Whether you’re gearing up for a new school year or streamlining operations midyear, understanding how to configure and manage your Follett Destiny® Resource Manager settings is essential to maintaining control and clarity across your district. In this blog, we’ll walk you through essential policy setups, strategic settings adjustments, and inventory tools that make your job easier and your system smarter.

Setting Up Resource and Textbook Policies: Start with the Rules

The resource and textbook policies in Destiny are more than just circulation limits; they’re your first line of control over how materials move through your district.

Resource Loan Periods

Resource loan periods can be tailored by class or interval:

• Class loan periods link materials directly to scheduled classes and user types.
• Interval loan periods allow flexibility based on user roles or departments and can range from a set number of days to an unlimited checkout.

These settings can be created at the district level and pushed out to schools, establishing consistency while saving time.

Textbook Circulation Controls

Textbook policies include:

• Maximum checkouts per student
• Automated marking of long-overdue books as “Lost”
• Optional checkout blocks for students with outstanding fines or overdues
• Auto-conditioning to assess wear and tear based on circulation frequency

With just a few clicks, you can enforce these policies across your district or apply them selectively.

Fine-Tuning Settings with District Configuration

Destiny offers comprehensive site configuration tools under district control. Here’s where you can:

• Limit high-demand tasks like heavy reports during school hours
• Customize barcode formats and circulation sounds
• Decide if patrons can set their own login credentials
• Set fine calculation rules and whether staff can waive fines with notes

Tip: Pushing changes district-wide is powerful, just be mindful that it overrides local settings. Coordinate with site administrators before pushing down district-wide updates.

Don’t Overlook the Calendar

A well-maintained district calendar ensures Destiny processes due dates, fines, and holds accurately. You can:

• Set standard school weeks with open/closed days
• Mark holidays or teacher workdays
• Apply calendar settings to new schools automatically

Remember: Specific closed dates do not carry forward year to year, so set them up annually.

Streamlining Access Levels

Permissions can get messy. Cleaning up Access Levels helps keep your system secure and manageable.

District Administrators can:

• Audit redundant or outdated access levels
• Delete unused ones (unless still assigned to patrons)
• Push curated access levels to schools
• Restrict site-level edits for full district control or allow local customization depending on your governance model

Not sure what access levels exist? Run a quick report using Report Builder to see them all at a glance.

Inventory and Renewals: Get a Fresh Start

Inventory Finalization

Before diving into a new year, finalize inventories:

• View site completion status.
• Finalize once all sites report are finished.
• Decide how to handle unscanned items, mark as lost, or leave untouched.

Global Renew

District users with the right permissions can renew resources all at once using Global Renew. It’s perfect for items checked out to staff or departments long-term. Filter by grade, patron type, or due date, and preview changes before committing.

Wrapping It Up

Configuring Destiny Resource Manager effectively isn’t just about checking boxes – it’s about building a responsive, scalable environment for all your district’s learning materials. From policy enforcement to year-end inventories, the right settings empower your staff and protect your resources.

Need additional support configuring and managing your Destiny Resource Manager settings? Contact us for tailored solutions and services. 

Let’s make this year your most organized yet, with Destiny Resource Manager doing the heavy lifting behind the scenes.