Learn the basics of KLAS in this introduction webinar for new users, or those looking to fill in a few gaps in their foundation. Topics include standard toolbar functions, using browse tables, and comments. These fundamentals are useful throughout KLAS, for both Library for the Blind and Print Disabled (LBPD) and Instructional Resource / Materials Center (IRC/IMC) users.
Timestamps of Topics Discussed:
The PIMMS error report is sent nightly to alert you to any errors returned by the PIMMS sync. These errors prevent any changes to the record from syncing, so they must be addressed to allow the patron or machine information to be updated. Errors remain in the report until they are corrected and the patron can successfully sync with PIMMS.
If an error is not listed below, or if the included recommended action / things-to-check do not clear the error, please contact Customer Support with the full row information from the report, including the Patron or Machine ID and the full error text.
Note that one line may include multiple errors. For example: “MaintainPatron - Edit Failed
First name must be a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 255 characters
Last name must be a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 255 characters
Individual patrons must have a 4 digit birth year (YYYY), or a full birth date (YYYY-MM-DD)”
If you need to change who at your library receives this vital report, contact Customer Support at
| Error Text | What it Means and How to Fix It |
| MaintainMachine - Edit Failed MaintainMachine - Cannot edit a machine that doesn't belong to your custodian. Current custodian ([name] [library]) |
This usually occurs when the patron and machine previously transferred out of your library and the machine has the status NAC/TFR. Change the item status to NAC/TFA to indicate that the machine is no longer at your library. |
| MaintainAddress - Delete Failed Cannot delete final address |
Set a Contact Preference for a valid shipping address. |
| MaintainEmail - Add Failed A valid email must be supplied |
Check the email format to make sure there is a valid email (with one @ and a .suffix) in the value field. Non-email text (such as a name, “N/A” or “none”) should not be included. |
| MaintainMachine - Edit Failed Machine Status - Not Found |
This usually means the machine has a Cir Status of NAC or WDR and nothing set for the Mat Disposition. PIMMS needs to know why it is NAC. Change the item status. |
| MaintainPatron - Add Failed Institution name must be a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 255 characters |
Confirm that the Individual checkbox on the main tab is set appropriately. Ensure that the Last Name field on the Main tab includes the name of the Institution. |
| MaintainPatron - Edit Failed Invalid legal acknowledgement email Invalid legal acknowledgement phone |
Ensure that the Alt Contact with the Legal subtype has a valid email and/or phone number. |
| MaintainPatron - Edit Failed Invalid legal acknowledgement name Invalid legal acknowledgement title Invalid |
Ensure that the Alt Contact with the Legal subtype has a job title in the Description field and a first and last name in the Name field. The name can be entered as Firstname Lastname or as Lastname, Firstname Middle. |
| MaintainPatron - Edit Failed Parent/Guardian info is required when answer is Yes or No |
Ensure that an Alt Contact record is present with the subtype of Parent or Guardian. The contact’s full name should be included, with their phone number and email. If multiple such records are listed, set a ParentalAck Contact Preference for the one that should be synced to PIMMS. |
| MaintainPatron - Edit Failed Patron ID must be a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 12 characters |
Ensure that the patron has an ID in the Barcode field on the Patron Main tab. The ID must not be longer than 12 characters. Contact Customer Support if you are unable to edit the barcode. |
| MaintainPatron - Edit Failed First name must be a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 255 characters Last name must be a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 255 characters |
Confirm that the Individual checkbox on the main tab is set appropriately. Ensure that the First Name field on the Main tab includes the given name of the patron, and the Last Name field includes the family name of the patron. |
| MaintainPatron - Edit Failed Individual patrons must have a 4 digit birth year (YYYY), or a full birth date (YYYY-MM-DD) |
Ensure that the Birth Date of the patron is filled in. If the patron does not give their birth date but you are certain they are an adult, 01/01/1900 can be used. |
| MaintainPatron - Edit Failed MaintainPatronStatus - No Patron Status found with id -1 |
Set-up error; contact Customer Support. |
| MaintainSubscription - Add Failed Media Type Not Found |
Set-up error; contact Customer Support. |
| Patron ________ is not a Patron of this Library in PIMMS. The Patron is in [Library ID] at status 'Active'. | The patron should be Transferred In to your library. Contact Customer Support for help “un-sticking” a transfer. |
The following MARC records have had diacritic marks or other issues corrected. Please upload these files in place of the NLS version.
For more information on uploading MARC Records, see Are Your Records Up-To-Date? on the forums.
Note: You must be logged in to view and download these files.
The first February files were uploaded 2/6/2026.
The Jan/Feb TBT Query Set was uploaded on 1/23/2026.
Please log in to download content. Thank you!
For patrons not in compliance with the NLS Parental Acknowledgement requirements, KLAS can automatically Block the accounts until the acknowledgement is corrected so nothing is sent to them. However, these Blocks are NOT communicated to NLS. Rather, they're a warning flag and a temporary measure while correcting data entry issues.
If you don't have these Blocks set up yet, please contact Keystone Customer Support, so we can enable them for you!
Once the Blocks are in place, use the Blocked Patron Report to easily find these patron records for review and correction.

