles for pickup/patron? 2. Did you have a family pack, or some other librarian collected set of picture books by topic to offer families who may not have time to place individual titles on hold? 3. Any advice on how to stagger pickup appointments, or how to encourage folks to spread out while waiting for pickup? 4. What about your ILS generated holds notifications? Did you change messages with new instructions regarding curbside pickup? 5. Any other helpful tips, or even things that didn't work for you? We were focused on getting previously requested holds out for people, so we didn't get an actual curbside system setup, and I'd like to be ready for offering this as soon as we get the green light to open in some capacity. Thanks! Andrea ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ *Andrea IngmireLibrary DirectorPeter White Public Library* (906) 226-4303 (office) (906) 250-0080 (cell) (906) 226-1783 (fax) *http://pwpl.info/ <http://pwpl.info/>*
Several of you requested that I share responses with you. I didn't get many... my theory is that many of us were working up to getting this off the ground, but didn't actually get it done before the stay home order came out. Sharing what I have: We did curbside for a week, and I expect to offer it entirely or in part when we reopen. While not everything we did will work for you, since PWPL is a much bigger library, here is what we did, and a few recommendations. 1. If patrons have internet access and can place holds online, pull them as normal. 2. If patrons do not have internet access, allow them to call to request books. Sometimes, they may not know what they want and have vague suggestions. This will end up being a combination of requests and reader advisory. ("I want two Debbie Macombers" or "I like books about people, choose something for me.") 3. Normal checkout limits apply. 4. If they have cell phones, ask that they call when they arrive. (This is similar to the Marquette Food Co-op's system.) 5. If they only have landlines, ask for an estimated time of arrival or schedule it with them. (This applies to many of our patrons, who are older.) 6. Our holds notifications consist of a staff member calling people; that did not change. 7. Wear a mask and fresh gloves for each and every curbside interaction. 8. I recommend putting items in a plastic bag to hand to the patron. We also did curbside faxing that week. I don't particularly recommend this, as it requires money to be exchanged. Jessica Holman Negaunee Public Library We did curbside pickup for 5 days before calling it quits. Here are my responses: 1. Did you impose limits on # of titles for pickup/patron? No. We had enough of our staff still reporting to work that this wasn't an issue for us; we had time to get them all checked out and brought to the curbside pretty quickly, even if they had a dozen books. 2. Did you have a family pack, or some other librarian collected set of picture books by topic to offer families who may not have time to place individual titles on hold? We didn't plan for this, but we ended up doing it for a few patrons! Some of our regulars who don't use Enterprise, but still stop in to checkout up to 25 kids books each week, called us with some subject ideas, and our staff hand-picked their books. We were only able to do this is a family called ahead of time, and then we let them know when the books were available. 3. Any advice on how to stagger pickup appointments, or how to encourage folks to spread out while waiting for pickup? There were times when we got pretty busy, with a line of cars waiting out front. We don't have a parking lot that abuts our building like you do thought; maybe you could use cones and signage in your parking lot to direct curbside pickup patrons? We really encouraged our patrons to call ahead (sort of like an appointment) but they often just showed up outside and gave us a call, or knocked on the door. This wasn't really ideal because sometimes we were trying to locate their holds from the stacks. 4. What about your ILS generated holds notifications? Did you change messages with new instructions regarding curbside pickup? No, but I'm so glad you mentioned this. We are considering returning to curbside pickup as the 'first phase' in our reopening and maybe we ought to adjust those notifications, too. Good idea! 5. Any other helpful tips, or even things that didn't work for you? One thing we tried to be really careful with was hygiene safety. If a patron called to pick up their holds, we always asked them if they were symptomatic, and if they were, we told them we cannot help them. A lot of people want to get out of their car and walk to the front door, and we really tried to discourage this. We also always delivered books to the passenger side of the vehicle if there was no one seated there. That way we could maintain distance from the driver (we would wave and motion for them to roll the window down). Staff also had a glove on in case they would need to open a patron's door. We did curbside pickup for 5 days before calling it quits. Here are my responses: 1. Did you impose limits on # of titles for pickup/patron? No. We had enough of our staff still reporting to work that this wasn't an issue for us; we had time to get them all checked out and brought to the curbside pretty quickly, even if they had a dozen books. 