2026-05-18 Resource Access Meeting Notes

Date: May 18, 2026 

Recordings

NOTE: RESOURCE ACCESS SIG USES EITHER ZOOM’S AI NOTES FUNCTIONALITY OR GOOGLE GEMINI TO PROCESS THE TRANSCRIPT. If you would prefer that we do not use AI any session you attend, we are happy to! Please alert the convener at the start of the meeting.

Find all recordings here: https://recordings.openlibraryfoundation.org/folio/resource-access-sig/ (pw: folio-lsp)

Zoom

https://zoom.us/j/337279319 (pw: folio-lsp)

Attendees

@Scott Peterson

@Katie Rahman

@Susan Kimball

@Jacob Dudley

@David Bottorff

@Anja Kakau

@Kajsa Bäckius

@Magnus Andersson

@Steve Strohl

@Grace Bicho

@Erin Weller

@Kara Hart

@lisa perchermeier

@Thomas Trutt

@Anne Ekblad (Deactivated)

@Heather

@Olga Kalachinskaya

@Robert Heaton

@Kimie Kester

@Amelia Sutton

@Mark Canney

@Phil Adams

Discussion Items:

Meeting Notes

AI-Generated minutes (pardon any errors)

Anne Ekblad joined the meeting to discuss UXPROD-2375: Implement Automatic renewals functionality via Loan policy

📄 Discussion Points:

• System Performance, API Constraints, and Scheduling Options (Time Range: 00:04:33 - 00:25:00)

  • Discussion & Debate: David Bottorff raised a concern regarding the performance impact of automated renewals. He noted that at the University of Chicago, noticeable system slowdowns were observed when a massive volume of renewal requests occurred concurrently via the API. To mitigate this risk, Thomas Trutt proposed that out of the gate, the automated renewal functionality could be implemented as a configurable module option controlled by the hosting provider. This would allow institutions or hosts to throttle or schedule the processes appropriately. This mitigation strategy was supported with the suggestion that these heavy batch processes should run "after hours" when user traffic on the FOLIO system is at its lowest.

  • Scope of Processing: Scott Peterson asked an important clarifying question regarding the operational scope of the auto-renewals—specifically, whether the system would only attempt to renew items that are currently checked out and in good standing, or if it would also attempt to process renewals for items that are already overdue. The group discussed how the system needs to evaluate these states against established circulation policies.

• Notice Delivery, Integration, and Notice Policies (Time Range: 00:18:00 - 00:25:00)

  • SMS and Notice Schedules: Amelia Sutton informed the group that text messaging functionality will be fully integrated into the standard Notice Policies within FOLIO, meaning that SMS notifications should seamlessly work for these automated renewals. Thomas Trutt added technical detail to this point, explaining that SMS messages would likely be processed according to whatever overnight batch schedule is currently established for standard overnight notices. Conversely, if a standard email renewal notice is configured, Thomas believes those will likely be pushed out in "real-time" or via small, frequent batches throughout the day.

  • JIRA Reference: During this segment of the meeting, Amelia Sutton shared a link to JIRA:UXPROD-1532 to ground the discussion in the official product feature tracking issue being used to define these workflows.

• Preservation of Business Logic and Loan Policy Adherence (Time Range: 00:25:00 - 00:55:00)

  • Policy Enforcement: Jacob Dudley brought forward a critical edge-case question regarding how strictly the automated renewal feature will adhere to nuanced loan policies. Specifically, he questioned whether the feature would respect restrictions such as blocking the "allow renewal of items with an active, pending hold request."

  • Logic Alignment: David Bottorff insisted that the automated renewal feature must behave identically to a manual renewal transaction performed by staff. It should strictly evaluate existing FOLIO business logic and should never override blocks, holds, or policy restrictions. Thomas Trutt completely agreed with this stance, confirming that the system architecture is being designed to preserve the existing business logic exactly as it currently stands in the system.

• Handling Renewal Failures and Notice Triggers (Time Range: 00:45:00 - 00:53:00)

  • Failure Communication: The group debated how to handle situations where an auto-renewal fails (e.g., due to a hold or a patron block). Thomas Trutt explained that the initial framework relied on existing notices, such as the standard Courtesy Notice, to alert patrons. However, he clarified that to formally add an explicit "renewal failure notice," an entirely new trigger mechanism would have to be engineered and added directly into the FOLIO loan policies. Katie Rahman and David Bottorff both expressed agreement and support via chat for ensuring these strict rules are maintained without bypassing existing business rules.

• Developer Alignment and Next Steps (Time Range: 00:55:00 - 01:03:30)

  • Requirements Gathering: Anne E. Ekblad emphasized that as the team uncovers these complex policy concerns, it is crucial that the entire group and the development teams stay aligned. She noted the importance of ensuring that developers have a clear understanding of what the business team defines as "business logic" versus configurable settings. Anne and Thomas Trutt committed to collaborating closely outside of this meeting to map out these definitions clearly before bringing the topic back to the broader working group.

  • Meeting Wrap-up: Susan Kimball closed the session by thanking Anne and Thomas for their work on this feature. She reminded the attendees that the group will meet again on Thursday to continue reviewing JIRA tickets.