Understanding loan statuses

Quick-reference guide to every loan status — what it means, and who acts next. For the full lending flow, see How lending works.

You’ll see slightly different labels depending on whether you’re the borrower or the lender — the label table below maps them.

Status reference

Requested

The request is waiting on someone.

Library-owned books: depends on how the book is shelved. Self-service books (on the open shelf) are approved instantly — you go straight to “Ready for Pickup”. Staff-assisted books (kept in storage) wait on a library volunteer to approve and set the book out.
Member-owned books: waiting on the book’s owner. If the top-scored owner doesn’t respond, the request fans out to other owners over the next few days.

Who acts next: the owner (or library admin).
You can: cancel the request from the loan card or the book’s detail page.

On Its Way (borrower) / Drop Off (lender)

The owner approved the request and is preparing the transfer.

Who acts next: usually the owner — drop the book off at the pickup spot, or confirm the direct handoff.
You can: still cancel from the loan card. If you already have the book in hand (your lender forgot to mark it dropped off), tap I Have the Book to start the loan.

Ready for Pickup (borrower) / Awaiting pickup (lender)

The book is at the pickup spot, waiting for the borrower.

For self-service library books, your request jumps straight here — the book is already on the open shelf, so you just grab it and tap Check out.

Who acts next: the borrower — find the book at the pickup spot and tap Check out (self-service) or Confirm Pickup. If you’re the lender: nothing — you’ve done your part, and you’ll be notified when the book is picked up. If you actually handed the book to the borrower in person instead of leaving it at the spot, tap I handed it off so the loan starts correctly.

Borrowed (borrower) / Lent Out (lender)

The borrower has the book and the loan timer is running. The due date is set at this point — not when the request was approved — so the clock doesn’t tick while the book is sitting on a shelf.

Who acts next: the borrower, eventually — return the book on or before the due date.
You can: renew the loan (starting 7 days before the due date). If you’re the lender, you can recall the book if you need it back early.

Overdue

The due date passed without a return. Overdue is a continuation of “Borrowed” — the borrower still has the book; it hasn’t moved anywhere. Reliability impact scales with how late the return is.

Who acts next: the borrower — return the book.

Returned

The loan is complete. The book is back, the borrower’s reliability score is updated, and anyone on the waitlist is notified. Final status.

One nuance for member-owned books: after the borrower marks the return, the owner is asked to confirm they got the book back (auto-confirms in 7 days). Until then the loan shows “Waiting for [owner] to confirm they got it back” on the borrower’s side and “Awaiting Confirmation” on the owner’s side.

Special states

Declined

A request never became a loan. This happens when:

The owner declines the request — shows as “Declined”.
The borrower cancels before pickup — shows as “Cancelled” on your own history.
No owner responds within 7 days (auto-cancelled) — shows as “No response”, kept separate from “Declined” so silence is never read as an owner turning you down.

All three are final: the book becomes available again and the queue (if any) activates.

Pickup expired

The book was ready, but the 7-day pickup window passed without the borrower collecting it. On the History tab this shows as “Pickup expired” — kept separate from “Declined” so a missed pickup is never confused with an owner turning a request down. Like Declined, it’s final: the book becomes available again and the queue (if any) activates, and missing the window affects the borrower’s reliability score.

Disputed (Admin escalation)

Something didn’t work out the way the message thread alone could fix — for example, the lender insists the book was dropped off but the borrower can’t find it. When one of you taps “Get help” at the top of the loan’s Messages tab, the loan moves to “Disputed” and a library admin reviews it.

Who acts next: a library admin — or the person who opened the escalation, if they want to withdraw it.

A few things to know:

You should try chatting first. The message thread on the loan is private between you and the other person. Library admins never see it. Most disagreements get sorted there.
Opening an escalation doesn’t hurt anyone’s reliability score by itself. Reliability is affected only if an admin assigns fault when they resolve it.
You can withdraw your own escalation anytime. The loan returns to whatever it was before.
Library admins see the loan history and the conversation in the escalation thread — not your private chat with the other person.

For the full chat + escalation walkthrough, see Messaging on a loan.

Borrower vs. lender labels

The same loan looks slightly different to each side. The status is the same; only the label changes:

What you see (borrower)	What the lender sees	What’s happening
Requested	Requested	Waiting on the owner
On Its Way	Drop Off / Approved	Owner is preparing the book
Ready for Pickup	Awaiting pickup	Book is at the pickup spot
Borrowed	Lent Out	Borrower has the book
Overdue	Overdue	Past the due date
Returned	Returned	Loan complete
Declined	Declined	Request didn’t become a loan

Still Need Help?

If a status doesn’t match what you’re seeing, contact support.