2. Did you have a family pack, or some other librarian collected set of picture books by topic to offer families who may not have time to place individual titles on hold? We didn't plan for this, but we ended up doing it for a few patrons! Some of our regulars who don't use Enterprise, but still stop in to checkout up to 25 kids books each week, called us with some subject ideas, and our staff hand-picked their books. We were only able to do this is a family called ahead of time, and then we let them know when the books were available. 3. Any advice on how to stagger pickup appointments, or how to encourage folks to spread out while waiting for pickup? There were times when we got pretty busy, with a line of cars waiting out front. We don't have a parking lot that abuts our building like you do thought; maybe you could use cones and signage in your parking lot to direct curbside pickup patrons? We really encouraged our patrons to call ahead (sort of like an appointment) but they often just showed up outside and gave us a call, or knocked on the door. This wasn't really ideal because sometimes we were trying to locate their holds from the stacks. 4. What about your ILS generated holds notifications? Did you change messages with new instructions regarding curbside pickup? No, but I'm so glad you mentioned this. We are considering returning to curbside pickup as the 'first phase' in our reopening and maybe we ought to adjust those notifications, too. Good idea! 5. Any other helpful tips, or even things that didn't work for you? One thing we tried to be really careful with was hygiene safety. If a patron called to pick up their holds, we always asked them if they were symptomatic, and if they were, we told them we cannot help them. A lot of people want to get out of their car and walk to the front door, and we really tried to discourage this. We also always delivered books to the passenger side of the vehicle if there was no one seated there. That way we could maintain distance from the driver (we would wave and motion for them to roll the window down). Staff also had a glove on in case they would need to open a patron's door. Dillon Geshel Portage District Library We were able to offer curbside only for three days after March 16 before the county health department informed us that we had to stop. We simply took phone calls for requests and asked that patrons call as they were pulling up to the library. Some patrons just asked us to pull a few movies we thought they’d like. Others asked for books by specified authors. We never had the chance to customize book sets, but that is a great idea. We adhered to our limits of 15 items out at a time and a limit of 5 movies at a time (we did away with movie fees at the beginning of the year). Mimi Herrington, Director Bad Axe Area District Library ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ *Andrea IngmireLibrary DirectorPeter White Public Library* (906) 226-4303 (office) (906) 250-0080 (cell) (906) 226-1783 (fax) *http://pwpl.info/ <http://pwpl.info/>* On Mon, Apr 13, 2020 at 2:19 PM Andrea Ingmire <aingpwpl@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi all, Looking for feedback from any library who ran a successful curbside pickup process prior to EO 2020-20 when all of that had to cease.
I'd love to hear how you addressed these questions:
1. Did you impose limits on # of titles for pickup/patron? 2. Did you have a family pack, or some other librarian collected set of picture books by topic to offer families who may not have time to place individual titles on hold? 3. Any advice on how to stagger pickup appointments, or how to encourage folks to spread out while waiting for pickup? 4. What about your ILS generated holds notifications? Did you change messages with new instructions regarding curbside pickup? 5. Any other helpful tips, or even things that didn't work for you?
We were focused on getting previously requested holds out for people, so we didn't get an actual curbside system setup, and I'd like to be ready for offering this as soon as we get the green light to open in some capacity.
