Holds -- What they are and who's got 'em

I'm always surprised that more people do not know that you can reserve an item that is not on the shelf. They are called holds. Holds allow you to place your name on a waiting list for an item that you want. I use it to get DVDs that would never end up on a library shelf otherwise.

The Librarian in Black has an insightful blog which I've linked here. I'll excerpt this little piece.

What you don't see on the shelves is what people consistently want to be checking out. Our browsing collections, which we become so proud of with all of the face-out shelving and book store-style marketing we've done recently, simply do not include the popular items people want to check out. By the time the holds list has been exhausted, that book won’t even be placed on the new book shelf, even though it is the first time that book has ever been shelved. Why? The in-the-know users placed these items on hold eons ago, so they are all checked out and will continue to be permanently checked out, shuffled from one greedy set of hands to the next, for months.

If you don't know know about holds and want to place one or just get more information, please call or email your local library branch or contact reference at mendoref@co.mendocino.ca.us.