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My Account

My Account is your online access to your library card record. You can use it to view the items you have checked out or on hold, pay your fines or update your contact information.

Login

Wondering how to access My Account?

1. Begin at www.westervillelibrary.org.
2. Enter your FIRST or LAST NAME and your Westerville LIBRARY CARD NUMBER in the My Account section. (Your library card number can be found underneath the barcode on your library card. If you cannot find your library card, please stop in the library and we can issue you a new card. Be sure to bring your driver’s license for identity verification.)
3. Click SUBMIT.

(When you are finished using My Account, be sure to click the LOG OFF button to ensure the security and privacy of your account.)

Reserve Items

Oftentimes, you will want an item that is currently unavailable for check out. In order to place your name on a waiting list for an item, you must placing a hold or reserve it. In order to do this, you must have a valid library card.

To place your name on the waiting list for an item:

1. Search the library’s catalog for the item you are interested in. (You can begin your search from the library’s homepage.)
2. When you find an item you are interested in, click REQUEST IT or RESERVE IT. (Having a hard time locating this option? The Reserve It button may appear to the right of the item when viewing a list of results, or at the top of the page when viewing a specific item. For the Request It button, look for a small blue checkmark.)
3. Enter your NAME and LIBRARY CARD NUMBER.
4. Choose your PICKUP LOCATION. (Please choose SELF-SERVE RESERVE for pickup near the Circulation Desk or DRIVE-UP RESERVE for pickup through the drive-up window on the north side of the building. If you attend a school within the Westerville City School district, you can choose to have the item delivered to your school through Library Link during the school year. Please be aware that this option is not available during summer months or during school breaks. )
5. When the item is ready for you to pick up, you will receive a courtesy notice letting you know. (Sometimes referred to as the hold pickup notice, this will be delivered via phone or email, depending on your account preferences.)
6. You will have four days to check out the item. If you do not check it out within four days, the item will be placed back on the shelf or move to the next patron on the waitlist.
7. Note: If you have placed a hold on an item that was listed as AVAILABLE in the catalog, it may take up to 24 hours for the item to be pulled and placed at the pickup location of your choosing. If you are unsure if an item is ready for you, you can always check your account online (see below), wait for your courtesy notice, or call the Customer Services Department. If you need an item immediately, please call the Adult Services Department.

To view the list of items that you have reserved:

1. Log in to MY ACCOUNT.
2. Click on REQUESTS (HOLDS).
3. An item's status will be listed as Ready if the item is waiting for you to pick up at the pickup location of your choosing.
4. If an item's status is listed as Available or 1 of 1 holds, that means that the item has not yet been placed at the pickup location of your choosing, as it has not yet been located on the shelf.

Unable to reserve items?

There are a few possible reasons why you are unable to reserve items. Please refer to the following scenarios:

The Reserve It button does not appear in the library’s catalog.

1. The item may be an “electronic resource," which means that it is accessible through the Internet. Examples of electronic resources include eJournals and magazines, Internet sites, and eBooks/eAudiobbooks. If you are viewing an item that is accessible online, simply click the link provided. A valid library card number may be required.
2. The item may be billed to another patron. If you are interested in an item that is “billed”, simply fill out our Suggest a Purchase form and we will consider ordering the item for you.
3. The item may be “non-circulating.” This means that the item is not allowed to leave the library. If you are interested in a non-circulating item, feel free to come in to the library to take a look at it.

When you try to place a reserve, a message appears prompting you to “Please see a librarian."

1. Your library card account may have expired. This happens every 3 years so that we can verify your correct contact information. Please call 614.882.7277 ext. 3 in order to update your account.
2. You may have a library fine that is over our $5 limit. You are able to check out items until your fine is over $5.00. At that point, you must pay your fine before you can reserve more items. Either come in to the library or pay your fine online by logging in to My Account.
3. You may have reached your 50-holds limit. Each patron is only allowed to have 50 holds at any given time.

Renew an Item

You can renew library materials by stopping at the Circulation Desk, calling the online renewal system at (614) 839-2070, or by using My Account.

To renew library materials online:

1. Log in to MY ACCOUNT.
2. Click the checkbox next to each item you would like to renew.
3. Click RENEW SELECTED ITEMS. You will see red text appear for each item you chose to renew. If the renewal was unsuccessful, the red text will notify you that the item could not be renewed.
4. If an item’s renewal was unsuccessful, you must bring the item back by the original due date. Otherwise, the item’s new due date will appear in the STATUS column.*

*All items in the library can be renewed up to four times, unless another patron has requested it or if your library card has a fine of over $5.00. If your library card account expiration date is before the item’s due date, the due date for the item will be set as your expiration date. To extend the expiration date for your library card account, please call 614.882.7277 ext. 3 in order to verify your contact information.

