You can place a book on hold when there are no copies available at all or if the only available copies are at other sites.
Once a hold is placed, a copy of the desired item will be put aside for you upon its return; or a copy will be transferred from another site for you.
This can be done by following the steps in this short video:
When a book is completely unavailable it can potentially mean a long wait, especially if lots of people have made the same request but please do not be put off by this.
By placing a hold you are alerting library staff to the fact that a book is in demand and holds statistics are used to inform our purchasing. In other words, when a book gets placed on hold a lot we may buy more copies to help satisfy demand.
Finally, when that book gets put aside for you, you’ll receive an email to let you know it’s available for collection and how long for. Additionally, its status will change in CityLibrary Search to ON HOLDSHELF. Please present your card at the Service Desk of your chosen pick up library to collect it.
And that’s all there is to it.
Holds are both a great way to help you get what you want as well as a way to help us get you more of what you want.