Salutations!

By request...Today’s Topic: How to handle duplicate, deceased or departed patrons. 
Excel Tip: How format cells to display diagonally

How to handle removing patron records has been talked about a lot in the past year and, with your help and cooperation, I did a lot of patron cleanup at the end of 2021.  However, we have a lot of new directors and patron cleanup is a neverending story. So here it is in a nutshell ...

There is no way for staff to delete a patron record so that it is immediately removed and no longer visible, however, staff can change a patron profile to REMOVE to indicate that they want that patron removed.  Patron records get removed periodically throughout the year by reports.  If the patron is barred or has any bills, holds, or checkouts, it can't be removed even if the profile is REMOVE.  

Just as it is responsible library management to weed items from your shelves, it is responsible database management to "weed" the database and remove unused records.

Here are the highlights of how to handle patron records that need to be deleted from the database. The following are the bare minimum steps to ensure that the records get deleted properly. Please read the detailed instructions for exceptions and what to do in various situations.

What to do with duplicate patrons overview*: 

1. Decide which card is active.
2. Rename the inactive card to DUPLICATE XXPL, LASTNAME, FIRSTNAME.
3. Add a note to inactive card redirecting to active card.
4. Remove all holds, bills, checkouts from inactive card.  May want to move/recreate them on to active card.
5. Make sure the inactive card is NOT barred*.
6. Set inactive card to a Profile of REMOVE.

* Detailed instructions 

What to do with deceased patrons overview**: 

1. Rename the inactive card to DECEASED, LASTNAME, FIRSTNAME.
2. Remove all holds, bills, & checkouts from the card.  If you want to try and retrieve the materials, print out the patron's list of checkouts/bills. Write their contact info on the printout. Follow up with their families manually.
3. Make sure the card is NOT Barred.
4. Set inactive card to a Profile of REMOVE.

** Detailed instructions

What to do with moved, long inactive, or any other patron records you want out of the system: 

1. Rename the inactive card to REMOVED, LASTNAME, FIRSTNAME.
2. Remove all holds, bills, & checkouts from the card.  If you want to try and retrieve the materials, print out the patron's list of checkouts/bills. Write their contact info on the printout. Follow up with them manually.
3. Make sure the card is NOT barred.
4. Set inactive card to a Profile of REMOVE.

*** Detailed instructions

Excel Tip: Saves space and is easier to read: Format cells to display diagonally.

How did I get the library names to slant along the top of this spreadsheet?   I selected Row A and went up to Home Menu and to the Alignment section. There is the Orientation dropdown with several options:

You could also use Vertical Text or one of the Rotate Text options if you prefer.

Share & Enjoy!
Karla