Loans

Loans are the post type used to represent the borrowing of an Item from a library Member.

Loans hold information on which Item was loaned to whom, when and by which librarian. Additional information is added to the Loan when the Item is returned and if a Fine is incurred.

Items on loan can be renewed, allowing them to be on loan for longer without return. Items can be renewed either a limited number of times, or indefinitely, depending on the Library's settings. If an Item reaches its renewal limit it can be returned then re-loaned or the renewal limit can be increased by a Library Admin. Renewals are treated as modifications of an existing loan, creating post meta to store each renewal. Items, Members and Fines are ignorant of any renewals of a Loan.

Loans can also be scheduled, creating a loan that will be fulfilled at a later date. Scheduling allows a Librarian to reserve access of an Item for a Member. An Item can not be renewed if the resulting renewal would clash with a scheduled loan. Scheduling can be used as a means of reservation, for books in high demand, or a way of prompting another librarian to fulfil a loan which could not be fulfilled at the time. For example: John wants to borrow the book Raising Steam and asks the book club's librarian if he can. She agrees and schedules the loan to be fulfilled at the next club meeting. Scheduled Loans are fulfilled when the Item is given to the Member.