Thanks! Andrea ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
*Andrea IngmireLibrary DirectorPeter White Public Library* (906) 226-4303 (office) (906) 250-0080 (cell) (906) 226-1783 (fax) *http://pwpl.info/ <http://pwpl.info/>*
This is great information! Thank you! I wanted to add something that I thought might be useful for staff and patron safety in terms of curbside pick up. I've ordered items online at Joann's (and paid online). They let you know when the items are ready for pick up in an email so I know when to go. I drive up to the front of the store and call from my car to let them know I am there to pick up my order. You give them the order number, your name and what your vehicle looks like. They ask you to pop your trunk so when they come out, they open your trunk or hatchback, etc., and place the bag inside. They are still wearing masks and gloves but it's a great way to social distance. I never get out of the car and they stay safe too. I think it's a good system so I thought I would share it. They let people know ahead of time what to do (online) and when you get to the storefront, there is a sign explaining what to do--First thing says "Do not get out of your car." Maybe give patrons an estimate on how long it will take for the items to be pulled, etc, if they call? I just thought various adaptations of their system would work for the libraries as well. Hope you are all well. Please stay safe! Irene (Jones) Assistant Director Berrien Springs Community Library 215 W. Union St. Berrien Springs, MI 49103 269.471.7074 269.471.4433 fax www.bsclibrary.org
On April 22, 2020 at 10:23 AM Andrea Ingmire via Michlib-l <michlib-l@mcls.org> wrote:
Several of you requested that I share responses with you. I didn't get many... my theory is that many of us were working up to getting this off the ground, but didn't actually get it done before the stay home order came out.
Sharing what I have: We did curbside for a week, and I expect to offer it entirely or in part when we reopen. While not everything we did will work for you, since PWPL is a much bigger library, here is what we did, and a few recommendations.
1. If patrons have internet access and can place holds online, pull them as normal. 2. If patrons do not have internet access, allow them to call to request books. Sometimes, they may not know what they want and have vague suggestions. This will end up being a combination of requests and reader advisory. ("I want two Debbie Macombers" or "I like books about people, choose something for me.") 3. Normal checkout limits apply. 4. If they have cell phones, ask that they call when they arrive. (This is similar to the Marquette Food Co-op's system.) 5. If they only have landlines, ask for an estimated time of arrival or schedule it with them. (This applies to many of our patrons, who are older.) 6. Our holds notifications consist of a staff member calling people; that did not change. 7. Wear a mask and fresh gloves for each and every curbside interaction. 8. I recommend putting items in a plastic bag to hand to the patron.
We also did curbside faxing that week. I don't particularly recommend this, as it requires money to be exchanged.
Jessica Holman Negaunee Public Library
We did curbside pickup for 5 days before calling it quits. Here are my responses:
1. Did you impose limits on # of titles for pickup/patron? No. We had enough of our staff still reporting to work that this wasn't an issue for us; we had time to get them all checked out and brought to the curbside pretty quickly, even if they had a dozen books.
2. Did you have a family pack, or some other librarian collected set of picture books by topic to offer families who may not have time to place individual titles on hold? We didn't plan for this, but we ended up doing it for a few patrons! Some of our regulars who don't use Enterprise, but still stop in to checkout up to 25 kids books each week, called us with some subject ideas, and our staff hand-picked their books. We were only able to do this is a family called ahead of time, and then we let them know when the books were available.
3. Any advice on how to stagger pickup appointments, or how to encourage folks to spread out while waiting for pickup? There were times when we got pretty busy, with a line of cars waiting out front. We don't have a parking lot that abuts our building like you do thought; maybe you could use cones and signage in your parking lot to direct curbside pickup patrons? We really encouraged our patrons to call ahead (sort of like an appointment) but they often just showed up outside and gave us a call, or knocked on the door. This wasn't really ideal because sometimes we were trying to locate their holds from the stacks.
4. What about your ILS generated holds notifications? Did you change messages with new instructions regarding curbside pickup? No, but I'm so glad you mentioned this. We are considering returning to curbside pickup as the 'first phase' in our reopening and maybe we ought to adjust those notifications, too. Good idea!
5. Any other helpful tips, or even things that didn't work for you? One thing we tried to be really careful with was hygiene safety. If a patron called to pick up their holds, we always asked them if they were symptomatic, and if they were, we told them we cannot help them. A lot of people want to get out of their car and walk to the front door, and we really tried to discourage this. We also always delivered books to the passenger side of the vehicle if there was no one seated there. That way we could maintain distance from the driver (we would wave and motion for them to roll the window down). Staff also had a glove on in case they would need to open a patron's door.
We did curbside pickup for 5 days before calling it quits. Here are my responses:
1. Did you impose limits on # of titles for pickup/patron? No. We had enough of our staff still reporting to work that this wasn't an issue for us; we had time to get them all checked out and brought to the curbside pretty quickly, even if they had a dozen books.
