This would help us much since there is much frustration on patron and library side when e. g. fines and fees arise, just because loans are trimmed due to an expiring patron account. Also we would like to keep our patrons for the library - a gentle reminder of the library towards the patrons would helb us a lot.

This would be very helpful to us (Consortium of Icelandic Libraries), provided that the job would look at patron privileges at specific libraries and not just the user record expiry date. In our setup we have tens of independent libraries in most IZs and each library needs to be able to notify their patrons.

Our Library will be switching to Alma in June 2025. I was hoping that this feature is part of Alma and learned in training that it isn't possible to send account expiring letters. Many of our customers are not part of a SIS load and could really benefit from a letter like this.

Dear Moshe, yes, the job you described is what we need: "Moshe Shechter: ... Alma will have a scheduled job that will send letters every day at a specific time, with a warning for users about to expire, i.e. have a user account that has a nearing expiry date. The library will be able to set up the amount of days before expiration and if the letter should be sent to all users or to specific user groups."

Hi Moshe

Having reported this as an issue for a number of years and trying to get this on a list of enhancements/idea exchange and failing to get much response from Ex Libris support on this so far then your latest comment looks to be promising.

This lack of functionality within Alma for what is/should be a standard report has been ongoing for years. This used to be available in Aleph as standard and we would love for this to be added to the standard Alma letter package for allowing scheduled selectable user group/no of days to expiry - without having to resort to programming or any special coding requirements.

It seems like a very standard need not to be met by an out of the box letter.

Otherwise we get a proliferation of us writing and adapting Python scripts.

Dear Moshe, yes, I also agree - that's the trick

Dear Moshe, yes, the scheduled job you describe would absolutely do the trick!

So, would a solution such as the below do the trick ?

Alma will have a scheduled job that will send letters every day at a specific time, with a warning for users about to expire, i.e. have a user account that has a nearing expiry date. The library will be able to set up the amount of days before expiration and if the letter should be sent to all users or to specific user groups.

Implementing an automatic warning system for users nearing expiration, complete with personalized Alma letters, is a fantastic idea. This feature lets users set the days before expiration, choose recipients, and schedule daily sending. It's a convenient and efficient way to enhance user experience and simplify administrative tasks.

Hi everyone,

we needed this function in our library too, so I wrote a Python script for automating this task. Configuration of the amount of days before expiration (and other things) is possible. I put the script on GitHub ... feel free to use it!

https://github.com/AKBibliothekWien/alma-notify-expiring-users

Best regards,
Mike

this is incredibly essential for us, as we are having to utilise a manual process to create a set of all patrons expiring in a given period, and then running a job to send them a letter to warn them that they expiring soon and to return their books. Automating this procedure would save us a lot of manual intervention and time.

This idea would be very useful for us, as currently, we are having to utilise a very manual process to create a set of all patrons expiring in a given period, and then running a job to send them a patron notification letter to warn them that they expiring soon and to return their books. If we can automate this procedure, it would save us a lot of time.

This really needs to be part of the standard suite of letters that can be configured to run daily as a part of a job that lets you identify the number of offset days warning.

There is already an option in the Registration Parameters TOU to define the number of days warning that you provide to a customer in the Manage Patron Services screen. Why not let this trigger a letter that you can configure with relevant information.

Are there any plans by Ex Libris to implement such a job?

The user notification letter does not currently let you include a list of any items on loan - this would be a very useful addition to the existing functionality as if you are contacting any user then you would want to include 'borrower activity' details - as a reminder.

-> see also https://ideas.exlibrisgroup.com/forums/308173-alma/suggestions/44102373-alma-automatic-warning-for-users-about-to-expire

Ex Libris already commented on another idea like this:
https://ideas.exlibrisgroup.com/forums/308173-alma/suggestions/35105641-patron-purge-letter#comments

-> doing that "by hand" is not efficient, there should be an automated process as described above: define number of days before expiration per user group an then a job does the work

Hi,

There is indeed no built in job for that, but there is a way to achieve this functionality.

1. Define an Analytics report with number of days before expiry

2. Use the report to create a set (see https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Knowledge_Articles/Create_Users_Set_for_expired_patrons_based_on_Analytics)

3. Configure the notice you wan to send , see https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Product_Documentation/010Alma_Online_Help_(English)/050Administration/040Configuring_User_Management/070Configuring_User_Notification_Types

4. Use the 'Update/Notify users' job to send the notice to the users in the set.

It would be helpful if Alma had an email letter that was linked to the user expiry date and could be sent to the client once their account is due to or has expired.