Adding Patrons

Hello!
I volunteer manage my church's library, and I was wondering if it's possible for patrons to be able to add themselves (i.e I don't have to enter each parishioner and student individually, they can just add their name when they go to check-out a book). There are too many people at the parish, including students at the University we serve, for me to add them all individually. Is there a way, with full-circulation enabled, to allow them to create an account when they log in, or does it have to be generated by an admin. If this isn't possible, is there a way I can allow them to check-out a book without having to have a patron ID (obviously not with full-circulation, and it would be preferable if they could input their name somehow).

Currently, I'm just learning the system with a personal plan for my own personal library before I pitch TinyCat to my parish priest. I don't know if that would affect me being able to understand and access the system, but I figured I'd ask now so I can (hopefully) have it figured out before then! Thanks!

- Damien

Hi Damien,

Thanks for your message. Unfortunately, as a security feature, patrons cannot add themselves to your TinyCat, you or a staff admin must add or import them to the system:

• You can read more about the "Admin Users" feature (for staff/volunteer admins) here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/335236. The thread explains where you can add users and how to use the feature generally. You can also check out our Help page at https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/TinyCat:_Settings_%C2%BB_Admin_Users, which explains how users can be added, how they can log in, and more.


• You can import patrons in batches from the Admin > Patrons page here: https://www.librarycat.org/admin/patrons. Feel free to check out the Help page for more information: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/TinyCat:_Circulation_%C2%BB_Patrons.

Additionally, I've seen some libraries make their own workaround of sorts, so that patrons can be added remotely:

• By modifying the "Ask About This" feature in TinyCat (from https://www.librarycat.org/admin/settings/detail, it's how anyone can request info about an item to the library admin), you can request new patrons to leave a note in the library for the checked-out items, and/or fill out the "Ask About This" (usually renamed to "New Patron Checkout" or something obvious) pop-up with their info, so the you can add them and the checked out books later.


• You could also add a link to a Google Doc (on your TinyCat homepage) for folks to fill out/register, so you can add them to the system.

I hope this gives you some ideas! Please let me know if you have any other questions, or if there's anything else I can do to help.

>2 kristilabrie: Great, thank you for the tips!