[LIBRARYDIR] laptop lending

Thu Nov 30 15:29:05 PST 2023

I read this email to my Circ Manager and she asked if I had written two quarters ago. 😃 You’ve just described the exact situation we had found ourselves in last Spring.

We did make the decision to move to a first-come, first-served basis. We could no longer manage the burden of holds, communication, lapsed holds, waitlists, etc. (Our waitlist was topping 50 people at one point and settled into about 20 people or so last year.)

  *   We moved our laptops away from a quarter-long loan to a 1 month check-out, with a 1 week grace period for late fines and a built-in forgiveness for the first fine.
  *   We no longer maintain a waitlist or place laptops on hold. If we are out of month-long laptops, we have a handful of laptops on a 1 week loan. We loan those and encourage students to check back for month-long laptops and/or direct students to our computer lab.
  *   For the most part, this has proved successful for us this quarter!

The most important thing that makes this work for us is a deep understanding and training on the equity issues facing our students. Everyone on my team is encouraged to make exceptions, extend due dates, and waive fines as necessary if students express any difficulty adhering to the due date.

I really struggled with making this change since we do have students who live long distances from us, but ultimately since we’re not an established distance education school, we felt that dealing with those situations on a case-by-case basis was less of an administrative burden on us than what we were doing.

I hope this helps!

[Visit the CBC Website]<https://www.columbiabasin.edu/>

Sarah E. North, MLIS, Ed.S
Director for Library Services
Direct: 509.542.4894, x2294
Main: 509.542.4887, x2287
2600 N. 20th Ave. Pasco, WA 99301
Pronouns: she/her/ella
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From: LIBRARYDIR <librarydir-bounces at lists.ctc.edu> On Behalf Of DeSure, Pearl via LIBRARYDIR
Sent: Thursday, November 30, 2023 2:06 PM
To: WACTC Library Directors <librarydir at lists.ctc.edu>
Cc: DeSure, Pearl <Pearl.DeSure at cptc.edu>
Subject: [LIBRARYDIR] laptop lending

CAUTION: This email originated outside Columbia Basin College. Do not click links or open attachments unless you know the content is safe. Questions? Call the TS Helpdesk at x2353 or email tshelp at columbiabasin.edu<mailto:tshelp at columbiabasin.edu>.
Hi all,

For those who lend out laptops, how do you manage it when demand exceeds supply?

Students are allowed to place laptops on hold and the list fills up quickly. This quarter we had 30+ students who requested a laptop when none were available. They will be prioritized for next quarter after they confirm they are still interested in borrowing one.

This whole process has gotten unwieldy with the amount of communication involved. We're trying to make it as equitable as possible but are finding we have to contact students multiple times to pick up their equipment, confirm interest for the following quarter, etc.

We're considering moving to a first-come, first-served model, or at least a cap on the waitlist, but I'm concerned about knock-off effects (i.e. students who live far away, who don't know about laptops in time, etc.). This would be a pretty drastic change so we wouldn't implement it until Spring Quarter. If anyone has any ideas or has had more success with their own processes, I'm very open to hearing them!

Thank you,
Pearl

Pearl DeSure
Faculty Librarian
Clover Park Technical College
Library/Learning Resource Center<https://cptc.libguides.com/library>
Building 15, rm. 113A
4500 Steilacoom Blvd. SW
Lakewood, WA 98499
T: 253.589.6067<tel:253.589.6067>
Educating tomorrow's workforce.

"Great things are done by a series of small things brought together."
Vincent van Gogh

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