Pay Fines

Fines are assessed for items that are returned to the library past their due date. If you have renewed an item after its original due date, you will still be assessed a fine for the days between the due date and the day you renewed the item. For more information about fines, see Library Card Policies.

You can always stop at the Circulation Desk at the library to pay your fines. However, you can also pay any fine over $1 online using your Visa or MasterCard. Simply follow the instructions below.

1. Go to MY ACCOUNT and enter your NAME and LIBRARY CARD NUMBER.
2. Click on UNPAID FINES AND BILLS.
3. Click on PAY ONLINE.
4. Select the fines that you wish to pay, complete all of the relevant information and click SUBMIT.
5. A confirmation page will appear. You can print a copy of your receipt at this time and/or click OK. If you have a valid email address, receipt of payment will be sent to the address you entered.

Courtesy Notices

The library offers courtesy notices to help you stay informed about your borrowed and requested items. If you have provided the library with an email address, you will receive the following notices by email. Otherwise, you will receive select notices through an automated phone system.

1. Notices for items that are about to become due. (On all 14 and 28 day loans, you will receive an email message 2 days before the item is to become due. Not available through the automated phone system.)
2. Notices for items that are overdue. (You will receive three notices to inform you of an overdue item.)
3. Notices for items that you have reserved (sometimes referred to as a “hold”) when they are ready for you to pickup.

To sign up for email notices, or to check to make sure you receive phone notices:

1. Log on to MY ACCOUNT.
2. Click on the EDIT link.
3. Add or edit your email address or phone number.
4. To stop receiving email notices, click on the EDIT link and delete your email address. (If no email address is listed, you will receive automated phone notifications.)

Preferred Searches

If you often search for the same subjects, titles, or authors in the catalog, you can save these searches. To do so:

1. Log in to MY ACCOUNT.
2. Click on SEARCH THE CATALOG.
3. Perform your search as you normally would.
4. When you see the results of your search, click SAVE YOUR PREFERRED SEARCH.
5. When you want to perform this search again, log in to My Account and click on PREFERRED SEARCHES.
6. You may choose to MARK FOR EMAIL and receive email alerts when the library receives new items matching your searches. After marking your searches, click on UPDATE LIST.

If you’d like to receive periodic emails when the library receives new materials that fit your preferred search criteria:

1. Log in to MY ACCOUNT.
2. Click on PREFERRED SEARCHES.
3. Click on the checkbox next to the searches you would like to receive email notices about.
4. Click UPDATE LIST.

Reading History

You have the option to save your reading history. This means that once you “opt in” to this feature, a list of all of the items that you check out after that point will be saved within My Account. (Items that are checked out through SearchOhio or OhioLINK will not appear in this list.)

To opt in to your reading history:

1. Log in to MY ACCOUNT.
2. Click on MY READING HISTORY.
3. Click on OPT IN TO SAVE READING HISTORY

If you wish to remove one or more items from your reading history:

1. Click in the box for each item in the MARK column.
2. Click DELETE MARKED.
3. Or click DELETE ALL to delete your entire reading history. (Be careful, because if you accidentally click OPT OUT or DELETE ALL, you will have no way to access that information again.)

If you wish to receive your reading history list in an email:

1. Click EXPORT READING HISTORY.
2. Enter a valid email address.
3. Click SUBMIT.

Ratings & Reviews

If you like to share your opinions about different items that you have borrowed from the library, you can use the features in My Account to do so.

In order to rate an item:

1. Log in to MY ACCOUNT.
2. Click SEARCH THE CATALOG.
3. Search for the item you would like to rate.
4. Once you have found the item, click on the stars that appear on the left-hand side. To view your ratings, go back to MY ACCOUNT and click MY RATINGS.

In order to review an item:

1. Log in to MY ACCOUNT.
2. Click SEARCH THE CATALOG.
3. Search for the item you would like to review.
4. Once you have found the item, click on the WRITE A REVIEW icon that appear on the left-hand side.
5. To view past reviews, go back to MY ACCOUNT and click MY REVIEWS. (All reviews are moderated, so you may not see yours appear in the catalog immediately.)

My Lists

In order to add items to My Lists (similar to Amazon.com's wishlist feature):

1. Search for an item in our catalog at www.westervillelibrary.org.
2. When you find an item that you want to add to My Lists, click on the ADD RECORD button.
3. Now you can view, email, print or save records that you have added by clicking on the EXPORT RECORDS link in the top right-hand corner of the page.
4. You’ll see an option to enter an email address, but you can also click on the link that says ADD TO MY LISTS.
5. When you do so, you will be prompted for your name and library card number.  Enter these.
6. The screen should refresh and show you any existing lists you have created. You can choose from an existing list and click Add, or you can choose to CREATE NEW LIST. Enter a name and description for your list and click CREATE.
7. In order to view the lists that you have created, you can always click on MY ACCOUNT, then click on MY LISTS.