2025-05-20 FOLIO Implementers Meeting Notes

Date

May 20, 2025

Agenda

• Housekeeping (5-min.)

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Homework and Pre-Reads

Useful Resources

Recording

Link to Recording:

Attendees

• Please add yourself here! @Thomas Trutt @Tara Barnett @Darsi Rueda @Maura Byrne @Joseph A Molloy @Catherine Descanzo @Chuck Koontz @Cody Neal @Kelly Roll @Leah Anderson @Rebecca Pernell @Olga Kalachinskaya Kate @Steven Backs

Notes

Here is the revised version of the meeting summary with last names removed and formatting adjusted as requested:

📄 Meeting Minutes

🗣️ Discussion Points

🕒 11:04–11:29 — New Fees and Fines Interface Proposal (Presenter: Thomas)

• Overview: Thomas introduced a new UI proposal for managing fees and fines in FOLIO. The goal is to streamline workflows, improve user experience, and enhance permission-based access.

• Proposal:

  • Move fees and fines out of the user account module into a dedicated application space.

  • Introduce a new UI similar to the "requests" module with a dropdown action menu.

  • Centralize all fee/fine data into a single searchable interface with expandable detail panes.

• Presentation:

  • Demonstrated mockups showing:

  • A full-page detail view toggle.

  • Columns for charge, credit, and balance.

  • Integration of actual cost processing into the same interface.

  • Open credits and replacement-with-copy workflows.

• Complications:

  • Need for full-screen view from the start (raised by Olga).

  • Privacy concerns around user data visibility (raised by Maura).

  • Permissions granularity discussed—e.g., allowing finance staff to process refunds without seeing patron data.

• Decisions Made:

  • Full-screen view will be prioritized in development.

  • Permissions will be modular to restrict access to sensitive data.

🕒 11:29–11:59 — Actual Cost Billing Proposal (Presenter: Joseph)

• Overview: Joseph presented a comprehensive, phased proposal for automating actual cost billing in FOLIO, based on Spokane Public Library’s successful implementation.

• Discussion:

  • Spokane processes ~16,000 actual cost transactions per month.

  • Manual processing is infeasible at scale; automation is essential.

  • The proposal is broken into four phases:

  • Phase 0: Add an "item cost" field to the item record (prerequisite).

  • Phase 1: Use item cost or set cost to automate billing.

  • Phase 2: Add thresholds to pause billing for high/low-cost items.

  • Phase 3: Populate item cost from PO line data during receiving.

• Presentation:

  • Shared flowcharts and logic trees for billing decisions.

  • Explained fallback mechanisms (e.g., default cost if item cost is missing).

  • Highlighted Spokane’s workaround using a flat fee ($10.79) and post-processing scripts to inject actual costs.

• Complications:

  • Lack of item cost field in FOLIO inventory is a blocker.

  • Need for coordination across metadata, acquisitions, and inventory teams.

  • Manual oversight required for edge cases (e.g., book sets, high-value items).

• Decisions Made:

  • Phase 0 must be completed before other phases can proceed.

  • Phase 1A will focus on pre-populating cost fields without auto-billing.

  • Phase 3 will require further refinement and stakeholder input.

✅ Decisions Made

• Thomas will ensure full-screen view is prioritized in the UI development.

• Permissions will be modularized to protect sensitive patron data.

• Joseph’s phased proposal will be adopted as a roadmap, starting with Phase 0.

• Phase 1A will be scoped to allow pre-populated costs without auto-billing.

• Phase 3 will be discussed in a smaller working group due to its complexity.

📌 Action Items

📊 Data & Insights

• Spokane Public Library processed 16,000 actual cost transactions in one month (September).

• Their workaround uses a flat fee ($10.79) and post-processing scripts to inject actual costs.

• Manual processing is not scalable for medium-to-large institutions.

• Institutions like Cornell and others face challenges with equipment billing due to lack of item-specific cost data.

🔄 Follow-Up

• Next meeting scheduled in two weeks.

• Charlotte will post PC updates in the shared notes.

• Continued advocacy needed for Phase 0 implementation.

• Working group to be formed for Phase 3 planning.

🐝 JIRAs

• JIRA:UXPROD-5094 – Feature – Proposal for Automated Actual Cost Billing.

• JIRA:UXPROD-4776 – Unknown – Referenced by Thomas, likely related to UI or billing.

• JIRA:UXPROD-2245 – Unknown – Referenced in Phase 2 for billing thresholds and logic.