[Koha] Circulation Rules For Groups/Consortia

[Noah Brubaker]

Thank you Caroline, for the quick response!

I tried all three of the options there with what seem to be the same
result.  I believe this is because with each CircControl Setting the
following happens:
1.  "the library the item is from" - will circulate the item with the rules
that apply to the institutions own/home patrons to another patron
regardless of their home library
2. "the library the patron is from" - will circulate with rules from the
patron's home library NOT the library loaning the item
3. "the library you are logged in at" - got the same result here but not
sure why - I think this setting is for instances where you might want to
check out as if you were another library in special cases

If these are the only options, and I am not missing something,  it seems
another could be added:
"the loaning library" which could consider the patron's home library first
then match for patron/item categories

Are there any other settings or is there something about "the library you
are logged in at" that could be used here?

---Noah



Noah Brubaker

PALNI Associate Director

(317)721-8198 | nbrubaker at palni.edu | www.palni.edu

c/o Irwin Library, 4553 Clarendon Road, Indianapolis, IN 46208




On Thu, Oct 9, 2025 at 3:06 PM Caroline Cyr La Rose <
caroline.cyr-la-rose at inlibro.com> wrote:

> Hi Noah,
>
> Maybe someone more knowledgable about consortia issues can answer, but
> my first instinct is to ask what is the setting you set in the
> CircControl system preference?
>
> When Koha says "same library", it will look at the library of the item
> or the patron depending on CircControl.
>
> Regards,
>
> Caroline
>
> On 2025-10-09 14:51, Noah Brubaker wrote:
> > Hello,
> >
> > We are a consortium of libraries and trying to grasp circulation for Koha
> > in a group scenario as we are having some challenges understanding what
> is
> > possible.  We are separate libraries in a shared instance and with a
> shared
> > patron/bib database.  What we would like to have happen is:
> >
> > 1.  A patron from one institution can borrow from another (either walk in
> > person or via placing a hold) using fixed consortial borrowing rules. For
> > example 60 days for a book.  This should be separate from the lending
> > library's own local patrons which may get more generous terms.
> >
> > 2.  We would like to have a single set of patron categories that are
> > standard across the group.  For example Faculty, Student, etc.
> >
> > The issue seems to be that Koha views the patron as "local" rather than
> > from another library.  Is there a way for Koha to be configured to take
> > into account a patron's home library when determining rules?
> >
> > We would like to have the default most general rule be our reciprocal
> > lending terms (60 days for a book), but it seems that Koha always lends
> the
> > item as if the patron is part of the library lending it - rather than a
> > patron not affiliated directly with that library.
> >
> > Please let me know if I can clarify, but it seems there should be a
> setting
> > somewhere or something in the rules definitions we are missing.  We
> noticed
> > in the rules definition there is the term "same library" which is
> > considered by the system but it doesn't seem to be doing that in regards
> to
> > the patron and their home library.
> >
> > We were hoping to avoid needing separate patron types for all of our
> > libraries to make this work, if possible.
> >
> > Thanks so much!
> >
> > ---Noah
> >
> >
> >
> > Noah Brubaker
> >
> > PALNI Associate Director
> >
> > (317)721-8198 | nbrubaker at palni.edu | www.palni.edu
> >
> > c/o Irwin Library, 4553 Clarendon Road, Indianapolis, IN 46208
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>
> Caroline Cyr-La-Rose, M.L.I.S. (she/her)
> Librarian | Product Manager
>
> 1-833-INLIBRO (465-4276), ext. 221
> caroline.cyr-la-rose at inlibro.com
> https://www.inLibro.com
>
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