Because of the way the hold system works for physical materials, we are unable to tell you where you are in the hold list or when your hold will be ready for pick up. We share materials with Calvert and Charles County Libraries, and holds are filled based on the library that owns the item and the library where the customer will pick it up.
You could be number 10 chronologically on the hold list, but if you are the only person waiting from Lexington Park Library, the next available copy owned at Lexington Park will bypass the other 9 people on the list and come to you. If Lexington Park does not own a copy, but Leonardtown or Charlotte Hall does, you would get the item after any customers of the owning branch, but before customers who may be ahead of you on the list from Calvert or Charles Counties. If St. Mary’s County does not own a copy at any of our locations, you may wait longer as customers of the owning county will get the available items before they are sent for customers of another county.
If you are on hold for a digital title in Libby, you can see an estimated wait time by going to your holds shelf in the app. Your estimated wait time is displayed and if you click it, you can see how many people are on hold and how many copies there are. Keep in mind that this is an estimate based on your place on the list, the number of copies, and an average checkout period of two weeks.
