If the book never makes it into the hands of the patron...are we all unfulfilled?
In FY25, nearly one in every three requested books was never picked up. Access and User Services has raised concerns--both practical and emotional. On a practical level, each unclaimed request represents staff time and effort. Emotionally, it can be disheartening to connect users with resources only for them to sit uncollected. And yet, not every missed--or "not fulfilled"--pickup signals a failure. When seen visually, the scale of this pattern becomes more than a statistic, it becomes a story. One that invites reflection, questions, and, potentially, change.
Patron cancelled request
When a patron initiated the cancellation of their request via "My Account" in the online catalog.
Duplicate request
The patron submitted the request multiple times so we deleted the dupes, cancelling the request.
Need by date passed
"Need by date passed" requests closely track with "Patron no longer interested" and "Cannot be fulfilled."
Is a third of requested books not being picked up a problem?
One of our core missions is to connect patrons with content. But do we make it a goal to increase fulfillment, ensuring that more requested materials are actually picked up?
To address this, we can consider several actions:
- Benchmark: Compare our data with other access departments to determine if a 30% non-pickup rate is typical.
- Reframe: Consider whether we need to redefine what "fulfillment" means for us.
- Survey: Add a question about this to the general satisfaction survey, or conduct a targeted survey focused specifically on pickup behavior.
- Outreach: Do focused outreach--such as tabling at the University Center branch in the Spring--to explore whether this is a UX issue, a communication issue, or something else.
Ultimately, we need to ask: Are we concerned enough--resource- and morale-wise--to prioritize solving this?