Records with any of these Blocks should be either corrected or Suspended immediately. If you find you cannot correct a record or have questions about it, please contact Customer Support with the patron’s name and ID.
We are seeing that many of the Active records not in compliance are cases where only part of the Acknowledgement is missing. For example, a patron may have a "Yes" answer but the Parent/Guardian Alt Contact is missing. There are different blocks for each part of the acknowledgement (Birth Date, Acknowledgement Answer Property, and Alt Contact), so patrons with only one of these Blocks are usually a quick fix!
On Thursday, January 22, 2026 several Library for the Blind and Print Disabled network libraries shared about the programming they do to engage library patrons in-person or virtually. Engaging our patrons is an important way to retain them and keep patrons connected to the library and their fellow library users.
This session included a discussion of partnerships with public libraries, including Florida’s Ambassador Program and New Mexico’s Scribe Mini DOD systems in public libraries.
Panel Participants:
Chat Transcript: 012252026_Programming__Partnerships_Chat.txt
As NLS makes sure that the "I"s are dotted and the "T"s are crossed on all the open collection acknowledgements, here's a run-down of all the required fields:
On the Main tab, the relevant Patron Types are:

On the Contact tab, make sure the Alt Contact is present and complete:

2b. Contact Preference
If there is more than one Alt Contact of a relevant SubType (such as two Parents on a juvenile's account), you need to specify which one to sync to NLS as having provided the Acknowledgement Answer.
Do this by setting a Contact Preference for the ParentalAck.

Finally, you need the Property record (aka Preference) recording the Answer and the Answer Date.

