Article 2—General Policies and Regulations

Part 4. University Property and Facilities—In General

§ 2-402 Library Regulations

The Library exists primarily to provide intellectual and physical access to information needed for research and learning. To provide physical access, the library circulates library materials to the faculty and student body of the University. The privilege of borrowing materials for use outside the Library is accorded to all faculty, staff, students, and other persons accredited by the Library.

(a) Use of Library Materials

(1) Library materials not reserved for classes may be borrowed for home use for from three days to sixteen weeks, and renewed for a similar period ten times if not specifically restricted or called for. After ten renewals, items must be returned to the library for physical inventory. All such materials are subject to recall at any time, and all users can be fined for failing to return a recalled item. In general, reference books, books reserved for classes, periodical volumes, and certain other groups of materials are to be used in the reading rooms only.

(2) Any student who steals or mutilates Library materials will be subject to University discipline.

(3) A current staff or student ID card serves as a library card and may be used in the University libraries of all three campuses or any ILCSO school.

(4) Library materials to be used by an entire class may be placed on reserve. When such is desired, the appropriate departmental library should be contacted to ascertain its individual reserve policies and to make sure the material is available when needed. The main stacks do not have a reserve area.

(5) Graduate students, faculty, and staff have access to the main stacks upon presentation and validation of their current ID card. Undergraduate students can request a stacks pass at the Main Circulation Desk. Any user may request to have materials paged for them.

(6) Some material, due to its condition, may be restricted to building use only.

(b) Charges (subject to change without notice)

(1) Library materials, with the exception of special items such as media materials, reserves, and other short-term loans, can be returned to any departmental library on campus. Special items should be returned to the departmental library from which they were borrowed. Library materials not returned by the time indicated in the library’s data base are subject to a late charge. Library fines are subject to change without notice.

(2) The date recorded in the library’s data base is the official record of the time when an item must be returned to the library. Overdue notices are sent as a courtesy only, and failure to receive one is not a reason for cancellation or reduction of late charges.

(3) Materials from the reference and periodical sections, as well as some special collections, may be subject to different regulations. Such materials, including those on reserve, may also be subject to late charges if kept past the time due. These charges may vary from one library to another. Materials recalled for another patron or for reserve purposes may have a reduced loan period; the revised due date is the effective one. All patrons will be fined if a recalled item is not returned by the date specified in the recall notice. A patron will be billed a lost-book charge if the book is not returned when a recall notice is issued.

(4) The loss of any item should be reported immediately to the library from which it was borrowed. Any lost library materials that have become overdue are subject to late charges until personally reported lost. If the item cannot be recovered by the borrower within a reasonable length of time, the borrower will be charged the cost of replacing the material.

(c) Collection of Library Charges
All library charges for overdue and lost materials are forwarded to the Office of Student Accounts and Cashiers for collection, and that office mails a statement to the patron at the end of the month. Patrons wishing to appeal charges for overdue and lost materials may contact the Library Billing Office.

(d) Use of Library Premises
Since eating and drinking in the building may cause other students’ work to be interrupted and cause damage to books and other materials, consideration for others should be taken into account at all times. Eating, drinking, or using tobacco pose threats to the mission of the Library by creating litter as well as damage to equipment and materials, and are, therefore, not allowed in the Library, with the exception of the consumption of non-alcoholic beverages in spill-proof, covered, plastic or metal containers. Some units may not allow even spill-proof containers because of the uniqueness of materials in their collections, e.g., Rare Books and Special Collections, and University Archives.