In July, patrons placed over 50,000 items on hold for pickup. Due to the increased demand for holds and in order to provide a safe, contact-less holds-pickup service, patrons will experience longer than usual wait times for holds to come ready.
How do you know when your hold is ready?
- You will receive a holds pick-up notice by email or text.
- You can also track the status of your holds in your library account online or in the Library App.
How long should you expect to wait for your holds to come ready?
- Wait times for items showing in the catalog as “available” will vary but may take several weeks to fulfill.
- Wait times for items with waiting lists are longer than usual as returned items must be quarantined for 72 hours.
What can you do to help?
- Pick up your holds as soon as you are able, to help make room on the shelves for new holds.
- Freeze or cancel any holds you are not interested in receiving before they come ready.
We are continually evaluating workflows to improve hold wait times. Thank you for your patience and support as we work to keep Arlington reading!
Arlington Public Library
Please consider allowing 7 days for holds pickup. Given there is only one library open, it is hard to get there within 5 days.
I agree.
Thank you for all you are doing. I am also trying to read and return ASAP
Any possibility of a drive through collection box?
Thank you for all of your hard work and dedication to the community and reading during this ever-changing time! Each time I pick up my holds, it’s an easy and quick process.
Are there any opportunities for people to volunteer to help elderly people and those who need technology support sign up for online services? There have been a few times where people are waiting in line/confused that the library is not open for browsing and then are unsure how to put books on hold online. I also understand if volunteers are not feasible at this time but I wanted to bring this issue to your attention.
Hello, I am doting on your holds service, thank you.
But I did want you to know that I am returning books as I finish them to my local (Westover) branch.
Are book returns there picked up regularly?
I hope the books find their way back to you in a timely fashion .
Hi Janet,
Returning your books at Westover is just fine. For safety reasons, we quarantine returned material for at least 72 hours, so returned books stay on your account for more than 4 days before we check them in.
If you see books stay on your account for more than a week after you return them, please contact us.
I am very happy with the exemplary service the library and staff supply. Thank you. You make the difficult times easier and doing it in a responsible way that keeps everyone safe.
Thank you for allowing us to check out items from the collection and your very thoughtful way of providing service during the lock-down.
Could you offer a kids book grab bag? I would love get 10 or so random books rather than having to select and then have them come available one at a time.
I would be very interested in this too!! Thanks for everything you are doing!
Thank you.
You are doing a great job. Thank you so much for your dedication. Picking up holds has been a breeze.
It is time to allow a limited number of patrons into the library to access the stacks and reference materials. Why don’t you allow a small number, say 20 or 40 per day in, using masks and with time limits? I am a federal employee and 40-60% of the staff now go into the office, so it CAN be done safely and in an orderly way. The library is meant to be a public service, not online only!
Love the idea of random kids grab bag! Especially board books which don’t allow you to place a hold.
Thanks for being there and working through these crazy times. I love my library!
Thank you for all of the work the library staff is putting in to keep up the book holds service during this time. You are appreciated!!
What happens to books that were on my waiting list during this time?
Are holds available at my local library, Aurora Hills? There is a message that says they’re only available at the Central Library.
But I got a notice that beginning April 20, 2020, curbside pickup is available from all locations. Mary Penchoff 571-451-0812
Mary, holds pickup is only available at Central Library; Arlington Public Library as only been open for physical holds pickup (at Central) since June 15. Please contact us by phone, text or chat with help regarding your account: https://library.arlingtonva.us/chat-live/
We used to know the position where we were in the hold list for print books. We no longer are given that information which makes it difficult to know when to freeze or release a freeze. Would it be possible to give us this information going forward.
Otherwise I think the hold pickup process is going very well
Unfortunately, the Library app is not currently able to show holds placement, but if you log into your account online you can see where you are in the holds queue. https://libcat.arlingtonva.us/MyAccount/Home
Yes, but it doesn’t seem to be very accurate. I thought a lot of my holds were far in the future because of the number of people ahead of me but then they all came at once.
That unpredictability is because the people in front of you all have their holds frozen, effectively skipping you to the front of the line.
