Charging for Patron Registration

If your library wants to charge registration fees to certain types of patrons, such as temporary, seasonal, or non-resident users, you can set up registration fees by patron code. The fee is applied automatically when patrons with the specified patron code register or renew their registrations, and their patron accounts are blocked until the fee is paid. Registration fees are applied according to the settings of the registration branch.

Staff Client Workflow

If a fee has been defined for the patron code, a Registration Fee dialog box appears when a staff member selects Save in the new patron record. The dialog box displays the amount of the fee and the following options:

Pay - The staff member must have the permission Fines: Pay fines at circ to accept payment for the registration fee. The Pay dialog box opens and displays all current payment methods, including credit card payments if the organization has implemented these. Partial payments are possible. If a fee is partially paid, a block is placed on the patron account (see Patron Block for Registration Fee). If the option to print a receipt was selected, a receipt prints.
Waive - The staff member must have the permission Fines: Waive fines at circ. A waive transaction is written to the patron account, and a receipt prints if the receipt option was selected.
Charge - The charge is written to the patron account. The charge reason is listed as Registration fee.
Print Receipt - This option is selected by default. Receipts are printed according to the printer and driver set up for the Check Out workform printer. It is not necessary to check any specific receipt type on the Check-out options dialog box, but the printer and driver must be defined. The information printed on the receipt is that selected for fine receipts with the Patron Services parameter Fine receipt options.

Patron Block for Registration Fee

If the fee is charged to the patron account or only partially paid, a system block (Patron registration fee) is placed on the patron account. The block is cleared when the total charge amount is paid. As with other blocks, clicking on the block text from the Patron Blocks dialog box opens the Patron Account view. The permission Override circ blocks is required to override the block at check-out.

Expired Registration

If the expiration date in the patron record is reset (the registration is renewed), and the patron code requires a registration fee, the system displays the Registration fee dialog box as for a new registration. If the patron code is changed to non-chargeable at renewal, the fee dialog box is not displayed.

Note:
If a new patron record is saved with a chargeable patron code and then changed to a non-chargeable code, no action is taken on the patron account. If the fee was paid, the payment transaction will remain. If the fee was charged, the charge will remain on the patron account. The registration fee and block remain until staff pay or waive the charge.

Offline Workflow

If a new patron record is created offline and the patron code is a chargeable type, the fee is charged to the patron account and the Patron Registration Fee block is placed on the patron record. The offline upload file includes a note in the entry for the registration.

PAC Registration

As part of the PAC registration process, the patron selects a home branch. The home branch’s default settings are used to create the new patron registration. If the default patron code set for PAC registration is a chargeable code, the program displays a message to the patron. The default message is Your library account will be charged a [$] registration fee. Do you want to continue? The message text can be customized or translated with Polaris WebAdmin (Language Editor).

If the patron chooses to continue, the fee is charged to the patron account and the Patron Registration Fee block is placed on the record.

Note:
There is no option to renew an expired patron registration from PAC.

Polaris ExpressCheck

Patrons can renew an expiring registration at the Polaris ExpressCheck workstation if the option Permit registration renewal if patron record expires is selected in the parameter Polaris ExpressCheck: Enable. If the patron code is a chargeable type according to the options set for the patron’s registered branch, the program displays the message for an expired patron record and does not offer an option to renew. The patron must renew the registration at the circulation desk.