Freezing/Unfreezing your requests

The 'Freeze/Unfreeze' option is available for customers that might be unable to pick up their hold when it arrives and want to maintain their position in the hold queue. Most often this is because they are leaving town and are concerned their item will arrive for them while they are gone.

This feature can also be used to ensure that items in a series arrive in the correct order. Place a hold on all the desired items in a series and 'Freeze' them all except for the first in the series. When you are ready for subsequent items in the series you can 'Unfreeze' them.

The 'Freeze' option will remove their request from the hold queue but leave an invisible placeholder there. The placeholder will continue to rise up the hold queue and if enough time passes will eventually become number one in queue.

Once the request is unfrozen, the hold will be replaced in the queue at whatever position the placeholder has reached.

Note: It is important to realize that these placeholders are invisible. Because of this the overall length of a hold queue might appear to fluctuate. As holds are frozen and unfrozen the list will appear to shrink and grow. This might cause a hold to appear to move backwards in the hold queue. For example, if a patron at the head of the hold queue unfreezes a hold, it will push everyone else in the queue down one position.

Holds can be frozen at the time the hold is placed or afterwards from your 'Requests' list in 'My Account'.

To 'Freeze' a request from the 'My Account' screen:

1. Log in to your account.
2. To view items you have requested click on the 'Requests' link at right margin of the screen.
   
   
   
   
3. The next screen will list all of the items you have requested ordered by status.
4. Click in the check box to the left of each title that you would like to 'Freeze'.
5. Click on the 'Freeze/Unfreeze Selected' button located at the bottom of the list.
   

   Note: You can only use this feature on items that have a status of Active or Pending. You are unable to Freeze items that are Interlibrary Loans or items that have a status of On Hold Shelf or Shipped.

6. The next screen will display the items you selected listed at the bottom and at the top will be a box where you can determine the date you want your requests to become unfrozen or reactivated up to two years from today.
   
   
7. After inputting your date click on the 'Submit' button.
8. The items you have frozen should now appear in your 'Requests' list with a status of Inactive. The date they will become active again appears next to the status.

To 'Unfreeze' a request from the 'My Account' screen:

Items will automatically 'Unfreeze' on whatever date was chosen at the time they were frozen. This date appears in the 'Status' column for any item that is Inactive. However, if you want to 'Unfreeze' items prior to the date chosen follow these steps.

1. Log in to your account.
2. Click on the 'Requests' link on the right side of the screen.
3. The next screen will list all of the items you have requested ordered by status. Frozen items will have a status of Inactive.
4. Click in the check box to the left of each title that you want to 'Unfreeze'.
5. Click on the 'Freeze/Unfreeze Selected' button at the bottom of the list.
6. The next screen will have the items you checked listed at the bottom and at the top will be a box where you input the date you want your items to become unfrozen.
7. Type in today's date.
8. Click on the 'Submit' button.
9. The items you have unfrozen should now appear in your 'Requests' list with a status of Active.