Would you like a quick, easy way to find out when your holds are ready to pick up? How about a reminder that your items are due? You can get all that through text or email message notices.
Text Message Notices
Text notices are a way for you to be notified that items you have requested to be held for you have arrived at the pickup location. We also use text to send overdue and billing notices.
We offer four types of text message notices:
- Pre-Overdue Notice text message is sent the day before a library item becomes due.
- Overdue Notice text message (1st & 2nd ) The 1st Overdue text is sent 7 days after a library item becomes overdue (3 days for DVDs). Two weeks after the 1st Overdue text is sent, if the item is still overdue, we will send a 2nd Overdue text. If the item is not returned after this second text its cost will be charged to your account.
- Hold Notice text message is sent when a library item you have requested becomes available for pickup.
- General Notice text message may occasionally be sent when the library needs to contact you individually concerning a specific situation such as "You left your library card behind during your recent visit".
How do I sign up for Text Notices?
To change your text notice preferences, please call or visit one of our library locations.
Important Notes about Text Messaging
- Please do not attempt to reply to the text message. The library is using a third party service to deliver these and will not be able to receive any texts sent back to us.
- Standard text messaging rates may apply. This is based on your phone service plan and not the responsibility of the library.
- Text messages do not stop other notification methods. Text notice messages are sent in addition to the email or phone notices that you may already be receiving.
Need more help? Please feel free to contact the website administrator if you have any other questions.
Email Notices
Would you like a quick, easy way to find out when your holds are ready to pick up? How about a reminder that your items are due? You can get all that through email notices.
Email notices are a way for you to be notified that items you have requested to be held for you have arrived at the pickup location. We also use email to send overdue and billing notices. Additionally, the library is able to send "reminder" notices. These reminders are sent three days before your item is due, the day the item is due, and five days after the due date.
How do I sign up for Email Notices?
Please make sure that your email account does not block the following email addresses:
- webmaster@indypl.org
- holds@yourlibrary.indypl.org
- reminder@yourlibrary.indypl.org
To sign up for email notices, you will need to sign into the “My Account” of our site. After signing in, please click or tap your username (or user initial) toward the top right of the page to display a drop down menu. Please select the “My Settings” link at the bottom of the menu that just appeared.
Once on the “My Settings” page of “My Account”, under the “Account Information” heading you will find a sub-heading labeled “Email”. Please click “Change” under this sub-heading.
Under “Email Address”, please enter your full email address. You may also add your email address for “Digital Notification Email” on this form as well. To finish the process, please click “Save Changes”.
Need more help? Please feel free to contact the website administrator if you have any other questions.
Email Notices Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Will I get "junk" or "spam" email if I sign up for this service?
The Indianapolis Public Library considers all patron information to be private and confidential. We do not release or sell any patron information, including names, addresses, phone numbers, or email addresses.
If you sign up for Email Notices, we will use your email address only for library business.
What if my email address changes?
You can update your email address with us by following the steps listed in the answer to question 1. Please be sure to click “Save Changes” after you have updated the email address.
How do I cancel email notices?
In order to cancel email notices please call or visit one of our locations and ask a staff member for assistance.
I have a hold listed as "Awaiting Pickup" in the Borrower Account area, but I did not get a notice. What's going on?
We run a batch process every morning that checks our system for items that have arrived at the pickup location since the last batch process. When it finds an item that has arrived to fulfill a request, the system generates a notice.
If the item arrived at the pickup point after that day's batch process, the "awaiting pickup" hold will show up on the My Account: On Hold page but the hold notice will not be sent until the following day. Please note that if you check out an item on the day that it arrives at the pickup location, the hold will be resolved and no notice will be generated for that item.
It is also possible that an email message could not be delivered. Please make sure that your email address is correct in My Account and check your email filter to make sure that the messages are not being blocked as junk email ("spam"). If neither of these situations apply, please contact the webmaster or speak with a staff member at one of our branch locations.