2. Did you have a family pack, or some other librarian collected set of picture books by topic to offer families who may not have time to place individual titles on hold? We didn't plan for this, but we ended up doing it for a few patrons! Some of our regulars who don't use Enterprise, but still stop in to checkout up to 25 kids books each week, called us with some subject ideas, and our staff hand-picked their books. We were only able to do this is a family called ahead of time, and then we let them know when the books were available.
3. Any advice on how to stagger pickup appointments, or how to encourage folks to spread out while waiting for pickup? There were times when we got pretty busy, with a line of cars waiting out front. We don't have a parking lot that abuts our building like you do thought; maybe you could use cones and signage in your parking lot to direct curbside pickup patrons? We really encouraged our patrons to call ahead (sort of like an appointment) but they often just showed up outside and gave us a call, or knocked on the door. This wasn't really ideal because sometimes we were trying to locate their holds from the stacks.
4. What about your ILS generated holds notifications? Did you change messages with new instructions regarding curbside pickup? No, but I'm so glad you mentioned this. We are considering returning to curbside pickup as the 'first phase' in our reopening and maybe we ought to adjust those notifications, too. Good idea!
5. Any other helpful tips, or even things that didn't work for you? One thing we tried to be really careful with was hygiene safety. If a patron called to pick up their holds, we always asked them if they were symptomatic, and if they were, we told them we cannot help them. A lot of people want to get out of their car and walk to the front door, and we really tried to discourage this. We also always delivered books to the passenger side of the vehicle if there was no one seated there. That way we could maintain distance from the driver (we would wave and motion for them to roll the window down). Staff also had a glove on in case they would need to open a patron's door.
Dillon Geshel
Portage District Library
We were able to offer curbside only for three days after March 16 before the county health department informed us that we had to stop. We simply took phone calls for requests and asked that patrons call as they were pulling up to the library. Some patrons just asked us to pull a few movies we thought they’d like. Others asked for books by specified authors. We never had the chance to customize book sets, but that is a great idea. We adhered to our limits of 15 items out at a time and a limit of 5 movies at a time (we did away with movie fees at the beginning of the year).
Mimi Herrington, Director Bad Axe Area District Library ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Andrea Ingmire Library Director Peter White Public Library (906) 226-4303 (office) (906) 250-0080 (cell) (906) 226-1783 (fax) http://pwpl.info/
On Mon, Apr 13, 2020 at 2:19 PM Andrea Ingmire < aingpwpl@gmail.com mailto:aingpwpl@gmail.com > wrote:
> > Hi all,
Looking for feedback from any library who ran a successful curbside pickup process prior to EO 2020-20 when all of that had to cease.
I'd love to hear how you addressed these questions: 1. Did you impose limits on # of titles for pickup/patron? 2. Did you have a family pack, or some other librarian collected set of picture books by topic to offer families who may not have time to place individual titles on hold? 3. Any advice on how to stagger pickup appointments, or how to encourage folks to spread out while waiting for pickup? 4. What about your ILS generated holds notifications? Did you change messages with new instructions regarding curbside pickup? 5. Any other helpful tips, or even things that didn't work for you? We were focused on getting previously requested holds out for people, so we didn't get an actual curbside system setup, and I'd like to be ready for offering this as soon as we get the green light to open in some capacity.
Thanks! Andrea ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Andrea Ingmire Library Director Peter White Public Library (906) 226-4303 (office) (906) 250-0080 (cell) (906) 226-1783 (fax) http://pwpl.info/
> _______________________________________________
Michlib-l mailing list Michlib-l@mcls.org http://mail2.mcls.org/mailman/listinfo/michlib-l
Thank you all for sharing! Lynn Taylor Morton Township Public Library 110 S James St Mecosta NO On Wednesday, April 22, 2020, BERRIEN SPRINGS COMMUNITY LIBRARY via Michlib-l <michlib-l@mcls.org> wrote:
This is great information! Thank you!
