Running Head: CIRCULATION INTERVIEW 1

Circulation Interview with Mary Simpson of Anderson Public Library (APL)

Austin Thompson
Ivy Tech Community College
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The Circulation department of the library is a lifeblood that keeps the library functioning.

Without a Circulation Department, a large library would have difficulty keeping up with the

demand of patrons. In my interview with Mary Simpson, Circulation Manager of APL, I asked a

few questions pertaining to the functions and operations of the Circulation Department (2020).

Mary Simpson has many years of library experience, around 15 years only counting her stint at

APL. She answered my questions very thoroughly, giving examples for each question (2020).

The first part of the interview was filling in the pertinent identifying information. The

library’s name is APL, located in Anderson, Indiana, USA. It used to be in a building Andrew

Carnegie helped fund during the 1800s, but the library eventually moved to a vacant Sears

building a few blocks away. Mary Simpson is the head Circulation Manager for APL. She heads

a department of about 15-20 Circulation Clerks and Pages, which is also about one fourth of the

library’s total staff.

APL uses a program called Horizon (part of SirsiDynix), which is used by 417 public

libraries (Breeding, M). Horizon at APL can check out and check in items, create card accounts

for patrons, create blocks, messages and fine for patrons, search items in the catalog, put items

on hold for patrons of the library, and much more. This system is quick and easy because of the

technology of barcodes. Books are assigned a barcode, and every scan gives information to

Horizon, such as who this item checked out to, how long is this item meant to be checked out for,

how long has this item been in the system, etc. The system is very convenient for APL, it allows

for staff to help patrons fully, and the amount of volume in materials coming in and out of the

library would not be possible without SirsiDynix Horizon.

Mary Simpson stated she liked SirsiDynex Horizon the best, after working under many

other ILSes. She enjoyed the amount of features the program featured, and how the system was
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layered in a tiered-system, allowing for easy navigation throughout the system (2020). However,

there were some things she was not completely on board with in Horizon. For one, the system

does not allow for a card to be linked to another one, meaning every card is independent of one

another. This means that a child’s card will not be linked to a parent’s card, and even if the

guardian may have fees on their own card, they can check out items on the children’s card (items

such as Adult fiction and Non-fiction, audiobooks, board games, and all children’s materials). It

can be abused. Another thing she stated was it can be difficult for library staff to learn. There are

many options within the system, and there could be a bit of choice paralysis in knowing what to

do for certain situations. It is complicated at first.

APL checks-in items by receiving them either at the circulation desk or at one of the two

book drops on the sides of the building. The item is looked at from the outside, the inside, the

number of discs are counted and checked to see if they match the case (if there are discs in the

material), the item is cleaned with either alcohol spray or cleaner, and the item is put onto

another cart to be checked-in by the Horizon system. The items are checked-in by way of

scanner, and will be placed in a bin if the item is meant to go to Lapel (an APL branch), or print

a hold sticker for whatever customer put the item on hold. The materials are then put on various

carts to be shelved in areas such as Audiovisual (AV), Fiction, Non-fiction, Audiobooks, Young

Adult (YA), the Indiana Room, or the Children’s Department. There is a possibly that pests are

in the materials, such as bedbugs. These items are wrapped in plastic, checked-in, quarantined,

and sent to the basement to be cooked. There is an oven that goes to around 135-150 degrees,

enough to kill the pests but not to damage the books heavily.

For checking-out, the customer first hands the card to the Circulation clerk (if the

customer is not using the self-scan), the staff then checks the card to see if there are any
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outstanding fees or notices on the card. If there are not, the clerk will take the items, check to see

the number of discs and if the discs match the case (if there are discs), and scan them. After

scanning the items, the clerk will check and give a glance to make sure all items have been

checked-out, and then swipe the materials using a demagnetizer. The customer will then usually

take the items outside of the building, and may be checked if the alarm gates sound. A receipt

will be shown to the clerk, and items will be counted by the clerk, and the clerk will tell the

customer to go through again, and then the customer will be able to leave if the alarm does not

sound again. The clerk will usually put a check-out receipt in the last material given to the

customer, after printing said receipt. If there are any fees, balances, or messages on the account,

the clerk may prevent the customer from checking out, or ask a manager for guidance. The

manager may be able to waive some fees or reach some sort of compromise with the customer to

be able to check-out. Usually Debt Collection fees must be paid, but many older fees can be

waived, such as lost processing fees, and normal day to day fines.

