Fixing common library problems

Match what you see at the issue desk to its cause, and fix it or hand it to an admin.

This page matches what a librarian sees on screen to the reason behind it, and gives the next step. The problems are grouped by where they show up, starting at the issue desk.

Prerequisites

You need to be signed in to FEMS as a librarian with access to the screen you are working on. Some of the fixes below need an admin, and each of those says so.

The suggestion list only starts after you type more than four characters. The box also wants the FEMS user id, not a class roll number, and the patron has to be a student or an employee record. Type the full user id. If nothing comes up, look the person up in the student or employee list and copy the id from there.

A row in the basket has no title

A barcode that FEMS does not know still lands in the basket. The row carries the barcode you scanned and nothing else: no title, no author, no call number. A copy that is already on loan looks the same, so a blank row can also mean that copy is not available to issue.

Read every row before you press Proceed. Take a blank row out with the bin icon, then search that barcode in Library > Catalogue: either the copy was never catalogued, or its Status tells you why it cannot go out. A blank row left in the basket is dropped at confirm time while the screen still says Book Issue Successful, so the loan you thought you made does not exist.

It says the book is already added

"Book already added" means that barcode is already sitting in the basket on screen. Scanning the same copy twice does not issue it twice. Check the table, and use the bin icon on the row if you meant to remove it.

It says "Patron not matched"

Every copy in one return or renewal has to belong to the same patron. The copy you just scanned is on loan to someone else. Finish the current patron, press Confirm, then start a fresh transaction for the other patron.

I cannot see the Issue, Return, or Renew choice

Issuing, returning, and renewing are three separate accesses. A librarian only sees the modes they hold. Ask your admin to add the missing one to your role, and name the action you need.

The success box appeared but I am not sure it saved

The Circulation screen can show a success box even when the save did not go through. Do not treat the box as proof on a loan that matters. Open the patron's record and look for the loan in the circulation table. If it is not there, run the transaction again.

Fines

The fine looks too high for one day late

The fine moves in blocks of 3 working days, at 20 BDT a block, and a part block counts as a whole one. So one day late and three days late both cost 20 BDT. Read the amount back to the parent as a block, not as a per-day rate.

The count runs in working days, so a fine of zero is possible. A copy due on Thursday and brought back on Friday can attract nothing at all.

The fine equals the price of the book

Once a copy is more than 15 calendar days late, the fine stops climbing the ladder and becomes that copy's own price. This is the rule working, not a typing mistake. If the price on the copy is wrong, correct it in the catalogue before you take the next return of that copy.

I forgave a fine and the total did not move the way I expected

The two return screens cap Forgive Fine differently, and only one of them can waive an overdue.

To waive an overdue fine, take the return from the patron's record. That box allows it. The cap there is the overdue plus the Additional Fine, and a larger number is reset to zero with a warning, so keep the figure at or below the Total.

On Library > Circulation, Forgive Fine is trimmed down to the Additional Fine you typed yourself. On an ordinary overdue return that is 0, so the waiver is dropped without a word and the full overdue fine is recorded. Use that box only to reduce an Additional Fine you added on the same screen.

Read the Fine Summary before you confirm on either screen. The Total there is the figure that gets recorded.

The parent paid the fine and I cannot mark it paid

FEMS records a fine against the loan and stops there. There is no fine collection screen, and Accounts does not bill it. Take the money the way your school takes any other cash, record it in your own register, and tell the parent the library screen keeps the original amount.

Can I undo a return?

No. A processed return cannot be reversed from the library screens. Check the Status and the Fine Summary before you press Confirm. If a return was already saved with the wrong status, note the barcode and the time and hand it to your admin.

Renewals

Renew is greyed out on the patron's record

Renew switches off once the copy has a return date, and again once Renewals Left reaches zero. A copy can be renewed 5 times and no more. Take the book back with Return, then issue it again if the student still needs it.

The patron's record is the safe screen for a renewal, because it is the only one that stops you at the cap.

The renewal said it worked but the due date did not move

You renewed on Library > Circulation. That screen has no block at the cap: it shows Book Renewal Successful whether the renewal went through or not, and past the cap it does not go through. The due date stays where it was.

Open the patron's record and read the Due Date on that row. If it has not moved, the renewal did not happen, and the copy has to come back in and go out again.

The renewed due date fell on a Friday

A renewal adds 4 plain calendar days to the current due date and does not skip the weekend, unlike a fresh issue. The date on screen is the real due date. Tell the student the Friday or Saturday date, or take the return early.

The renew confirmation box is titled Book Issue Successful

That heading on the patron's record is a wording defect. The renewal itself ran normally. Confirm it by checking that Due Date moved and Renewals Left dropped by one on the same row.

