How Polaris Calculates Due Dates (Loan Periods)

General

When a patron checks out an item, the due date  is calculated based on a combination of 3 factors:

• The patron's Patron Code
• The item's Loan Period Code
• The Checkout Branch

Each combination of Patron Code / Loan Period Code / Checkout Branch exists as an entry in a large table in the Polaris settings.  When a checkout occurs, Polaris looks up the combination in the Polaris settings and returns the appropriate checkout length.

For example, here's a sample of what an abbreviated Loan Period table might look like:

If an Adult patron checked out a Movie at Branch A, Polaris would look up these three values and return a loan length of 7 days. If the same patron checked out the item at Branch B, Polaris would lookup a different combination and return 21 days.

This WebReport displays the table of Loan Periods for each library in Pinnacle.

All daily (ie: non-hourly) checkouts are due at 11:59 PM on the due date. For information on hourly loans, see below.

Pinnacle Loan Periods

In practice, however, Pinnacle's loan period codes are a bit more complicated. The existing loan periods use labels that hint at the loan length, such as "7 day," "21 day," or "28 day."  Because some libraries don't loan out any items for 28 days, some libraries have configured items with the "28 day" code to checkout for "21 days"

This also explains why we have both "14 days" and "2 weeks".  In short, the "14 day" loan period will sometimes adjust to 21 days or 28 days based on the circulation policies of the library.  The "2 weeks" code will always check out for 14 days. This is used for ILL purposes.

Additional Modifiers to Due Date Calculation

• Closed Dates - An item cannot be due back on a date where the library will be closed.  If the calculated due date falls on a closed date, Polaris will select the next open date as the due date.
• Zero Loan Periods - Some combinations will return a loan length of 0 days.  When this occurs, Polaris will present a warning message. If the staff member continues with the checkout, the item will be given a checkout length of 1 day.

Hourly Loans

Items can also be configured to have a loan period calculated in hours, rather than days (such as "4 hours").  At this time, this process has only been set up for certain libraries.

When an item with an hourly loan is checked out, Polaris will also consult the the Hours of Operation setting for the library.  If the calculated due date is after the checkout library closes, Polaris will block the transaction. If the staff member overrides the block, the due date will be set to the closing time on the current day.