Step 1 - Find the tool to add new patrons

Go to Patrons module on the homepage.

There will be two options, add a new patron or use the Quick add new patron.

Clicking on either button will create a dropdown with a list of all patron categories on your system. These will vary from system to system as they can be deleted or added to as needed by library staff, however you should choose the category that is most appropriate for the type of patron being created e.g. first year, staff, external student etc. 

+ New patron vs. Quick Add New Patron

The Quick add new patron is shorter, usually around five fields, but can be as long as the library needs. The aim of this form is to get new patrons registered quickly. Accounts created using this feature can be edited at a later point when library staff has time to add more data. 

In both situations, fields marked in red are mandatory and fields in black are optional. 

In both cases it is a good idea to make the card number field mandatory for a number of reasons.

1. If this field is non-mandatory and is left blank KOHA will automatically generate a cardnumber for the new patron. This gives library staff less control and ability to record the numbers being given out 
   

2. In order to check items out all patrons will need a cardnumber so it is good to monitor that they are being assigned correctly.
   

3. A mandatory field will encourage all library staff to have a procedure for assigning library cards, creating a standard and intuitive sequence for the library cards.
   

If you are a school library using Scooter, you should use the student’s number from the school administration system (VSWARE or Facility/ePortal) as the cardnumber, preceded by your school code and a fullstop. IE if the school code is ABC and the student number is 12345, then enter the cardnumber as ABC.12345 . This will ensure that the student is recognised when the data is updated each year.  

It is worth noting that some smaller organisations have removed the carnumber field from the patron add form to speed up the process, as they have fewer patrons to sift through or do not use physical cards. 

It is possible to change the library card number after it has been assigned.

Short form example:

Long form example:

The above should act as examples for how the forms may look. It is possible to add or remove the different information fields, as well as changing the title of the section they occur in. 

Other important features of this functionality include:

If you leave the username and password field blank, Koha will automatically fill them in.

The username will be made up of a composite of the first and second name fields, or the email fields, depending on what has been filled in.

Once you are happy with how the form is filled in, hit Save and you will be taken directly into the patron record you just created.