General Policies
The general policies apply to all JCU students (degree-seeking and study abroad), the ENLUS students, and all JCU Staff.
Access and ID
Patrons can access all Library services with their JCU ID card. They must always have their ID with them and show it at the Welcome Desk when checking out books.
Borrowing
Books can be checked out at the Welcome Desk.
Patrons can borrow up to 6 books at a time, whether in the Main Collection or in the Reserves. Books in the Main Collection can be checked out for 2 weeks.
Students working on their final thesis can check out up to 15 books for 30 days.
Reserve books may be either in print or in electronic format. Electronic reserves are available directly through the bibliographic record in JCU Discovery, while print reserves must be requested at the Welcome Desk and cannot be taken out of the library (through the security gates).
If you need a document that is on reserve, you can search for it in the Course Reserves. In the dropdown menu you can search by course name, by instructor name, by course code (prefix), and by department. When you have found the book you are looking for, give its call number at the person on duty at the Desk.
Reserve materials can be checked out for 3 hours. You can renew the loan for 3 extra hours, if no one else has requested the same item in the meantime.
Other collections may have different borrowing policies. For more information, see the Circulation policy.
Loan Renewal
The loan on any regularly circulating book can be renewed at the Welcome Desk or online by signing into the My Account section in JCU Discovery. After logging in, select My Account in the User Links dropdown menu in order to see all the books checked out under your name, and select the Renew button corresponding to the item you wish to renew.
Overdue books must be taken to the Welcome Desk for renewal.
Items will be renewed as follows:
| Type | Duration |
|---|---|
| Books in the Main Collection and the Loeb Collection | 14 days |
| Reserve Books | 3 hours in the library only |
| Videos and DVDs (non circulating collection) | 3 hours in the library only |
| DVDs (circulating collection) | 7 days |
Overdues
All patrons are e-mailed a reminder notice before items become overdue. After the due date, other reminders are sent until the issue is taken care of. Further loans are not allowed until there are overdue items on a patron's account.
If an overdue notice for a book that has already been returned is received, the patron should contact the Library Staff in order to fix the issue.
Fines
Any accrued fee can be seen on My Account under the Charges tab, and the fine will continue to increase until the items are returned to the Welcome Desk.
- Books: €0.50 per day overdue to a maximum of €25.00.
- Reserve materials: €3.00 per hour overdue to a maximum of €25.00.
- Objects: €0.50 per hour overdue to a maximum of €25.00.
- Laptops: €3.00 fine per hour overdue to a maximum of €24.00. In addition, unauthorized overnight loans will generate a fine of €25.00 per night to a maximum of €100.00. The replacement fee for lost laptops is €400.00.
Items should never be left unattended at the desk: it is the patron's responsibility to verify that the items returned are properly checked in.
Requests and Holds
If a book from the Main Collection is already checked out to another patron, a request on the item can be placed for it through the online catalog. If more than two borrowers request the same book, the library system will automatically shorten the loan period, which will never be less than 7 days anyway. Library users will receive an e-mail notification with the new date.
As soon as the book is returned it is placed on hold for 5 days for the person that requested it, who will be notified via e-mail. Pick-up is at the Welcome Desk.
Books on hold that remain unclaimed for more than 5 days will be reshelved, and the hold will be cancelled.
Items checked out can be recalled by the Library Staff if necessary. When a recall is placed, the regular loan will be shortened to 7 days, plus 7 other days to return the item. If the item is not returned on time, the student will be charged a €3.00 fine per day.
Lost Books
If a patron fails to return a book, it will be considered lost and the student will have to pay a €50.00 replacement fee.
If a book is lost, patrons must notify the Library Staff as soon as possible.
Interlibrary Loans
All patrons can request books and articles that are not owned by the Frohring Library by using the Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery Services.
More information about the service is available on the Interlibrary Loan page.