I wanted to add something that I thought might be useful for staff and patron safety in terms of curbside pick up. I've ordered items online at Joann's (and paid online). They let you know when the items are ready for pick up in an email so I know when to go. I drive up to the front of the store and call from my car to let them know I am there to pick up my order. You give them the order number, your name and what your vehicle looks like. They ask you to pop your trunk so when they come out, they open your trunk or hatchback, etc., and place the bag inside. They are still wearing masks and gloves but it's a great way to social distance. I never get out of the car and they stay safe too.
I think it's a good system so I thought I would share it. They let people know ahead of time what to do (online) and when you get to the storefront, there is a sign explaining what to do--First thing says "Do not get out of your car." Maybe give patrons an estimate on how long it will take for the items to be pulled, etc, if they call? I just thought various adaptations of their system would work for the libraries as well. Hope you are all well. Please stay safe!
Irene (Jones) Assistant Director Berrien Springs Community Library 215 W. Union St. Berrien Springs, MI 49103 269.471.7074 269.471.4433 *fax* www.bsclibrary.org
On April 22, 2020 at 10:23 AM Andrea Ingmire via Michlib-l < michlib-l@mcls.org> wrote:
Several of you requested that I share responses with you. I didn't get many... my theory is that many of us were working up to getting this off the ground, but didn't actually get it done before the stay home order came out.
Sharing what I have:
We did curbside for a week, and I expect to offer it entirely or in part when we reopen. While not everything we did will work for you, since PWPL is a much bigger library, here is what we did, and a few recommendations.
1. If patrons have internet access and can place holds online, pull them as normal.
2. If patrons do not have internet access, allow them to call to request books. Sometimes, they may not know what they want and have vague suggestions. This will end up being a combination of requests and reader advisory. ("I want two Debbie Macombers" or "I like books about people, choose something for me.")
3. Normal checkout limits apply.
4. If they have cell phones, ask that they call when they arrive. (This is similar to the Marquette Food Co-op's system.)
5. If they only have landlines, ask for an estimated time of arrival or schedule it with them. (This applies to many of our patrons, who are older.)
6. Our holds notifications consist of a staff member calling people; that did not change.
7. Wear a mask and fresh gloves for each and every curbside interaction.
8. I recommend putting items in a plastic bag to hand to the patron.
We also did curbside faxing that week. I don't particularly recommend this, as it requires money to be exchanged.
Jessica Holman
Negaunee Public Library
We did curbside pickup for 5 days before calling it quits. Here are my responses:
1. Did you impose limits on # of titles for pickup/patron? No. We had enough of our staff still reporting to work that this wasn't an issue for us; we had time to get them all checked out and brought to the curbside pretty quickly, even if they had a dozen books.
2. Did you have a family pack, or some other librarian collected set of picture books by topic to offer families who may not have time to place individual titles on hold? We didn't plan for this, but we ended up doing it for a few patrons! Some of our regulars who don't use Enterprise, but still stop in to checkout up to 25 kids books each week, called us with some subject ideas, and our staff hand-picked their books. We were only able to do this is a family called ahead of time, and then we let them know when the books were available.
3. Any advice on how to stagger pickup appointments, or how to encourage folks to spread out while waiting for pickup? There were times when we got pretty busy, with a line of cars waiting out front. We don't have a parking lot that abuts our building like you do thought; maybe you could use cones and signage in your parking lot to direct curbside pickup patrons? We really encouraged our patrons to call ahead (sort of like an appointment) but they often just showed up outside and gave us a call, or knocked on the door. This wasn't really ideal because sometimes we were trying to locate their holds from the stacks.
4. What about your ILS generated holds notifications? Did you change messages with new instructions regarding curbside pickup? No, but I'm so glad you mentioned this. We are considering returning to curbside pickup as the 'first phase' in our reopening and maybe we ought to adjust those notifications, too. Good idea!
5. Any other helpful tips, or even things that didn't work for you? One thing we tried to be really careful with was hygiene safety. If a patron called to pick up their holds, we always asked them if they were symptomatic, and if they were, we told them we cannot help them. A lot of people want to get out of their car and walk to the front door, and we really tried to discourage this. We also always delivered books to the passenger side of the vehicle if there was no one seated there. That way we could maintain distance from the driver (we would wave and motion for them to roll the window down). Staff also had a glove on in case they would need to open a patron's door.