When the APL has a new person on staff for the Circulation Department, the person will

be paired with someone at whatever position they are working at the time. Mary calls this a

“chaining-system”. The new staff member will watch at first, and will get some hands-on

experience with the system with somebody more experienced supervising them. There are

handouts to help the new staff member for certain procedures, and many instructions are typed

out and taped by many of the workstations such as the cash register. Once a new staff member

feels comfortable with one part of the job, they will learn the next part and eventually get to the

point where they feel comfortable with doing every task in the Circulation Department.

For a new customer to become registered to APL, they must have a photo identification

(driver’s license, state ID card, passport, military ID, school ID, or employment ID) that “must
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not be expired and must include both name and photo”, and a proof of residency (driver’s

license, personalized checks, voter registration, utility bill dated within the last 60 days,

computer generated mail postmarked within the past 30 days that has both the individual’s name

and street address, student identification with official class schedule, or proof of property

ownership in Anderson City, Anderson, Stony Creek, or Union Townships of Madison County,

Indiana. A post office box is not proof of residency) (Policies). The potential borrower will have

their property address checked to see if the tax for the APL is included in their taxes. These areas

are Anderson City, Anderson, Stony Creek, and Union townships. If a person does not have an

added tax for the Anderson Library System, they may be able to get a Non-Resident card,

depending on what township they live. Those “Non-Res” are sixty-six dollars a year, although a

customer may pay for a 1-month, 3-month, or 6-month membership as well. There are other

types of cards as well, such as digital student cards (part of Anderson Community Schools),

Homeschool cards, College cards (part of Anderson University & Ivy Tech), Short-Term User

cards, School Teacher cards, and Staff cards. Each have their own parameters to consider. There

are also PLAC cards, which require an ID, proof of address, and a user’s home library card.

After it is determined what type of card the customer is getting, they receive a handout with

borrowing parameters and borrowing policies. The staff will input the customer’s identification

into the Horizon system, such as name, ID number, date of birth, card number (the customer has

a choice of a full-size wallet card or a keychain card, the number on the back of the card is

scanned via barcode), the census tract number and codes for type of borrower, the address, the

phone number, the email (if they want it attached to the account), and other preferences such as

if they want the system to keep a history of everything checked out on the card and if they want

to receive notices.
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The policies of checking-out are this: laptops and iPads are rented for in-house use for 4

hours; video games, movie DVDs, and mobile hotspots are rented out for 7 days; new books,

new audiobooks, non-fiction DVDs, and CDs are rented out for 14 days; everything else is

rented out for 28 days. Max amount of video games checked out at any time is 5, max number of

DVDs is 25 at a time, and max number of total items on a card is 100. Holds for DVDs, video

games, and CDs are for 4 days on the holds shelf, and 7 days for everything else. Children’s

cards can only check out books, audiobooks, tabletop games, and all children’s materials. Young

adult cards can check-out everything a children’s card can, plus video games and CDs (but not

DVDs), and Adult cards can check-out everything available at APL.

Problems staff encounter while serving patrons at the circulation desk include, but are not

limited to, patrons bringing stuff back and still having it on their account, patrons being angry

with fines they have on their account, patrons possibly abusing substance and being hard to

understand, patrons harassing the workers, etc. Mary mentioned a large list of things that have

happened to staff (2020). There is a report system in place for incidents, and APL also has a

security guard present at times (provided by Anderson Police Department). There are a large

variety of people staff will deal with at APL, so a staff member must be vigilant with adapting to

all situations.
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References:

Breeding, M. (2014, December 31). Library Technology Guides. Retrieved from

https://librarytechnology.org/vendors/sirsidynix/

Policies. (2019, January 10). Retrieved February 2, 2020, from https://www.and.lib.in.us/policies

(2020, January 26).