View/Add/Update Library Circulation Hours in Alma

Alma library circulation hours only affect circulation due dates and are not synced with other library hours listings. See Library Hours in Alma for more information.

View Current Library Circulation Hours

Who can view library circulation hours in Alma?
Anyone with Alma staff permissions can view library hours in Alma

On the Alma home page, add the "Organization Calendar" widget.
Select a library from the "Library/Institution" list in the widget. The weekly hours listing will update for that library.
Select "View Full Calendar" for a monthly display of library hours.

Note: There's a minor bug in the Alma calendar display that sometimes causes the schedule not to appear correctly in the month view. The weekly and daily calendar views do show correct hours information.

Add/Update Library Circulation Hours in Alma

Who can edit library circulation hours in Alma?
Currently only LTS staff can configure library hours in Alma. Library hours liaisons should submit an Alma Support ticket to request library hours updates.

Overview

Before editing library hours in Alma, familiarize yourself with the Ex Libris documentation: Configuring Institution/Library Open Hours

Library hours configuration is found in Alma Configuration > [Library to be configured] > Fulfillment > Library Management > Opening Hours. Some affiliated libraries, like FAL/RUB or LAM/POE/DOC/MIC, may need to have hours configured in multiple Alma libraries. Check with LTS Fulfillment Analyst if you aren't sure.

Alma recognizes three types of library hours settings:

Standard Hours: Regular repeating default schedule. Every library should have a default schedule in place, and only one entry can exist per weekday.
Exceptions: Temporary changes to the standard schedule, such as for a holiday closure or extended reading period hours. Exceptions can be set for a single date or for a date range. Note that exceptions overlay existing standard hours for a given date rather than replacing them (see examples below).
Events: Event entries display in the calendar, but they do not affect open/closed status. Useful to mark academic year milestone events like end of term. These are typically set at the institution (Harvard University) level rather than for a specific library.

Alma Hours are Based on Weekdays

Important: All Alma hours settings are defined based on a specific weekday, and each hours entry only pertains to the specified weekday. This means that, for instance, to create a full Sunday-Saturday schedule, you will need to define a minimum of seven entries, one per weekday.

Add/Edit Standard Hours

Only one set of standard hours can be defined for a given library on a given date/date range. Most Harvard libraries have seven standard hours defined, one for each day of the week. (If standard hours are not defined for a particular day, Alma will consider the library closed.)

Open the standard hours listing:
1. To add a new standard hours listing, select Add Record and choose Record type Standard opening hours.
2. To edit an existing standard hours listing, select the ellipsis next to it and choose Edit.
Fill out the standard hours information:
1. Day of week: The weekday this entry will pertain to.
2. From hour: The time the library opens for circulation. Enter in 24-hour format (HH:mm)
3. To hour: The time the library closes for circulation. Enter in 24-hour format (HH:mm)
Click the Save button.
When you are finished with all hours changes for this Alma library, Click Apply Changes to make all your updates active.
After the activation is complete (a few minutes), double check the library's calendar listing in Alma to confirm the updates are displaying.

Add/Edit Exception Hours

How Exception Hours work in Alma

In Alma, exception hours do not totally replace standard hours for the same day. Rather, new exceptions modify the existing hours for that day/range in an additive way. They work like transparent overlays that either mask/negate part of the standard schedule or extend it to create the exception.

Example

Situation: The library is normally open from 8am-7pm but on Wed April 17 it will be open 9am-5pm.

Standard Hours

Exception Hours Rule

What Happens

DON'T:

Open 08:00

Close 19:00

Day of Week: Wednesday
Date range: 4/17/19 to 4/17/19 (single day)
Hours: 09:00-17:00
Closed or open: OPEN

Library is open 8am-7pm in Alma (no change to the standard schedule)

The open hours defined in the exception are completely redundant with the standard hours, and so no modification is made to the schedule.

DO:

Open 08:00

Close 19:00

Exception 1:
Day of Week: Wednesday
Date range: 4/17/19 to 4/17/19 (single day)
Hours 08:00-09:00
Closed or Open: CLOSED

Exception 2:
Day of Week: Wednesday
Date range: 4/17/19 to 4/17/19 (single day)
Hours 17:00-19:00
Closed or Open: CLOSED

Library is open 9am-5pm in Alma (desired exception hours)

The first exception cancels the first open hour of the standard schedule (8am-9am) so that the library does not open until 9am.

The second exception cancels the standard schedule's open hours between 5pm-7pm (17:00-19:00), so that the library now closes at 5pm.

Extend library hours to 10pm instead:

Open 08:00

Close 19:00

Day of Week: Wednesday
Date range: 4/17/19 to 4/17/19 (single day)
Hours: 19:00-22:00
Closed or Open: OPEN

Library is open 8am-10pm in Alma (closing time extended from 7pm to 10pm)

The open hours in the exception are added to the standard hours schedule, extending the open hours until 10pm.

It's possible to create multiple exceptions for the same date/time range – for instance, set summer exception hours for the entire June-August period, and then create a single day exception for the 4th of July.
- Note: If a library has already defined standard hours for a particular day to be closed (e.g. Sunday: Standard Hours = Open 00:00-00:00) do not add additional "Closed" exceptions for that day – this causes errors in the whole schedule. You can, though, add "Open" hour exceptions if the library needs to be open on a particular date.
Exceptions that have expired may be deleted.

Open the exception hours listing.
1. To add a new exception, select Add Record and choose Record type Exception.
2. To edit an existing exception, select the ellipsis next to it and choose Edit.
Fill in the information for the exception (remember, this is additive to the existing schedule):
1. Status: Open or Closed – how should the library hours change for this exception?
2. Day of week: the weekday this entry will pertain to.
3. Description: Name your exception something descriptive to make it easier to identify in the list.
4. Valid from: Start of date range the exception will be active (inclusive)
5. Valid to: End of date range the exception will be active (inclusive)
6. From hour: Start time for the exception action (open or closed) – enter in 24-hour format
7. To hour: End time for the exception action (open or closed) – enter in 24-hour format
If you have more exceptions to add (other weekdays, etc.), click Add to save this exception and keep the form open for further entries. If this is your last exception, click Add and Close to go back to the main hours list.
When you are finished adding exceptions, click Apply Changes to make all your updates active.
After activation is complete (a few minutes), double check the library's calendar listing in Alma to confirm the updates are displaying.

Add/Edit Events

Events are typically added at the Harvard University level, and only at the behest of the Alma Fulfillment Working Group.

Open the event listing.
1. To add a new event, select Add Record and choose Record type Event.
2. To edit a new event, you must be in the institution/library scope where the event was created. Select the ellipsis next to the event and choose Edit.
Fill in the information for the event:
1. Recurrence: Will this event recur, and on what schedule?
2. Fixed date description: This description will appear for the event in the calendar.
3. Date: Date of the event
4. Hour (optional): Enter in 24-hour format