We did curbside pickup for 5 days before calling it quits. Here are my responses:
1. Did you impose limits on # of titles for pickup/patron? No. We had enough of our staff still reporting to work that this wasn't an issue for us; we had time to get them all checked out and brought to the curbside pretty quickly, even if they had a dozen books.
2. Did you have a family pack, or some other librarian collected set of picture books by topic to offer families who may not have time to place individual titles on hold? We didn't plan for this, but we ended up doing it for a few patrons! Some of our regulars who don't use Enterprise, but still stop in to checkout up to 25 kids books each week, called us with some subject ideas, and our staff hand-picked their books. We were only able to do this is a family called ahead of time, and then we let them know when the books were available.
3. Any advice on how to stagger pickup appointments, or how to encourage folks to spread out while waiting for pickup? There were times when we got pretty busy, with a line of cars waiting out front. We don't have a parking lot that abuts our building like you do thought; maybe you could use cones and signage in your parking lot to direct curbside pickup patrons? We really encouraged our patrons to call ahead (sort of like an appointment) but they often just showed up outside and gave us a call, or knocked on the door. This wasn't really ideal because sometimes we were trying to locate their holds from the stacks.
4. What about your ILS generated holds notifications? Did you change messages with new instructions regarding curbside pickup? No, but I'm so glad you mentioned this. We are considering returning to curbside pickup as the 'first phase' in our reopening and maybe we ought to adjust those notifications, too. Good idea!
5. Any other helpful tips, or even things that didn't work for you? One thing we tried to be really careful with was hygiene safety. If a patron called to pick up their holds, we always asked them if they were symptomatic, and if they were, we told them we cannot help them. A lot of people want to get out of their car and walk to the front door, and we really tried to discourage this. We also always delivered books to the passenger side of the vehicle if there was no one seated there. That way we could maintain distance from the driver (we would wave and motion for them to roll the window down). Staff also had a glove on in case they would need to open a patron's door.
Dillon Geshel
Portage District Library
We were able to offer curbside only for three days after March 16 before the county health department informed us that we had to stop. We simply took phone calls for requests and asked that patrons call as they were pulling up to the library. Some patrons just asked us to pull a few movies we thought they’d like. Others asked for books by specified authors. We never had the chance to customize book sets, but that is a great idea. We adhered to our limits of 15 items out at a time and a limit of 5 movies at a time (we did away with movie fees at the beginning of the year).
Mimi Herrington, Director Bad Axe Area District Library ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
*Andrea IngmireLibrary DirectorPeter White Public Library* (906) 226-4303 (office) (906) 250-0080 (cell) (906) 226-1783 (fax) *http://pwpl.info/ <http://pwpl.info/>*
On Mon, Apr 13, 2020 at 2:19 PM Andrea Ingmire < aingpwpl@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi all, Looking for feedback from any library who ran a successful curbside pickup process prior to EO 2020-20 when all of that had to cease.
I'd love to hear how you addressed these questions:
1. Did you impose limits on # of titles for pickup/patron? 2. Did you have a family pack, or some other librarian collected set of picture books by topic to offer families who may not have time to place individual titles on hold? 3. Any advice on how to stagger pickup appointments, or how to encourage folks to spread out while waiting for pickup? 4. What about your ILS generated holds notifications? Did you change messages with new instructions regarding curbside pickup? 5. Any other helpful tips, or even things that didn't work for you?
We were focused on getting previously requested holds out for people, so we didn't get an actual curbside system setup, and I'd like to be ready for offering this as soon as we get the green light to open in some capacity.
Thanks! Andrea ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
*Andrea IngmireLibrary DirectorPeter White Public Library* (906) 226-4303 (office) (906) 250-0080 (cell) (906) 226-1783 (fax) *http://pwpl.info/ <http://pwpl.info/>*
_______________________________________________ Michlib-l mailing list Michlib-l@mcls.org http://mail2.mcls.org/mailman/listinfo/michlib-l
participants (3)
-
Andrea Ingmire -
BERRIEN SPRINGS COMMUNITY LIBRARY -
Lynn Taylor