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| Reserve Desk Contact Information | |
Introduction
The purpose of reserve is to make materials considered to be in great demand for a course more readily available to everyone in the course. Therefore, the loan period for reserves is limited, usually to two or 24 hours. Fines are assessed for late return of the material. If the demand for certain course items is great, your instructor can ask to have them assigned to a two-hour loan period.All course reserve materials are listed in the online catalog and may be searched either by course number or instructor name (see Searching below)
Each library, with the exception of Chemistry, has material on reserve. Most undergraduate and graduate science course reserves are located in Crerar. Regenstein has reserve collections for the Divinity School, the Business School, and for undergraduate and graduate courses in the Social Sciences and the Humanities. Please check with your instructor to see which library he/she left material with.
Searching and Checking Out Items on Course Reserve
You can look for items on course reserve at any online catalog (Horizon) terminal. There are options to search by course number or by the instructor's surname. You will need to copy down the call number of the reserve item and bring it to the circulation desk. Circulation staff will then get the item you have requested and check it out to you. The loan period for reserve items varies; please note carefully the due date and time printed on the paper checkout slip.The online catalog also can tell you if your item is checked out and, if so, when it is due back. If your item is checked out, doing a title search may locate other copies of your item that are not on reserve. Generally, you are only allowed to check out two reserve items at one time.
Check-in procedures vary among the different libraries. Please ask circulation staff at the time of checkout where to return your reserve items.
Reserve items are not renewable. At some libraries, however, you may check out another copy of the item if multiple copies are kept on reserve.
Reserve Fees and Fines
Because reserve items are used by many people, it is especially important that items are returned on time. You will be charged $1.00 per hour that a reserve item is overdue, up to $75.00. It is your responsibility to know the date and time your reserve items are due, and to return your reserve items to the correct library.Long overdue reserve material may be marked as lost. You will be charged a replacement fee (see Lost Book Charges). You may also be billed if a reserve item is returned with missing material or is returned damaged.
Reserve fees and fines may be paid at any circulation desk. If left unpaid, reserve fines will become delinquent and your borrowing privileges may be blocked. For more information, consult Paying Fees and Fines.
Helpful Hints for Reserve
If your instructor tells you that material is on reserve, but you can't find the items in the online catalog, please ask Circulation staff. They can often give information about the status of an item (if the Library has received it, if it has been processed for reserve, and so on), or suggest other options for obtaining the material.If all copies of a reserve item are charged out, try doing a title or author search in the online catalog. Often reference or reading room copies are not placed on reserve and may be available. You may also find earlier editions of your item that could be acceptable for your research.
Tell the Customer Service Assistant or a Circulation supervisor if an item is being used heavily. We can shorten loan periods, ask the instructor for more copies of the material, and try other options to ensure that everyone enjoys equal access to reserve items.
Reserve items can be taken out overnight if checked out less than 2 hours before the circulation desk closes. Also, you can return reserve material even when the library is closed. Consult Circulation staff for the location of bookdrops and other dropoff locations.
Reserve procedures vary from library to library, and policies at one library may not apply at another. The contact list provides links to web pages many reserve departments have created, listing their own library-specific reserve policies.