Cataloguing

The barcode is already in use

Add New Item only checks that the barcodes inside that one submission differ from each other. It does not check them against the rest of the library, so a duplicate can be saved with no warning, and scanning it later finds the wrong copy. Search the barcode in Library > Catalogue before you reuse it. If you find a duplicate already saved, open Edit on one copy and give it a fresh barcode.

Save does nothing and I cannot see which field is wrong

A required field is empty. Scroll the whole form from the top. On Add New Catalogue, check Title first. A blank title can fail without a field error. Then check Classification No., Item Number, Item Type, Subject, Pages, Dimensions, Damage Fee, and Lost Fee.

The cover image will not upload

Cover images are capped at 1 MB and have to be a JPG, GIF, or PNG file. A photo straight from a phone is usually too large. Shrink the image or save it again as a JPG, then use Upload new photo.

Lost Fee changed by itself

Typing a Damage Fee on the add-catalogue form copies the same number into Lost Fee. Set Damage Fee first, then set Lost Fee. Read both boxes once more before you press Save & Continue.

The edit screen shows the wrong series or genre

On Edit Catalogue, the Series, Source of Classification, Genre, and Item Type boxes do not load the book's saved values. They show the first option in each list, and saving writes those over the real ones. Re-pick all four every time you edit a title, even when you came in to change something else.

I cannot save a copy as Lost

Both copy forms refuse it. Add New Item and Edit Book Copy reject Lost on save and show a validation message against the status field, so there is no way to set it from the catalogue. Record the loss where it belongs instead: take the copy back on Library > Circulation in Return Book mode and set its Status to Lost.

The edit screen says I am not authorized

Opening Edit Catalogue or Edit Book Copy can drop you on a "not authorized" page even though the Edit button was there to click. This is a known fault, not a missing access. The edit screens check a permission name that the FEMS permission list does not contain, so no role change satisfies it and there is nothing an admin can grant you. Until it is fixed, an administrator has to make the edit for you. Report it to FEMS support with the title and the copy's barcode.

Receipts and printing

Nothing printed

Your browser blocked the pop-up window. You see "Could not open the print window. Please allow pop-ups for this site and try again." The issue, return, or renewal is already saved, so nothing is lost. Allow pop-ups for FEMS in the browser address bar, then press Print Receipt again.

The receipt shows a school name that is not ours

Receipts carry a fixed library name and logo that a school cannot change in settings today. Nothing you set in FEMS corrects it. Raise it with FEMS support and give them one printed receipt as an example.

Reports

Process does nothing

Every report refuses to run on an empty filter drawer and shows "Please select at least one filter item". Open Filter, set at least one field, then press Process.

School, Class, or Section is greyed out

These three load one after another, in that order, each from the one above it. School stays switched off until you pick a Campus, Class waits on School, and Section waits on Class. Work down the list from Campus and each next box opens. Campus itself loads when the drawer opens, so it is never the one that is stuck.

The CSV has fewer rows than I expected

Download CSV exports the rows your current filters produce, not the whole library. A chip left over from an earlier search is the usual reason. Read the chips above the table and remove the ones you do not want. Press Reset on the chip row to drop all of them at once: it reloads the full list on its own, and you can export straight after.

A summary card caption talks about vehicles and routes

The four cards on the Patrons Report carry captions left behind from another module, so they mention routes and vehicles. Only the wording is wrong. The numbers above the captions are library numbers, and those are the part to read.

When to escalate

Hand an admin four things: the screen you were on, the patron id, the copy's barcode, and the time it happened. That is enough to trace one transaction.

Sort the problem first. A missing Issue Book, Return Book, Renew Book, or Add button is an access problem, and an admin fixes it on your role. A wrong due date, a wrong fine, a duplicate barcode, a receipt with the wrong school name, or a "not authorized" page on an edit screen is a data or product problem, and those go to FEMS support with the four details above.

FAQ

How do I check that a transaction really saved? Open the patron's record and look at the circulation table. A saved loan shows a row with an Issue Date and a Due Date, and a saved return shows a Return Date on that row.

Why do two screens treat Forgive Fine differently? They apply different caps. Take the return from the patron's record when you want to waive an overdue fine, because that is the only screen where the box works on one. On the circulation return screen the waiver is trimmed to the Additional Fine you typed. Read the Fine Summary on whichever screen you are using, because that is the figure that gets recorded.

Can I undo an issue or a return? Neither can be reversed from the library screens. An issue can be closed by taking the return; a wrong return has to go to your admin with the barcode and the time.