Is someone other than the account holder able to pick up books for someone in quarentine?
Jennifer, if you can bring the account holder’s library card, or use the Library App to manage their account (and therefore have their digital card in your phone), then you can pick up holds for someone else.
Hi! I was wondering how long it usually takes to get an email that says your books are ready for pick-up. Also, will you have to pick up all your books at the same time? I put a hold on some books that were currently available, but some books were unavailable and had a long wait list.
H.C., it could take anywhere from a few days to several weeks before you receive an email that your books are ready. When you receive that email, it will only be for the books that are ready at that time, and not necessarily for all the books that you placed on hold at the same time.
I’ve been to the library three times now to pick up reserved books. Each time I’ve driven up, seen the extremely long line, and left without the books. I do think it’s time to open more than one library. Many people have gone back to work so it’s odd that the branches aren’t open, at least for curbside pickup. Or open at least one branch in another part of the county. This is too large a system to have so many people served by only one location. How would it be if the supermarkets operated like this and the entire county had to be serviced by one store? Since this could go on for another year or more, it’s time to think outside the box!
the library needs to improve the accessible curb-side pick process. I have tried it 3 times, with minimal success. the first time I was told to come the following week, but my hold expired the next day, so I had to go to the library, get out and wait in line. the second time, I made an appointment, no one ever came with the book to my car. I waited in the heat for 15 minutes, then called the library, and they said they couldn’t find the book! the third time when I arrived, someone eventually arrived with the book in hand. No bag/box/sanitizer/nothing!
The Alexandra library has a efficient and effective system. you make a reservation on line. you choose the branch! the date and time, your library card number, phone number, car description. done. when I arrive, I call the posted number, and within a minute, someone arrives with the book in a sealed bag and places it in my opened car trunk. easy, safe, virus free.
Arlington, with only one location, definitely needs a similar system for those of us trying to avoid crowds and indoor spaces. fortunately I can still drive, but I don’t like going indoors with other people. I’m 84.
Hi. Barbara is right, we need more than Central open only for holds. Alexandria libraries are open 3x week and one day just for holds; effective today I think (17th). Thanks
Please reopen all the libraries- Central is just not convenient. Alexandria has opened all of theirs – hope you can soon follow suit. Thank you !
So happy to be able to check out books again and the process seems well organized and safe. But I don’t understand why it takes so long to get a book that is sitting on the shelf upstairs. Is it a staffing issue? Were staff at the closed branches furloughed?
Hi Carol,
No permanent library staff have been furloughed. Due to the complete re-working of how holds make their way to you in order to ensure staff and patron safety, the process is now more staff-time intensive and holds will continue to take longer to fill than is typical.
We will continue to work to reduce wait times and also prioritize staff and patron safety.
What does ‘pending’ mean? I thought it might mean the book was in the 72 hour quarantine and would be available afterwards, but the book has been pending for almost 2 weeks. Does it mean it’s on order? No worries; just curious😏
Sheila, “Pending” means that your physical holds are not yet ready for pickup. To see where you are in the holds queue, you can look at each item in your library account online. Wait times will vary, but at this time all holds may take several weeks to fulfill.
I hope that you will soon reopen, for reading and browsing in the library, preferably at both Central and all branches, at least to some capacity. Before the pandemic, I visited Central Library and Westover regularly, and occasionally other branches. I miss being able to do so. I enjoy visiting public libraries, and have been very saddened by public libraries being closed for so long, when the pandemic hit. I understand the need to be safe and cautious, but it would seem like you could reopen most locations to at least some capacity, with of course, social distancing and mask wearing. I should mention that Fairfax County libraries have reopened for reading and browsing in the library, though with a time and capacity limit; I have been to some Fairfax County libraries. I understand that Alexandria has reopened its libraries to a limited degree as well. I hope that Arlington will be following suit soon. I appreciate all the staff does, and I understand we are all dealing with a difficult situation. But I would be helpful if you could reopen (for reading and browsing) soon, or provide updates on your plans to do so. Thanks.