Overdrive has just launched a new program called hold redelivery. This allows library patrons who borrow books, ebooks and audiobooks who are on a waiting list to cancel their hold or reschedule their hold for a later time. To support this feature, the auto-checkout setting has been removed from your library’s OverDrive collection.
Here is a rundown of all of the new hold features in hold redelivery.
- Borrow the title within the 3-day pickup period
- Cancel the hold
- Choose the “Deliver Later” option
- If they take no action, the hold will automatically be suspended for 7 days and the book will be passed onto the next person on the waitlist. After the 7-day suspension period, the user will have another chance to borrow the book when the next copy becomes available. If no action is taken a second time, the hold will be cancelled automatically.
Overdrive has been working on this system since early December and it is now live. The one good thing about it, is that sometimes life throws us a curveball and you might not have time to read the book you were intending. This gives patrons an extra week to make time to read the title of their choice.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.