# Selecting Library as Pick-Up Location
**URL:** https://forum.innovativeusers.org/t/selecting-library-as-pick-up-location/3049
**Category:** Polaris
**Created:** [September 21, 2026, 3:46pm UTC](https://forum.innovativeusers.org/t/selecting-library-as-pick-up-location/3049 "2026-09-21T15:46:09Z")
**Posts on this page:** 8
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@ebrondermajor](https://forum.innovativeusers.org/u/ebrondermajor)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2026, 3:46pm UTC](https://forum.innovativeusers.org/t/selecting-library-as-pick-up-location/3049/1 "2026-09-21T15:46:09Z")
Hello,
We’re preparing to move from 7.8 to 8.1, and I was reading about some of the changes here: [https://knowledge.ag-software.clarivate.com/polaris/Attachments/WhatsNew/PolarisWhatsNew\_8.1.pdf](https://knowledge.ag-software.clarivate.com/polaris/Attachments/WhatsNew/PolarisWhatsNew_8.1.pdf)
I’m wondering about the “selecting library as pick-up location” option that’s now available when restricting items for local pickup only (I believe it is based on this Idea exchange idea: [https://ideas.iii.com/forums/951742-ils-polaris/suggestions/49099688-polaris-8-1-add-library-level-to-hold-pickup-lim](https://ideas.iii.com/forums/951742-ils-polaris/suggestions/49099688-polaris-8-1-add-library-level-to-hold-pickup-lim)).
Does anyone know if this is functionally any different from the preferred borrowers option? In my tests, it seems to behave the same, but maybe I’m missing something.
Thanks,
Eleanor
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### Author:  [@wesochuck](https://forum.innovativeusers.org/u/wesochuck)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2026, 6:59pm UTC](https://forum.innovativeusers.org/t/selecting-library-as-pick-up-location/3049/2 "2026-09-21T18:59:25Z")
I believe the distinction is that the others were based on where the PATRON account was registered.
So, preferred would say, “As long as your account was **registered** at one of these locations, then you could put this item on hold.”
I think the intent with the NEW feature is to allow _ANY_ patron so long as they’re willing to **pick it up** at the branch/library system specified in the item record.
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### Author:  [@ebrondermajor](https://forum.innovativeusers.org/u/ebrondermajor)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2026, 12:34pm UTC](https://forum.innovativeusers.org/t/selecting-library-as-pick-up-location/3049/3 "2026-09-22T12:34:21Z")
> **[Polaris Staff Client Help](https://documentation.iii.com/polaris/7.8/#PolarisStaffHelp/Patron_Services_Admin/PDPrequests/Set_Holds_options_Preferred_borrowers_branches.htm)**
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### Author:  [@wesochuck](https://forum.innovativeusers.org/u/wesochuck)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2026, 12:53pm UTC](https://forum.innovativeusers.org/t/selecting-library-as-pick-up-location/3049/4 "2026-09-22T12:53:38Z")
Thanks for the documentation link. My guess is then there are locations that could have a different set of preferred borrowers than they do library/branch system set up.
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### Author:  [@Phil\_Agnew](https://forum.innovativeusers.org/u/Phil_Agnew)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2026, 6:04pm UTC](https://forum.innovativeusers.org/t/selecting-library-as-pick-up-location/3049/5 "2026-09-22T18:04:11Z")
Restricted pick-up branches for holds has been something our libraries have been chasing for a **long time**. @wesochuck was on the right track when he mentioned other hold restrictions following the patron’s registered branch and **not** the pickup, but he was thinking of the “Patrons from this library and branches” and “Patrons from this branch only” flags instead of the “Preferred borrowers” flag. Until 8.1, every ILS I’ve worked with (admittedly only 3) only allowed you to restrict a holds using branch data from the patron account. If you can reliably expect the patron’s library to match their selected pick-up branch, this works fine, but if you’ve got patrons that registered at one location (because Google Maps sent them to your central library) who regularly use another branch, you start running into situations where items that were **supposed** to stay at that branch are being shipped to the other branch to fill holds. This is the first time I’ve encountered a hold restriction that truly allows you to restrict holds to a specific pick-up branch (or library) without the need to set up some other supporting material types or patron codes.
As for preferred borrowers, you **could** have those set up in a way that mimics this behavior, but we’re making the same sort of assumptions about the connection between patron **account** **data** and patron **behaviors**. As soon as someone makes a pick-up selection that deviates from your assumptions, you’re going to end up with an item being routed to a branch you didn’t intend. To my mind, the preferred borrowers was always better suited for prioritizing staff or faculty, where the restriction has more to do with **who** is allowed to place a hold on an item and less to do with **where** the hold should be picked up… but you could have conceivably stretched the functionality to get somewhere **close** to the new “Pickup at” selection.
Now, there are still some things I dislike about the current “Pickup at” restriction, namely the need to include **all** branches of a Library in the system configuration in order to get the the Library level restriction to surface in the dropdown selection. Not only does this look silly, but it makes **no sense** when you consider the implications:
Outside of some incredibly niche circumstances involving remote collection sites configured as Branches, I can’t think of any reason you would want to restrict hold pickup to a Branch other than the Item’s Assigned Branch… If these selections were flags, sure, maybe you only want these three branches to be considered Pickup Branches for the Item, but with the selection limited to just one option this is just ridiculous. And I’m sure no one has ever encountered an Item where the wrong selection was made in a drop-down menu, right? Still, being able to surface the Library as an option here **is** genuinely helpful, if you need to restrict things to that group, but all the other branches? Not so much.
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### Author:  [@wesochuck](https://forum.innovativeusers.org/u/wesochuck)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2026, 6:32pm UTC](https://forum.innovativeusers.org/t/selecting-library-as-pick-up-location/3049/6 "2026-09-22T18:32:15Z")
Thanks for the detailed follow-up.
> [@Phil\_Agnew](#):
>
> the need to include **all** branches of a Library in the system configuration in order to get the the Library level restriction to surface in the dropdown selection.
I think this was a way for them to rollout the feature without having it totally break the **desktop client** or have to do a major refactor of the desktop client which they’re 100% avoiding at all cost these days.
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### Author:  [@Anna](https://forum.innovativeusers.org/u/Anna)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2026, 6:46pm UTC](https://forum.innovativeusers.org/t/selecting-library-as-pick-up-location/3049/7 "2026-09-22T18:46:52Z")
How long do you think it will be before the need for the desktop client is eliminated entirely?
Anna
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### Author:  [@wesochuck](https://forum.innovativeusers.org/u/wesochuck)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2026, 6:51pm UTC](https://forum.innovativeusers.org/t/selecting-library-as-pick-up-location/3049/8 "2026-09-22T18:51:16Z")
For some, they don’t need the client today, even for: [Notes from IUG Zoom Forum: Tech Service in Leap](https://forum.innovativeusers.org/t/notes-from-iug-zoom-forum-tech-service-in-leap/3047)
For others only a 🔮 would know.