Reserve and Pick-Up Items in Two Easy Steps

The Goleta Valley and Santa Ynez Valley Libraries are now open for Sidewalk Service on Wednesdays through Saturdays from 11am-4pm. During this time, library card holders of the Goleta Valley, Solvang, and Buellton libraries can pick up their hold requests at their local library. To do this, patrons will need to follow these simple steps:

Step #1: Reserve Your Items

First, patrons can place requests in the online catalog by visiting BlackGold.org and selecting “Goleta Library” from the Branch drop-down menu in the upper left corner of the screen. Search terms such as title, author or series can be typed into the “Quick library search” box.

At this time, the shipment service that delivers materials between the different library jurisdictions within the Black Gold Cooperative is temporarily suspended, so libraries are only able to loan materials to their cardholders. Search results in the catalog can be filtered accordingly to show only those items owned by Goleta, Solvang, and Buellton libraries. This can be done using the Assigned Branch options in the “Narrow your search” box on the left panel of the screen.

Once you find the item that you would like to borrow, you can place it on hold using your library card and select your desired pickup location as Goleta Valley Library, Buellton Library or Solvang Library. Please note that you will need to sign in to the catalog in order to reserve your items. Up to 10 reserves can be placed at a time.

Watch this helpful video to demonstrate the process of how to place a hold.

Step #2: Sidewalk Pick-Up at Your Library

You will receive a notice that your item is ready for pick up either by email, text or phone, depending on the notification preferences you have selected in your account. Visit the library during Sidewalk Service hours to pick up your request. When you arrive, you have three options per library branch to let us know that you’re here: send us a text message, message us through the web-based widget, or call us via telephone. The details for each method are specified below:

Watch another helpful video to demonstrate how to text the library to pick up your items on hold.

Once you’ve let us know you are here, you will be asked to provide your last name and library card number. A library staff member will check out your reserved items to your account and place your bagged items on the white table at the library entrance for contactless pick-up.

New Service: Grab-N-Go Paperbacks in a Bag

In addition to your reserved holds, you can now also request a bag of paperbacks through Sidewalk Service! Simply pick from four genres, including Mystery/Thriller, Romance, Historical, or Assortment (a mix of fiction and nonfiction), and let the staff member outside know which genre you would like. We will bring your prepackaged bag of books to the table at the library entrance. These books are not checked out to your account and may be returned whenever you are finished with them. We hope to expand this program to begin offering children’s and young adult books in the near future.

Guidelines

All visitors to the library must comply with social distancing rules. To receive service, everyone must wear a face covering and line up six feet apart on the sidewalk leading up to the library’s front walkway. Library staff follow public health safety guidelines, wearing face coverings and gloves, and an apron if they are emptying the book drops. Please be respectful of other patrons and do not come to the library if you are feeling ill. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation with this new process.

We hope you enjoy all of the materials you borrow from the library! Visit the libraries’ social media pages listed below for updates on new items that have been added to the collection and are available for checkout.

Pictured: Library staffmember Jil Ronkainen providing Sidewalk Service