two people holding different types of devices to receive emails, text messages, or phone calls.

Notice Types

The Library offers notices and reminder messages via email, text (SMS) message, or automated phone calls. You may choose to receive notices via one notice type, or via all three. If you opt into:

email notices, you will receive ALL notice types.
text message notices, you will receive all notice types EXCEPT Pre-Overdue Reminders and Account Expiration Reminders
phone call notices, you will receive all notice types EXCEPT Pre-Overdue Reminders, Billing NOtices, and Account Expiration Reminders.

Hold Notices

Hold notices are sent the morning after a hold arrives at the pickup location.
Second hold notices are sent three days after the hold arrives at the pickup location.

Overdue Reminders

Pre-Overdue Reminders are sent via email only three days before items are due.
First Overdue Notices are sent on the day after items are due.
Second Overdue Notices are sent seven days after an item is due.
Final Overdue Notices are sent 21 days after an item is due. This the the last warning before the overdue items are marked "lost" and replacement fees are charged to the account.

Billing and Collection Notices

Billing notes are sent via email and text message only when an item is changed from overdue to lost 42 days (6 weeks) after it is due, and replacement costs are charged to the account holder.
Pre-Collection Notices are sent when an account holder has unresolved charges of $50 or more, sent 30 days prior to the account being turned over to a collecton agency.

Account Expiration Reminders

Account expiration reminders are sent via email only 42 days (6 weeks) before the account expires.

Opt Into Email Notices

To sign up for email notices, you will need to sign into “My Account” on our site. After logging 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”.

Please make sure that your email account does not block the following email addresses:

webadmin@indypl.org
holds@yourlibrary.indypl.org
notices@indypl.org
reminder@yourlibrary.indypl.org

Need more help? Please feel free to contact the website administrator if you have any other questions.

Opt Into Text Message Notices

To change your text message notice preferences, please call or visit one of our Library locations.

Text Message (SMS) notices are sent via a third-party service provider using the short code number 60896. Messages from this number are notices and reminders from The Indianapolis Public Library.

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.
Please note that if you send a "STOP" message as a reply to a Library text message, that will unsubscribe you from the third-party service and prevent them from sending messages to your number. This may affect messages for multiple Library accounts if you use the same phone number for your account and the accounts of other family members.
Text notice messages can be sent on their own, or in addition to the email or phone notices that you may already be receiving.
Unsubscribing from the service in this way does not change the Library notice preferences; that can only be done by a Library staff member.

Need more help? Please feel free to contact the website administrator if you have any other questions.

Opt Into Phone Notices

Automated Phone Call Notices are available if they are preferred over email or text message notices. To opt into automated phone notices, please call or visit one of our Library locations.

Phone notices are generated once per day from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays, and from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekends.

The automated calls come from 317-463-1363 with the name "IndyPL Notices". This phone number is for the outbound notification calls only; incoming calls to that number will be directed to our automated telephone renewal service rather than to a Library staff member.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Will I get "junk" or "spam" email if I sign up for account notices?

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 any notification method (email, text message, or phone), we will use your contact information for Library business only.

What if my email address or phone number changes?

You can update your email address with us by following the steps listed in the email notice section. Please be sure to click “Save Changes” after you have updated the email address.

Phone number changes can be made with the assistance of a Library staff member. Please call or visit one of our Library locations to help with a phone number change.

How can I change my notification method, or opt out of receiving notices?

Please call or visit one of our Library locations and ask a staff member for assistance.

We do not recommend opting out of Library notifications, as you may miss out on important information regarding hold requests and checked out items.

Why are some types of notices not available by phone or text message?

The Library works with a third-party service provider who processes the notification data from our circulation system and sends the messages via phone or text message. While all our notice types are available by email, three types are not supported by the phone and SMS service provider. We hope that the additional notice types will become available via phone and text message in the future.

I accidentally unsubsribed to the Library's text message notices. How do I resubscribe?

You can resubscribe to this service by sending the code word "indyPL" (this is case sensitive) to 60896. You may also need to contact the Library to change the notification method in your Library account back to "Text Message".

I have a hold listed as "Awaiting Pickup" in the Borrower Account, but I did not receive a hold notice. What's going on?

We run a batch process early 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 possible that an email message could not be delivered. Please make sure that your email address is correct in your Library account and check your email filter to make sure that the messages are not being blocked as junk email ("spam"). A list of the Library email addesses that send notifications and other messages can be found in the Email Notices section above.

It is also possible that text message and phone notices may not be delivered. Please call or visit a Library location to make sure that the phone number in your Library account is correct. These messages cannot be delivered if the phone notice number 317-463-1363 or text message short code 60896 is blocked on your phone.

Text message notices could also be blocked if you unsubscribe from the provider by replying "STOP" to one of the Library messages.

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.