Email Notification

Would you like a quick, easy way to find out when your holds are ready to be picked up? How about a reminder that your items are due?

You can get all this by registering for Email Notification. Sign up today!

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Email Notification?

Email Notification is an optional way for you to be notified that items you have checked out are overdue and that items you have requested to be held for you have arrived at the pickup location.
The library is now notifying customers when items are about to be overdue. This reminder notice is sent one day before the item is due.

Email Notification offers several advantages over the standard paper overdue and hold notices:

• Notices get to you faster. It takes one or two more days for a paper notice to reach your mailbox than it does an email message to reach your email account.
• The reminder notices. Due to the cost of sending out paper notices, we are only able to offer this reminder notice to customers registered for email notification. If you register for email notification, you will receive a reminder notice one day before items become overdue as well as 21 days after the items are overdue. The email reminder will allow you the chance to renew your materials or to return them, so you can avoid fines.
• Reduction of the cost to the Library. Each email notice sent reduces the cost for the library to send out the daily mail notices. In turn, this will allow us to use your tax dollars more efficiently.
• Environmentally friendly. Each email notice sent reduces the number of paper notices we must use. This can eventually reduce the number of trees used to produce paper notices. Save a tree -- register for email notification!

Please be aware that this service replaces paper notices. At this time we are not able to send both paper and email notices. Also, if you are unable to check your email regularly, this service may not be right for you.

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How do I sign up?

To sign up for email notices, follow these instructions using the link at the end of this question:

• Type in your 14-digit library card number (without spaces), email address and home branch (the library branch you usually visit or at which you check out materials). Please be sure to type in your complete email address (for example "comments@montgomerycountymd.gov") and be sure that the email address is correct.
• Once you have completed the form, click the "Enter" button.
• An automated confirmation message will be sent to the email address you entered on the form. If your email registration is accepted, you will receive a verification message at the email address you have listed within 48 hours. You MUST receive this verification message to complete the registration process and receive reminder, overdue and hold notices via email.
• Please reregister online if you do not receive verification at your email address within 48 hours. If you do not receive a return verification after you try to register, it means that there was a problem with the email address you entered (information was recorded wrong, address not valid, etc.).

If you are setting up email notification for more than one library card account and the notices will be sent to the same email account, you will need to reply to each automated confirmation message to complete the registration process for all accounts. For example, if you are setting up email notifications for your two children and yourself, the system will generate three confirmation messages.

If you ever need to change or delete your email address from our system, you can do so by logging in to Your Account and returning to the Register for Email Notification page.

Will I get "junk" email or "spam" if I sign up for this service?

Montgomery County Public Libraries (MCPL) considers all patron information to be private and confidential. We do not release or sell any patron information, including names, addresses, phone numbers, or email addresses without an appropriate legal court document.

If you sign up for Email Notification, we will use your email address only for MCPL notices and mailings.

What if I don't like getting notices by email? What if I need to change back to receiving paper notices? How do I cancel Email Notification?

You can remove your email address from our system and return to paper notices very easily. All you need to do is visit or call any MCPL branch and ask a staff member to switch your account back to paper notices. Please have your library card number available as staff will request it as part of the identification process. You will also be asked to provide your current address and phone number.

If you need the account changed immediately, you can email notices@montgomerycountymd.gov and request the change OR contact Telephone Reference during library hours at 240-777-0001 and ask for assistance. Please have your library card number available as staff will request it as part of the identification process. You will also be asked to provide your current address and phone number.

What if my email address changes?

If you need to change the email address listed in your account, you can do so by going to the library’s website at www.montgomerycountymd.gov/library and clicking on the Catalog and Your Account option on the top of the page. Click on Email Notification, then on the link labeled Sign Up Today.

Updating your email address is the same process as described above for signing up for email notification. You will need to enter your 14-digit library card number (without spaces), email address and home branch on the form and submit it. This generates an automated confirmation message within 48 hours.

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I have a hold listed as "Available Pickup At" when I Review My Account under the Your Account options. I did not get a notice. What's going on?

Our system runs a process at the end of each day that checks for items that have arrived at the pickup point during that day. When it finds an item that has just arrived, the system generates either a paper or an email notice. The next morning, these notices are sent out to customers.

If the item in question has arrived at the pickup point on the day you view it in Your Account, our system has not run the notice generation process for that day.

Similarly, if you check out an item on the day that it arrives at the pickup location, no notice will be generated by the system.

What will my email notices look like?

All library email notices will show in your Inbox as from sirsi@prod.montgomerylibrary.org and the subject line will read “Library Notice.”

Each hold notice will list your name, whether you have item(s) to pick up, what those items are, and at which branch the item(s) are waiting.

Each overdue notice will list your name and what items are overdue. Each overdue reminder notice will list your name and the items which will become overdue the next day.

If you need more information about your account, Review Your Account online anytime or call our Renewal and Self Service line 24 hours a day at 240-777-0007 and follow the prompts.

When will I receive my email notification?

Email hold, overdue, and reminder notices will be automatically delivered by our system between 3 and 6 a.m. each morning.

Why do I sometimes still receive notices in the U.S. mail?

If we fail to reach you by email, our system will send you a print notice. If you receive a print notice, please reregister for email notification or check with your local library on your next visit to see if there is a problem with your email address.

What if I want to cancel a hold after I receive a hold notice?

You may cancel individual holds online by accessing Your Account. Go to the Review My Account option and scroll down to the section for holds. Click the “cancel” box in front of the title you no longer need and then click on the grey Cancel selected holds box at the bottom of the screen.

What about confidentiality and security?

MCPL is committed to confidentiality for all customers. The Library will not release your email address or personal information to any outside source without a legal court order. The Library will not use your email address for any purpose other than sending notices and other Library mailings.

Email notices will list your name and the titles you have available on hold for pickup or the items which are overdue. Since some families share computer and email accounts, you may not wish to have library notices with this type of information arriving in a common email account. If this is the case, you may prefer to continue to receive paper notices.

What if my email account screens for bulk or junk mail?

If you are not receiving your email notifications from the Library, it is possible that your email provider recognizes Library Notices as “junk mail” and sends these to a junk mail folder. Contact your Internet Service Provider and ask for instructions on how to allow notices from sirsi@prod.montgomerylibrary.org to be on your “safe” list or to be delivered directly to your Inbox.

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