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.

Every loan on Loans, on your Home page and in the loan itself shows one line that says who acts next, what they do, and by when — for example “Ruth drops it off by Tue, Sep 29”, “Pick up by Wed, Sep 30 · 3 days left” or “Due Fri, Oct 2 · 5 days left”. When it’s your move, the loan’s first button is that step.

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” — unless your track record has a heads-up: then a library volunteer confirms the request first, and it shows “Waiting for a library volunteer”. 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 you let the system pick and the top-scored owner doesn’t respond, the request is passed to the next owner who has a copy over the next couple of days — one owner at a time. If no owner responds within 7 days, the request closes as “No response”. If you picked a specific person, the request stays with them (it is not passed along) and still closes after 7 days so you can pick someone else.

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

On its way (borrower) / To deliver (lender)

The lender approved the request and committed to a delivery day.

Who acts next: usually the lender — get the book to the borrower by the committed day, then tap Mark delivered and choose which handoff happened: Dropped off at a pickup spot (the borrower is told where to find it) or Handed off in person (the loan starts right away and the borrower confirms receipt). If you left it at a spot, you can add a photo of the book there before you mark it. Marked it by mistake? Tap Undo on the notice at the bottom of the screen, or Undo dropoff / Undo handoff on the loan. The morning-of (and last-call) reminder asks you to open the loan in the app and mark it delivered after you drop it off or hand it off, so the borrower’s pickup window can start.

If you’re the lender and can’t make the day: open the loan and tap Can’t make it?. You can message the borrower to sort out a new plan, or tap Cancel the loan — the cancel sheet opens with “I can’t make the dropoff in time” already chosen, and the borrower is told. Once the day has passed, the loan shows how late it is (“Drop off by Thu, Sep 24 · 3 days late”).

If you’re the borrower: the loan shows the day your lender planned (“Ruth drops it off by Tue, Sep 29”). If that day passes, it says so plainly (“Ruth planned to drop it off Thu, Sep 24”) and puts Message first so you can check in.
You can: still cancel from the loan on Loans. 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 by the date on the loan (“Pick up by Wed, Sep 30”) and tap Check out (self-service) or Confirm pickup. If your lender handed it to you in person instead, tap I have the book. 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 waiting to be picked up.

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 (until then the loan says “You can renew from {date}, a week before it’s due” when it can be renewed then). Once you’ve asked, the loan shows “You asked Ruth to renew until {date}” until your lender answers. If you’re the lender, you can Ask for it back early if you need it sooner.

Handed to you (borrower) / Handed off (lender)

The lender marked the book as handed over in person, and the borrower hasn’t confirmed yet.

Who acts next: the borrower — tap I have the book to start the loan, or I don’t have it if it never reached you. Until then the lender can tap Undo handoff.

Asked back early

The lender asked for the book back before its due date. Both sides see Asked back early and the date it’s due back by (“Back by Tue, Sep 29 · 2 days left”), on Loans, on the loan itself and on the borrower’s page for the book.

Who acts next: the borrower — return it by that date, or tap Renew to ask the lender for a little more time (the lender decides). Once you’ve asked, the loan shows “You asked Ruth to renew until {date}” until they answer.

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. Once a book is a week or more overdue, owners the borrower asks to borrow from see a short heads-up until it’s returned.

Who acts next: the borrower — return the book.

Returned

The loan is complete. The book is back, the return is added to the borrower’s track record (on time or late), and anyone on the waitlist is notified. Final status.

One nuance for member-owned books: after the borrower marks the return, the lender is asked to confirm they got the book back (auto-confirms in 7 days). Until then the loan shows “Waiting for [lender] to confirm they got it back” on the borrower’s side, and “[Borrower] marked it returned” with an I got it back button on the lender’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 next person on the waitlist (if any) gets their turn.

Pickup expired

The book was ready, but the 7-day pickup window passed without anyone confirming pickup. This shows as “Pickup expired” — kept separate from “Declined” so a missed pickup is never confused with an owner turning a request down.

It is not a dead end. Open the loan:

If the borrower already has the book, tap I have the book (borrower) or They have the book (lender). That starts the loan, sets a due date, and removes the missed pickup from the borrower’s track record.
If the book is still at the pickup spot (or already back with the lender), tap I never picked it up (borrower) or It wasn’t picked up (lender; It’s back on the shelf for a library copy), then confirm. The loan stays cancelled and leaves your active list. If a next reader is already waiting at the spot, closing it returns them to the waitlist.
You can still use Messages to coordinate, and on a member-owned copy you can tap Get help to bring in a library admin.

If nobody acts, the loan quietly moves to Past loans after 14 days. Missing the window still counts as a missed pickup on the borrower’s track record unless someone claims that they already have the book.

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.

On Loans and on your Home page, a disputed loan has a View dispute button. It opens the loan’s Admin review tab, where you can answer the admin or withdraw your escalation.

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 go on anyone’s track record by itself. Only an admin finding someone at fault, when they resolve it, does.
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	To deliver	The lender is preparing the book
Ready for pickup	Awaiting pickup — or Approved for a self-service library book	Book is at the pickup spot
Handed to you	Handed off	Handed over in person; the borrower hasn’t confirmed yet
Borrowed	Lent out — or Renewal requested while a renewal waits on you	Borrower has the book
Asked back early	Asked back early	The lender asked for the book back before its due date
Overdue	Overdue	Past the due date
Returned	Returned	Loan complete
Declined	Declined	Request didn’t become a loan
Cancelled	Cancelled	The borrower cancelled the request before pickup
Cancelled by lender	Cancelled by lender	The lender walked back an approved loan
Pickup expired	Pickup expired	The pickup window closed without a confirm — open the loan to recover

Still Need Help?

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