Importing existing loan history

Whether to migrate historical loans and how to do it.

Should you migrate loan history?

Pros:

• Historical context for patrons ("I read this last year")
• Statistics on long-term usage
• Patron loyalty data

Cons:

• Complex to map
• Old data may be incomplete or inconsistent
• Patrons usually don't care about loans from 3+ years ago

Most libraries skip historical loans and start fresh.

If you decide to migrate

You'll need:

• Patron records (must exist before loans)
• Copy records (must exist before loans)
• Loan records: copy_id, patron_id, checked_out_date, returned_date (or null for active)

CSV format

copy_barcode, patron_card_number, checked_out_date, returned_date

Migration steps

• Import patrons first
• Import books and copies
• Verify counts match between source and Shelfwise
• Import loans last (depends on the previous two)

Contact for help

Email hello@tryshelfwise.com — loan history migration is best done with our team's involvement to ensure data integrity.