Website FAQs

  • General Questions

    PCPL offers RSS feeds for any patrons who wish to receive content updates directly to their RSS reader or aggregator. You'll need either a web-based or browser extension RSS reader to view the information. You can get RSS updates automatically in 4 categories: 

    Blog post RSS feed

    News post RSS feed

    New FAQ RSS feed

    Events RSS feed

    Web-Based Readers

    Many companies offer web-based RSS readers, such as Feedly or Inoreader. Depending on your browser, you may need to download an RSS reader extension, like RSS Subscription Extension for Google Chrome or Livemarks for Firefox, to read content updates. 

    Troubleshooting

    Due to the vast amount of reader platforms available, it can be difficult for library staff to troubleshoot issues with your particular reader. We may direct you to your RSS reader's Support Team to achieve the best result. 

    If you want to interact with your library account online to renew, see due dates, and place holds, you will need to register.

    To register, click on Log In / My PCPL in the the upper, right-hand corner of the website, then on Log In / Register (green button). Enter your library card number and PIN.

    See How do I register? 

    You’ll be asked to create a username, which you can use as an alternative to your library card number to login. When you register your library card, if your exact username isn’t available, the system will tell you to select another. Vulgar and offensive usernames are not allowed and will be removed.

    If you want your holds to be held at the Library under your username rather than your real name:

    • Come to the Library with your card and I.D. and we will make a note in our system of your username.
    • When a hold comes in for you, it will be put on the shelf under your username.

    Any public comments you post in the catalog will include your username. See more about privacy settings.

    What to do if the one-time link sent via email to you from the Library's website says it is invalid

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    Our website will resize automatically to fit the size of your screen. This is called "mobile-friendly."

    You can also download our MyPCPL mobile app. Search for "Pima County Library" in either store. See all of the Library's mobile apps here.

    Here’s a handy guide to what features are available where:

      Full website (PC, Mac, laptop) Mobile version using browser (tablet, phone) App (iOS, Android)
    My Shelves Yes Yes Yes
    My Lists Yes Yes No
    Borrowing History Yes Yes Yes

    Tablet and smartphone users, please note: When using the website in a browser on a tablet or phone, you can click on the Login / My PCPL menu to get more options.

    Kindle Fire: Use the browser to access the Library's website. The app doesn't work with Kindle Fire.

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    Overview

    When you complete some actions on our website, including:

    • registering your account the first time,
    • making an email address change, or
    • resetting your PIN,

    A link is sent to you to verify the action. Some people have let us know that they are seeing the following message after clicking a one-time link sent to them, even though they had not previously clicked on the link.

    "The link you clicked on is no longer valid. It has either been used, expired, or replaced with a new one."

    Cause

    Although you may be interacting with the link for the first time, one-time links can be invalidated by anti-phishing and other email security tools. This can take place on the email server before it reaches your inbox, or as a redirect immediately after you click the one-time link.

    There are a few platforms/software that are known to cause one-time links to be invalidated (depending on the configuration of the platform/software). These are:

    • Microsoft Exchange
    • Outlook 365
    • Proofpoint

    Other tools may also cause this issue. It's hard for us to know which ones may cause the issue, since these are not controlled or managed by the Library or the Library's website company.

    This issue is more likely to impact you if you gave us your work email when you got your library card.

    Solutions

    The following options may help, depending on the email security tool in use:

    • Copying the link from the email and pasting directly into a web browser.
    • Use another email address for your library account. You can come in to the library at any time to change your email address. Staff are happy to help with this. You can also update your email address in the Classic Catalog.
    • Add do-not-reply@bibliocommons.com in your email system to a safe senders list or to the address book. BiblioCommons is the website company that provides the Library with our website platform.
    • Contact the team managing your organization's email or IT services to see if they can help. 

    This doesn't just happen on the Library's website. It is a known issue across many online platforms and services that use one-time links in emails to users. Our website company, BiblioCommons, continues to monitor this to see if they can make any changes on their end that might help.

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    You can translate the website into many different languages, and you can translate the catalog and your account interface into Spanish. For your account, log in and go to My Settings, then click on Display Language. The setting will stay as long as you are logged in and don’t change it back to English.

    To translate the entire site to Spanish for your session, click on the button on the homepage under the Quick Links heading: Translate|Traducir Sitio. The site will stay in Spanish for your session. This doesn’t include the catalog and your account. Use the method above to change those.

