Freezing Holds - Patron Instructions

This document describes the process of freezing/pausing holds on library items for patrons using the catalog.


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Why would I freeze my library hold?

Freezing a hold means that your position in the holds queue is skipped over until the hold is unfrozen or thawed. Freezing a hold allows you to time the arrival of some of your holds to a more convenient time for you. For example, if you are going on vacation and don't want to miss getting your requested items, you can pause/freeze your holds before you leave then resume/unfreeze them when you return.

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Steps to freeze a hold

  1. Login to your library account on your library’s catalog homepage. 

  2. Navigate to the ‘Titles on Hold’ section in your library account. To access your account information, you can always click on the ‘My Account’ button at the top right hand side of the page.



  3. Find the holds you want to freeze/pause in the ‘Pending Holds’ section of the ‘Titles on Hold’ page.

  4. Click the ‘Freeze Hold’ button on the right hand side of the hold you want to freeze.

  5. You will see a pop-up window that will tell you if the freeze was successful and the page will reload to update the status of your hold.

  6. Any holds that are frozen will display with a ‘Thaw Hold’ button. The status of a frozen hold will also display as ‘Frozen.’

  7. To reinstate a hold, click on the ‘Thaw Hold’ button.

  8. You will see a pop-up window that will tell you if the thaw was successful and the page will reload to update the status of your hold.

There are some settings in the library system that don’t allow you to freeze certain holds. This happens when you are the only patron with a request for a title or are the 1st or 2nd patron in the hold queue for a title. If this is the case, you will not see the ‘Freeze Hold’ button on your hold.

You can only freeze or thaw one hold at a time. You’ll follow the above process for each hold you want to freeze, if the ‘Freeze Hold’ button is available.

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