Approved by the Interim Board of Directors, BC Libraries Cooperative September 16, 2009

Since this policy was developed in 2009, Sitka staff and patrons in BC public libraries have enjoyed an increasingly seamless integration of service and access to shared resources. This has been achieved primarily through BC InterLibrary Connect, and more enhanced circulation policies that consider home library, not patron profile, in Evergreen to determine a patron’s BC OneCard status. Use of the BC OneCard patron profile in Evergreen to manage non resident patrons is now technically optional; libraries can also use any appropriate patron profile, and record the patron’s actual home library, to ensure that pre-configured local rules for non residents are applied at checkout. Either method also satisfies statistical requirements for BC Libraries Branch annual reports.

As of August 2018 the BC OneCard program still exists in BC, and the original policy is still applicable for participating libraries, with some technical updates included in 2018.

Sitka’s Evergreen instance is intended to feature a shared patron database. From both a database integrity and a service perspective, it is important that each Sitka patron be represented in the shared database by only 1 patron record. As the number of Sitka sites grew, the occurrences of cross-Sitka traffic went up; these occurrences drove the need for consortial policy and workflow to enable high levels of customer service while simultaneously ensuring database integrity.

Consortial policy and procedures for the handling of non-resident patrons complement the existing "opt-in" functionality in Sitka’s Evergreen. Since the very first Sitka sites went live in late 2007, custom patron "opt-in" programming has been in place on Sitka’s Evergreen to satisfy the requirements of BC’s FIPPA legislation as it relates to a shared patron database. The opt-in code is activated the first time a Sitka patron card is scanned at any Sitka library other than their home library. In doing so, it solicits informed patron consent for staff at the library to retrieve the patron’s information. Library staff should understand that they must not retrieve the patron record without patron consent.

The past Sitka Circulation Working Group (2007 - 2011), with additional input from the then North Coast Library Federation, and Co-op Support, developed the original Sitka BC OneCard policy. Along with this policy came the following operational approach: all Sitka-site library staff with appropriate permissions are able to edit patron records as necessary, assuming that a patron has "opted in" for service at their library.