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1.6. Hopeless Holds

Last Updated 03/20/2026

Holds that Have No Chance of Fulfillment Become "Hopeless"

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Copy Level Holds may become hopeless if the identified item transitions to a non-targeted state, while Title Level Holds become hopeless if all potential fulfilling items shift to non-targeted states. Evergreen offers automatic reports for Hopeless Holds via the Local Administration menu. Holds can be canceled or transferred from the report. 

Holds can become hopeless in one of two ways:

1. Copy Level Holds can become hopeless if the single item identified to fulfill the hold request moves into a non-targeted state.
2. Title Level Holds can become hopeless if all potential items that could fulfill the hold move into a non-targeted state.

Holds may move out of the hopeless status if copies in non-targetable states change to available (for example, a copy marked Lost is returned by the patron and checked in), or if a new copy is purchased and attached to the title record. Staff can check to see if new targets have become available by selecting Find Another Target from the Action menu in the Hopeless Holds report.

Non-Targeted Hold States

Items in certain statuses will not be targeted for holds. These statuses include:

• Claimed Lost
• Claimed Returned
• Damaged
• Discard/Weed
• ILL
• Long Overdue
• Lost
• Lost and Paid
• Missing
• Natural Disaster
• Never Returned
• Noncirculating
• Repair

Pulling Hopeless Hold Reports

Evergreen has built-in, automatic reports listing Hopeless Holds. To access them, navigate to the Local Administration splash page from the Asministration menu in Evergreen.

1. Click on Hopeless Holds.
2. Set the date range for which you want to pull your lists. For example, if you pull the list once a week, your range should start 1 week previous and end on the date you pull the report.
   
3. Scope to your System if you want to pull a list of all hopeless holds at all branches, or Branch for a single location.
   
4. Cancel or Transfer holds by checking the box for the hold you want to edit and selecting the appropriate action from the Actions menu.
   

Transferring Hopeless Holds

If there are multiple title records that could potentially fulfill this hold, the best option is usually to merge any duplicate records. Merging records will transfer the origina holds to the new record. 

However, if another record could fulfill the hold, but is not a duplicate (for example, switching from a Playaway audiobook to a CD Audiobook), you can transfer the hold request to the newly identified title record.

1. Keep the Hopeless Holds report page up in one tab. In a new tab, navigate to the Catalog search in the staff client.
   
2. Search for the alternate record that could be used to fulfill this hold.
3. Click the title to open the Bibliographic Record.
4. Locate the Mark For... button on the top right side of the record page.
   
5. Select Title Hold Transfer from the Mark For menu.
6. Return to the Hopeless Holds Report tab. Select the title you will be transferring.
7. From the Actions menu, select Transfer to Marked Title.

You can check that the hold transfer was successful by clicking on the View Holds tab in the new record and looking for the hold there.

Note: Do not transfer a hold to a different format of the same title without conslting with the patron first to ensure they can accept that format type.

Cancelling Hopeless Holds

If no other options in the catalog will fulfill the hold, you can cancel the hold directly from the Hopeless Holds report.

1. Select the hold from the grid in the report.
2. Select Cancel Hold from the Actions menu.