Circulation Policies
Loan Periods
Most treatises and other monographs may circulate. Faculty, law, and other graduate students may check out circulating material for 16 weeks. Undergraduate students and courtesy card holders may check out circulating material for 4 weeks. You may view your borrowing account from any public terminal to see what books you have charged out, what books are overdue, what books you have requested, and how much you owe for fines. For current circulation policies, see the University Library Circulation Policies.
Renewals
You may renew items online up to 10 times unless another patron needs the item.
Lost Books
With the exceptions of recalled and reserve books, you will be billed a $10 non-refundable processing fee if an overdue book reaches lost status; a book’s status changes to lost thirty-four days after the due date. A replacement bill for a minimum of $125 per item is also issued at 34 days. Periodicals are billed at a minimum of $300 per volume. The Library may assess a higher replacement cost in special instances.
The replacement amount will be credited if the overdue item is returned in good condition. The $10 processing fee will not be refunded.
Recalls
A recall notice informs you that the loan period for an item has been shortened and that the material must be returned by a certain date. Renewals are not permitted. Failure to return a recalled item by the recall due date will result in a $5 daily fine and a block on your borrowing privileges.
Reserve Books
The Library has two sets of reserve materials. A special reserve collection behind the circulation desk contains cases, articles, and other items that law faculty reserve for one semester for class use. Items which require extra security are also kept behind the circulation desk. All other reserve materials reside in the walk-in reserve room located immediately west of the circulation desk.
The walk-in reserve room contains a collection of current hornbooks, unbound English language periodicals, and other materials. The books are shelved in call number order, and the unbound journals are arranged alphabetically along the wall. The material may be used in the reserve room without checking it out. If you would like to use reserved material outside the reserve room, please check it out at the circulation desk. Journals are non-circulating; however, they may be used anywhere inside the Law Library.
Fines for overdue reserve books are $5 per hour.
To check out a reserve book, go to the circulation desk and present your University I-card.
Most reserve material is charged out for two hours. If you want to continue using an item at the end of the two hours, return the item to the circulation desk to have it discharged and recharged. Reserve items cannot be renewed.
Many reserve items may circulate overnight. An item may be charged out two hours before the Library closes and returned within an hour after the Library reopens the following day. Present a valid university ID to charge reserve material out.
The following reserve items do not circulate overnight: periodicals, loose leafs, and other materials labeled as such.
Search Requests
If you cannot find a book in the stacks, consult the online catalog or the student circulation assistant to determine whether the item is charged to another patron. Illinois law prohibits library staff from revealing the names of individuals who have checked out library material. We can, however, place a request on a title that is checked out to another borrower. If the book is not charged out, you can request that it be searched by filling out a search card. You should check on the result of the search after two working days.
Proxy Authorization
UIUC faculty members, graduate students, and other library borrowers with extenuating circumstances may authorize another library borrower to charge out Library materials for them.
This authorization is usually extended to students who are assisting a faculty member or a graduate student in his or her research, but a spouse, staff member, etc. can be designated as a proxy patron. Also, a library borrower can designate more than one proxy. Library materials will receive faculty or graduate loan periods. The length of the authorization is specified for up to one year. The individual is responsible for all library materials charged to their account, including those materials that his or her proxy checked out. To obtain authorization, the faculty member or graduate student must complete and sign a “Proxy Form” available in the Main Circulation Office, Room 203 Main Library. The application form requires both the faculty or graduate student’s and proxy’s identification numbers and signatures.
The patron authorized to check out library materials for another individual must present his/her I-card or courtesy card at the desk and tell the staff member that he/she is checking out materials for another library borrower. A special proxy card will no longer be issued.
Returning Library Materials
Borrowers may return UIUC and ILCSO library materials to any public service point in the library regardless of where the item was originally charged out. Because library materials are discharged from the borrower’s account at the location to which they are returned and prior to being shipped back to the owning library, borrowers are not held responsible for items that are lost in shipping. Library materials can also be returned to the book drop on the southwest corner of the main library. Return receipts are available upon request at any circulation desk.
Library materials cannot be returned through campus mail. Please return non-ILCSO interlibrary loan materials directly to the Interlibrary Borrowing Office, Room 104 Main Library.
Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery
These services are administered through the University Library. For information about requesting books or photocopies through Interlibrary Loan, please see the ILL Department’s policies and information page. Note that Library staff cannot request books through ILL for faculty; ILL is self-service and uses NetID logins.