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University Library

Managing your loans

If you live close enough to the library to visit and borrow books, or if you use the postal loans service, then you might be interested to know that there are a number of services which can make it easier to manage your loans from home:

Check whether a book is in the library before making a trip to the library by checking the entry in the library catalogue. This provides real-time information on the availability of a book (but does not prevent them being borrowed by another student).

Viewing your library record. You can check to see what is issued to you at any time by viewing your online library record.Log in using your CIS username and password to see a list of all the books issued out to you and the dates they are due for return to the library. You can renew books up to 10 times (unless they are required by another library user). You can renew books from your library record or by phone. For further information see the general page on Renewing Loans. Your library record also shows any outstanding fines or charges and you can pay fines here too.

Fines. Library books are issued on the understanding that they are returned by a specific date which is printed on your issue receipt and shown on your library record. Items returned late are subject to fines. Fines can be paid with cash or a cheque in the library, or (for fines over £5.00) using the online fines payment link from your library record. Current rates of fines are displayed on the Loan Periods and Charges page.

When checking your library record it is worth noting that there are two types of fines displayed:

  • fines on items that have been returned (the fine has stopped increasing)
  • fines on books which are currently over-due (the fines are increasing hourly or daily).

You can pay fines where the fine has stopped increasing: these will be listed under "library charges". You cannot pay fines which are still increasing and the current fine is shown next to the book in your list of "current loans". You have to return or renew over-due books to halt the fine before you can pay the fine.

Recalls. You may be asked to return a book earlier than the date on your issue slip if another university member asks for it. You will be notified by email and given a week to return the book. Fines on recalled items are higher than those on standard loans. See the general page on Reservations and Recalls for more information about how the recall system works.

Posting books back to the library. If it is not conventient to visit the library to return books you can return them by post. The postal addresses of the various libraries are given on the contacts website. Books posted to you via the postal loans service should contain an address label for you to use. Ask for a receipt from the Post Office when sending the parcel: this is free and can be used as proof of postage.

If you are returning books borrowed from another library through the Document Delivery Service them please return them to the Document Delivery Service at Durham University rather than posting them directly to the lending library.