Students/faculty/staff of Indiana University, persons affiliated with Indiana University, residents of the State of Indiana, Big Ten Academic Alliance (formerly CIC) Scholars, and OCLC Scholars may borrow or check out library materials. Most libraries in the IU Bloomington library system have the same basic policies for book checkout and renewal. Individual libraries maintain some special collections. If you are using one of these specialized libraries, consult their circulation policy descriptions.
IU affiliates: visit My Account for specific information about items checked out to your account.
Loan Periods
- Faculty: 120 day loan
- Staff: 120 day loan
- Graduate Students and Staff: 120 day loan
- Undergraduate Students: 45 day loan
- Indiana Residents: 30 day loan
- Wells Library Core Collection Materials: 14 days, maximum of 2 renewals for all borrowers.
- The Wells Library Reference Collection (found in the Reference Reading Room on level one) cannot be borrowed and is available for in-library use only.
Important: Circulation policies vary depending on the library and type of material; some library materials cannot be borrowed. More information on circulation policies, including limited circulation or non-circulating materials
Overdue and Recall Fines
Borrowers are responsible for renewing or returning material on or before its due date. Materials that have reached their renewal limit must be returned on or before their due date. There are no "grace periods" for overdue materials. Overdue intervals vary for recalls and other special loans.
As of July 1, 2021, daily overdue fines are no longer being charged for normal loans. When an item becomes 50 days overdue, it will be treated as a non-returned item (see below for detailed information).
Some special items will still incur daily or hourly fines if not returned by the due date, including but not limited to:
- Items on reserve (Class Reserves: Circulation Policies)
- Media Services materials
- Collections in the West Tower of the Wells Library (Core Collection, Career Collection, Browsing Collection).
- Interlibrary Loan (ILL) materials, for which the loan policies are governed by the library lending the item
- Items borrowed via Request Delivery from other Indiana University campuses, whose policies may differ from Bloomington's (Contact information for libraries on other campuses)
- Non-circulating material (such as periodicals and reference materials), for which special charge loans may be granted and are fined at a rate of $1.20 per hour when overdue
- Recalled material that is not returned by the recall due date is subject to a $25 fine. When an item is recalled, a recall notice is sent to the borrower indicating the new "recall" due date.
Recall and reserves fines are polices adopted by the Libraries to assist researchers in shared access to library materials.
Overdue notices are sent as a courtesy; failing to receive an overdue notice does not absolve a borrower from responsibility should they receive a bill or fine. Library users are responsible for maintaining accurate address information with the University and its agents (i.e. the Libraries). For normal loans an overdue notice is sent seven days past the due date and again 30 days past the due date.
You may appeal an overdue fine for materials borrowed from Wells Library Media Services (e.g. DVDs, VHS tapes, videogames, etc.) if you wish to dispute the charges. There is no formal fine appeal process for other materials; if you have questions, please contact the Libraries' Access Services Department.
Bills for Unreturned Material
On normal loans the borrower is billed for non-return when the item becomes 50 days overdue. Generally, non-return charges break down as follows:
- billing fee - $5.00
- database adjustment fee - $20
- unreturned item fee - $100 (can vary with items of greater or lesser value)
In most cases bills are adjusted to the billing fee ($5.00) when billed material is returned within one calendar year of the date of billing. Billing intervals and rates vary for recalls and special loans. Bills and fines amounts are transferred to the Bursar's Office for collection. Borrowers with excessive overdue material, large outstanding bill/fine balances, or who show contempt for Library policies may be blocked from further use of the Libraries or may face legal action.
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