PINES libraries to offer 'Preminder Service'
GPLS News, January 2009
PINES is the public library automation and lending network for more than 275 libraries and affiliated service outlets in almost 140 counties in Georgia.
ATLANTA -- Georgia Public Library Service will launch its PINES Preminder Service at more than 275 participating libraries around the state on Jan. 15.
PINES -- short for Public Information Network for Electronic Services -- offers Georgia citizens a shared catalog of almost 10 million items, with a single library card that is welcomed in all member libraries. Now boasting more than 2 million registered cardholders, PINES is a national leader in library cooperation and resource sharing.
With the new preminder service, PINES patrons can sign up to receive notices by email that their borrowed materials will soon be due. "We will notify you before it happens, so that you can either return or renew your items before any fines are assessed," said PINES Program Director Elizabeth McKinney.
Those who sign up for the service and borrow items that circulate for eight days or more will receive a two-day notice. Those who borrow items that circulate for two-to-seven days will receive a one-day notice. Patrons may sign up to receive preminders at any PINES participating library or online at www.gapines.org.
In other PINES-related news, all seven- and 14-day overdue notices will now be sent via email in order to save Georgia taxpayers the cost of paper and postage. Thirty-day overdue notice will continue to be sent via the US Postal Service.