If you aren't sure why an account is included in NLS' list of non-compliant records and/or in your PIMMS Error Report, please check each of the above fields, and let customer support know the Patron ID if you still need help! If the record was in your Error Report, please include the text of the error as well.
On Thursday, December 11, 2025 Marion and Katy presented a free, online KLAS IRC-focused webinar. During this session, they discussed and demonstrated KLAS functions that can help you prepare for and complete the 2025 APH Census as well as other reporting tools.
As we approach the end of the calendar year, do you know who was included in your last APH Census? Who is in your database but wasn't in the Census? Is your WebOrder Census section set up correctly to give errors and information that is useful to teachers? Do you have an up-to-date Help page with the FAQs and downloads you want to provide?
Hear about and learn all those end-of-year tasks, and any other reporting needs.
The workflow you use to add new Copies and Items to inventory depends on whether they are Copy-Specific or Non-Copy-Specific.
If the new inventory is for a new Title, follow this guide to add a new, non-NLS monograph to your catalog.
When Items come with a suitable barcode already in place, or if you apply barcodes from a pre-printed label sheet, the Items then need to be received into KLAS individually so that KLAS knows which barcodes belong to the Title.
Using copy-specific barcodes on each Item allows you to track each specific Item’s status and history separately from any other copies of the same Title.
When Items come without a suitable barcode already in place, or if you do not use unique barcodes on your Items (non-copy-specific), the Items can be received into KLAS using the Batch Add Items function.
Need more information about catalog inventory, such as the difference between a Copy and an Item, or how to add Consumable inventory? Please see Catalog Inventory.
The Lines by Patron Role Report returns all of the Material Request lines that meet a flexible set of criteria for a given time frame, grouped by Patron Role. This report replaces the Students Served report previously run by Customer Support.
The document below includes instructions followed by examples:
Use the Reference Worksheet to record which parameters you use for easy reference the next time you run the report:
On Thursday, November 13, 2025 we hosted a KLAS LBPD Users' Roundtable session focused on Patron Retention moderated by Josh Easter, KLAS Users' Group President.
Session Description:
Our libraries exist to enrich the lives of people with standard print reading disabilities. How do we keep patrons active and coming back? How can we keep people connected and passionate about reading, using our services, and attending our programs? What strategies are other libraries trying? Join the discussion! We have several people on the panel, but it will also be an open floor for discussions.
Panel Participants:
Resources shared by JD Burns, Mississippi:
11/13/2025 Patron Retention Roundtable Chat Transcript - 2025-11-13_Patron_Retention_Roundtable_Chat.txt
11/13/2025 Patron Retention Roundtable Recording
Katy and Katharina hosted a KLAS Users' Group Meeting at the 2025 Midlands-Southern Conference for Talking Book Libraries on Tuesday, September 16 to share updates about Keystone and KLAS, future development, allow attendees to ask questions and provide feedback to Keystone staff as well as connect with other LBPD KLAS users.
Below you will find the Presentation we shared as well as the Recording of this session:
During this session for Library for the Blind and Print Disabled KLAS Users, Katy shared information about your end-of-year reporting process, including updates to Mitake's "Circulation Summary" spreadsheets, the new report for NLS's officially requested statistics, queries for Referral Source and Inactive Reasons, and a brief look at Batch Patron Status Review (BPSR) and how it helps keep your database clean and your statistics accurate.
James, Katy, and I hosted a KLAS Users' Group Meeting at the 2025 Northern-Western Conference for Talking Book Libraries. on Tuesday, August 5 to share updates about Keystone and KLAS, future development, allow attendees to ask questions and provide feedback to Keystone staff as well as connect with other LBPD KLAS users.
Below you will find the Presentation we shared as well as the Recording of this session:
Join us for an engaging panel discussion on the intricacies of managing local collections. The panelists will discuss the types of local collections held by their libraries, the frequency and significance of their usage within the community, and the lifecycle of managing these collections—from selecting new items to daily management and weeding practices. There will also be time for a Q&A session with the audience.
Add this session to your calendar:
Headings are used to ensure that author, narrator, series and subject entries are consistent from one bibliographic record to the next. Heading Maintenance allows you to add, merge and delete heading authority records.
Note: This function is intended for catalogers and KLAS admins. If you are not sure whether you have the authority to make these types of changes for your library, please clarify with a supervisor before making any changes in Headings Maintenance.
This document includes instructions on:
How do you use Headings Maintenance? Share your tips in the comments--or let us know if you have questions!
Instructional Resource / Materials Center staff who use KLAS were invited to attend the KLAS IRC Users' Meeting on Wednesday, October 15, 2025 prior to the start of the 2025 American Printing House for the Blind Annual Meeting.
Slides:
Recording:
The Batch Receive function allows you to easily add Equipment inventory in KLAS.
To add a Range of machines, they must be a complete sequence (common for boxes of new equipment), and must have numeric serial numbers, not alpha-numeric such as the EBZ braille readers. For non-sequential and/or alpha-numeric equipment, the Single option must be used.
Please log in to view available downloads. Thank you!
Remember: You are always welcome to call or email Keystone Customer Support with questions!
The Customer Support team is always happy to answer questions--but sometimes you just want to sit down with a KLAS expert and take a look at something. On Wednesday, June 18 we invited KLASUsers to challenge Katy's KLAS knowledge and get the answers to all their nagging questions during this informal webinar.
Didn't make it? Don't worry--this webinar was recorded and posted to KLASusers. Below are the chat, links to articles with more informations about some of the topics we discussed, and the webinar recording.
On the afternoon of Tuesday, March 18, David Andrews, Chief Technology Officer, Minnesota State Services for the Blind presented a hybrid session titled "Braille: A Format for the Future" during the 2025 KLAS Users' Conference.
This session provided an overview and brief history of paperless Braille devices, explored the evolution of the eBraille format, including the who, what, when, where and how, as well as the development of other formats, such as DAISY and ePub which led to it. David then spoke about about the implementation and what the future looks like.
For those unable to attend the conference or the session, you will find the recording of David's presentation below:
Below are the slidedecks and recordings of the libraries for the blind and print disabled (LBPD) and instructional resource / materials center (IRC / IMC) KLAS New Features Sessions held on Tuesday, May 18, 2025 at the 2025 KLAS Users' Conference.
The KLAS Users' Program Committee held a free, online, roundtable on Thursday, May 15. During this session, KLASUsers from three libraries for the blind and print disabled (LBPD) discused how they use KLAS to provide materials to incarcerated individuals and how state / institutional policies effect circulation. Below are the slidedecks and recording of this session.