    For other languages, like new pages listed above, use the Google Translate tool that is at the bottom of every page. It displays just below the Pima County Privacy Policy link:

    Use the small arrow next to Select Language to see a pop up of the options. Simply click on one, and the site will translate to that language. Again, this is just for your current session and doesn’t include the catalog or account interface.

    These links will also translate the site. Simply click and navigate as usual.

    The catalog is available in Spanish and English.

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    To print a listing of events, simply do a search or use the limiters to get the list of events you want. Feel free to limit by date, age, type of event, or simply do a keyword search to get a list of what you want.

    Here are step-by-step instructions:

    1. Go to the event calendar 
    2. Under location, click on Show more, then click the checkbox next to the library you want
    3. Select any other filters you want – Audience, Event type, Program, Language – from the left-hand side of the screen
    4. Once that processes, click the small x in the upper right corner of the page to get back to the calendar
    5. You’ll see a list of events. Click on View options to see a menu that includes Print. Click on Print.
    6. A print dialog box will open, showing you what your list will look like printed.

    Here's a quick video with an example.

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    Here is a list of our hours and locations.

    The link to the Hours & Locations of all of our libraries is located at the top of all the pages on this website, near where you log in to your account. 

    • Use the Find by address or ZIP code, search box, or
    • Use the Find by location name dropdown menu to select a specific location, or
    • Click the All Locations link to see a list of all our locations.

    On the Library's app, look for the map pin icon. 

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    The Library's website uses cookies to store a variety of preferences and session information. None of it contains personally identifiable information, which means we don't know who visits the Library's website, and all of the cookies have an expiry date, and most expire with the current session.

    The website requires cookies because each patron must have a unique session ID, and needs to be locked to a specific application server for the session. All of the other cookies are really just for convenience. For example, the website stores your preferred page length, and also stores information about the previous page you were on so we can provide a link back to that page.

    There is no harm in anyone deleting all of the cookies from your computer at any time.

    The chart below provides a brief explanation of each cookie.

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    Cookie Explanation
    __ut* Used by Google Analytics.
    _bcui_session_id Anonymous, unique identifier for the current session.
    0 (can be any
    random number)    		 Stores information about previous page visited, to provide link back.
    audience Stores age group self-definition (teach/parent or child). Forest of Reading sites only.
    back_tag Stores information about previous page visited, to provide link back.
    back_to_title Stores information about previous page visited, to provide link back.
    back_to_url Stores information about previous page visited, to provide link back.
    biblio-lb Stores server information and locks you to the same server for the duration of a session.
    cms_hidden_messages Stores a list of system message IDs that have been closed by the user.
    csm_site_visited Stores a value ID after the user's first visit to the site so that the onboarding popup isn't displayed.
    elapsed_time Tracks response times for various actions for use by Google Analytics.
    hidden_notices Tracks system messages hidden by the user.
    is_local_branch Used for library terminals to remove the X from system messages so that they cannot be closed.
    is_returning Used by Crazy Egg (analytics tool) to track whether the user is new or returning.
    language Stores language preference (US English, Canadian English, French, Spanish, Russian, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, or Japanese).
    location Stores branch location, and also restricts certain features.
    page_size Stores page length preference (10 or 25 items).
    recently_added_bibs Stores selected title in New Titles carousel so you can return to the correct position once you've viewed the bib.
    recently_reviewed_bibs Stores selected title in Recently Reviewed carousel so you can return to the correct position once you've viewed the bib.
    remember_me Stores username (but not password) so you don't have to type it each time you log in on that computer.
    show_homepage_popover Stores a value ID if the user has closed the homepage banner so that it isn't displayed.
    SRV Stores the application server number for the current session.
    stored_back_to Stores information about previous page visited, to provide link back.
    view Stores display preference (images or text).

    Using a free service called Blogtrottr to get emails

    The easiest way to get email notification when a new title comes in that matches a search is to use Blogtrottr.com. For example, you can do an author search for Joyce Carol Oates to see when the library's added her latest, or you can search for a topic that interests you, like xeriscaping.

    To set up email alerts using Blogtrottr, start by doing a search in the catalog. Then click on the RSS icon at the top right of the search results.

    A new screen will open that should look similar to this. Copy the URL (website address) from the top of the page.

    Open a new browser window or tab. In the new tab, go to blogtrottr.com.

    On this screen, paste the URL you copied into the box labeled Feed URL. Then enter your email address, leave Schedule as is, and click Feed Me. Blogtrottr will send you an email when the Library adds a title that matches your search.

     

    These instructions are available as a PDF here.

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