Hello NExpressers!
The Calendar (under Tools in Koha) will affect your circulation (and overdues) based on how it is set. The Director account has permission to update the Calendar. There are basically three ways you can set your Koha Calendar, which is done individually for each library:
1. No holidays
- Koha counts every calendar day when determining a checkout period.
- An item with a 7 Day checkout that is checked out on Monday Nov 23 will be due seven days later, on Monday Nov 30.
- It doesn’t matter if the library is open or closed on any of these days.
- Overdues are determined in the same way — an item that is 7 Days Overdue will get a First Notice.
- So, to use the example above, the unreturned item checked out on Nov 23 will trigger a First Overdue Notice on Dec 7.
2. Holidays only (Yearly and Unique)
- Koha counts every calendar day when determining a checkout period EXCEPT for specific holidays “blocked out” on the calendar, like Thanksgiving, Christmas, Independence Day, etc.
- Koha just skips the holiday in determining checkout periods.
- Using the example above, a Koha Calendar with just yearly Holidays set would skip Thanksgiving Day on November 26.
- The item checked out on Nov 23 would be due on Tuesday Dec 1.
- The First Overdue Notice would be sent on Dec 8.
- The benefit of setting your Calendar to skip holidays is that items won’t ever be due on days like Thanksgiving or Christmas.
3. Recurring weekly holidays (days library is closed)
- Koha will skip every day the library is not open for business when counting checkout periods.
- For a library that is closed on Saturday and Sunday each week, an item checked out on Monday, Nov 23 would be due Wednesday, Dec 2.
- HOWEVER, if the Thanksgiving holiday is also “blocked out” in addition to the regular days the library is closed, then the item would be due on Thursday, Dec 3.
- So a 7 Day checkout period could, in this scenario, encompass 10 actual calendar days, since the Calendar settings tell Koha to skip counting Thursday, Saturday and Sunday as checkout days.
Right now, libraries are using all combinations of 1, 2, and 3. You do not HAVE to use any holiday settings whatsoever.
Mickey