by Lisette Scheer on May 22, 2023
With this module staff and patrons will be available to manage curbside pickups from the OPAC and staff interface.
It adds a new configuration page to the administration module which allows each library in an installation to set their own rules and time slots for scheduling pickups.
If a library chooses to activate curbside pickups, they will be able to manage all stages to the process from within Koha: scheduling a pickup time, preparing items for pickup and completing pickups. Patrons can indicate that they have arrived at the library for their pickup through the OPAC.
Use the CurbsidePickup system preference to enable this module.
There is a new staff permission manage_curbsite_pickups
There is a new notice NEW_CURBSIDE_PICKUP to inform patrons when a new pickup has been scheduled.
Once you've enabled the CurbsidePickup system preference, go to the Administration section, where you will find a new "Curbside pickup" section.
Configuring Curbside Pickups
Each branch has a tab where you can enable the plugin if the branch would like to use it and set a number of settings:
Pickup interval: This is how long in minutes each interval will take.
Maximum patrons per interval: This is the maximum number of patrons that can schedule during an interval.
Patron scheduled pickup: This allows patrons to schedule pickups from the Koha OPAC.
Enable for waiting holds only: This prevents patrons from reserving slots unless they have holds waiting. If you are allowing patrons to do curbside pickups of non-cataloged items, such as print jobs, you'll want to leave this unchecked.
Below those options you can set your curbside pickup hours. Select a day of the week and using 24 hour time enter when you want your interval to start and end, then click "Add"
You can add multiple timeslots on the same day if you want to have, for example, a morning timeslot and and evening timeslot on the same day. Once you have your settings as you want them, click "Save configuration"
Scheduling Curbside Pickups from the Staff Interface
Once you've set up all your branches with the options you want, you can schedule curbside pickups from any patron account by clicking the new "Schedule Pickup" button on the patron's account.
This will take you to the curbside pickup module, with the patron you came from selected. Use the date picker to select the date, then you can click an interval and if you want add a note, then submit.
Scheduling Curbside Pickups from the OPAC
If you've enabled the option for patrons to schedule their own pickups, here is what that process looks like.
Patrons can sign into their account on the Koha OPAC and select the new "Curbside pickups" tab at the bottom of the tabs.
From here, they'll be able to see any pickups that are already scheduled for them as well as cancel the pickup and on the say of the pickup, alert staff that they've arrived.
Patrons can click the "Schedule a pickup" and select a "Pickup library", then use the date picker to select the day they want their pickup on, and then select the interval they want.
They also can add notes before scheduling their pickup.
Processing Curbside Pickups
When there are curbside pickups scheduled for your library, they will show on the Koha home page, where purchase suggestions, and patron updates also show if you have them turned on.
Clicking on the curbside link will take you to the curbside module "To be staged" tab.
From this page, you can mark curbside pickups as "Staged & ready" or cancel the pickup. You can set the page to refresh automatically or can use the "refresh" button to see any updates. Once pickups are staged and ready, you can click the "Staged & ready" tab.
Once pickups are "Staged & ready" patrons can mark that they've arrived from the OPAC. If you're using this feature, you'll likely want to set the autorefresh. You can also mark that a "patron has arrived" or mark the pickup as "delivered" as well as setting it back to "To be staged" The "Patron is outside" tab is nearly the same, but also allows you to revert the pickup to "Staged & ready.
When pickups are marked as "Delivered" any holds are checked out to the patron automatically.
Read more by Lisette Scheer