PowerPAC - Your Library Account

Access Your Account from Home

View Items Checked Out on your Account

Renew Items on Your Account

View and/or Cancel Hold Requests

Check for Fines and Fees

Save and View Your Reading History

Create Saved Searches Using the Personalized Search Agent

Access Your Account from Home

1. Go to www.tcpl.org.
2. Click on “Search Catalog” located at the top of the screen.
3. Click on “Patron Account.”
4. Type in your complete library barcode number located on the back of your card, including the “D.”
5. Enter your password which in most cases is the last four-digits of your phone number. For more information about passwords, please read the “Account Password” section in this brochure.

To begin accessing your account, click here.

View Items Out on Your Account

Want to know what you have checked out and when they are due? Log in to your patron account and choose the tab at the top left of your screen that says, “Items Out.” This lists all items currently out on your card, when they are due, and the number of renewals left for each item.

To view items out on your account, click here.

View and/or Cancel Hold Requests

You can display the requests you have made for materials (and cancel the requests, if necessary) through the Patron Account Requests option. After you log in, click on “ Requests” in the Patron Account submenu to display a list of your requests.

Note: For each item, the requests view displays the format and title of the item and the status of the request.

The following statuses are common listings:

• Active - Your request for the item is active and waiting for the item to become available.
• Pending - The lending library has earmarked the item for you.
• Shipped - The item is being sent from a member library to TCPL to fill your request.
• Held - The item has reached the Circulation Desk and is waiting for you to check out. This is when an email or mail notice is generated informing you the item is on hold.
• Cancelled - The request has been cancelled. This list will also show cancelled hold requests for 60 days before they are deleted.
• Unclaimed -The item was held for you at the library, but it was never picked up.

The numbers in the Hold Position column indicate the status of your request compared to other patron requests for the same item. The library notifies you when your request is available.

Note:
The hold position indicates your request's status in relation to other requests system-wide (all member libraries in the Finger Lakes Library System). We fill our patrons hold requests first with our items.

Remember:
There is a 50 cent fee for each hold request which you pay at the time you pick up the item. You will be charged this fee even if you do not claim the item.

To view and/or cancel hold requests, click here.

Check for Fines and Fees

Once you have logged in to your patron account, click on “Fines & Fees” to see if you have any charges to your account.

To check for fines and fees, click here.

Save and View Your Reading History

The reading history is a convenient record of what you have read and what you might like to read again. It includes the title, author, check-out date, and loaning library for each item you have checked out. It does not show details such as renewals, due dates, or dates returned.

To activate your reading history, log in to your Patron Account and choose “Change Preferences” near the bottom of the screen. Place a checkmark in the box directly to the left of “Maintain permanent reading list” and click on “Submit.” If you agree to the privacy warning, PowerPAC will begin keeping your reading history for you. Anytime you want to view your reading history, select it from the Patron Account menu.

If you want to clear your reading history, you can stop the history and clear it from your patron account in the same way. In this case, the history is not kept at all. You can start a new reading history at any time.

Important:
Your reading history is associated directly with your patron account. If you have concerns about your privacy as a library patron, contact the library for specific information about the library's privacy policies or view our privacy policy online at www.tcpl.org/privacy.html.

To save and view your reading history, click here.

Create Saved Searches Using the Personalized Search Agent

Create a search, for example, on books about vegetarian cooking, and then save this search under your patron profile. When the Search Agent runs, it finds any new titles that have been added to the collection that match your search. You can schedule the frequency you want your Search Agent to search the catalog, then you will receive an email with these new titles.

Set up and Save a Search:

1. Search by keyword, phrase, exact phrase, advanced, or Boolean search and click “Go.” Note: Each automatic search looks for titles new since the last time the search was run.
2. Click “ Save Search” located under the “Sort by:” option.
3. Type in your library barcode number and password, and click “Log In.” Fill out the fields on the Save Search form as follows:

• Search name - Type a name to identify the search in your list of saved searches.
• Note - Type a brief description (optional).
• Email results to - Type any e-mail address to receive the results.
• Email format - select HTML or plain text.
• Email if no results - Check the box if you want to receive an e-mail when an automatic search returns no new results.
• Search frequency - Specifies how often the saved search is automatically run ( Weekly , Monthly , or Suspend ). Select Suspend if you want to save the search to use later, but do not want regular results at this time. You can edit the setting to a different frequency later, or run the search manually when you choose.
• Number of times to run - Type the number of times that the saved search should be run automatically. The library sets a maximum number for this setting.

4. Click “Save Search.”