Guides: Library: Library Services & Policies

Circulation

A valid Redeemer University College I.D. card (student, staff, faculty or alumni) or a community borrower's card is required to check out books. A community borrower's card is available for $25 per year from the circulation desk. (This fee is waived for local pastors.) Community patrons may borrow a maximum of twenty (20) items, alumni a maximum of thirty (30), students fifty (50), faculty and staff, fifty (50). Of these, a maximum of ten (10) may be CDs and five (5) may be DVDs. [The library is now closed. Students and faculty can borrow items through prearranged pickup. Request your items by email and pick them up from the front reception desk (Jane Haanstra) AFTER you receive an email saying they are ready. Visitors are not welcome on campus due to Covid-19 restrictions. This means that we cannot offer library privileges to community borrowers, alumni, former/retired faculty and staff.]

Due Dates

The loan period for books and CDs is three (3) weeks for students, alumni and community borrowers and four (4) months for faculty and staff. The loan period for DVDs is one week. Please respect the due date issued when you check out library materials. Outstanding fines will be charged to your account. Students' marks will be withheld until their accounts are settled. If an item has been overdue for more than one month, it will be considered a lost item and an invoice email will be sent out for the replacement charges. [All items can be returned via the book drop in the stairwell outside the library. Returned items will be quarantined until they are safe to handle. Check-ins will be back-dated to prevent overdue fines/notices during this quarantine period.]

Renewals

If library materials are neither overdue, nor requested/placed on hold by another borrower, they can be renewed up to the maximum number of allowed renewals:

Two (2) renewals are allowed per item for students, staff, faculty, or alumni.
One (1) renewal is allowed for community borrowers.

Go to your Borrower's Account to renew your own books online or to check how often they have been renewed. A few days before your library materials are due (after the final renewal), you will receive an email reminder. After this reminder, if the items become overdue, fines will accrue. You will not receive another notice until the items are one week overdue.

Recalls of Loans

Students are subject to recall from other students after 2 weeks for book loans. Faculty are subject to student recall after 2 weeks of book loans. Alumni are subject to student or faculty recall at any time. Community borrowers are subject to student and faculty recall at any time. If a book that you have loaned is recalled, it must be returned within 48 hours (or sooner, if possible). After 48 hours, late fees will be charged (see under Fines below). You may request to have it returned to you when the person recalling the book has finished with it.

Fines

The fine charged for the late return of books, CDs and videos is 50 cents per item, per day, with a maximum of $10 per item. The fine for overdue reserve loans (including Study Room keys) is 5 cents per minute for 2 or 3 hour reserves and $1 per day for longer reserve loan periods. Recalls: $1 per day. Replacement charges: current cost of item (including tax, shipping cost etc.). An unpaid balance of $20 or more will result in the loss of borrowing privileges. If an item has been overdue for more than one month, it will be considered a lost item and an invoice will be sent for the replacement charges. All fines can be paid online.

Notices

It is the responsibility of library users to keep the library informed of their contact information (especially email address). The non-receipt of library notices does not relieve the borrower from fines or suspension of privileges. Errors or misunderstanding must be reported promptly in order to be considered.

Inter-library Loans

There is no charge for books requested via ILL if we can get them from a Canadian library. Requested articles are $3. Retired faculty are allowed 5 free ILL requests and will be charged the full cost for any further requests. For more information, please see Inter-library Loans.

Course Reserves

[Due to covid-19 restrictions, Library Course Reserves have been eliminated. All assigned readings will be made available electronically by faculty through their Discovery course pages.] Some books and articles on course reading lists are kept on reserve behind the Circulation Desk. They must be requested by course number and title from the library assistant on duty. Only students may borrow reserve items; a valid Redeemer University College student I.D. card is required. Because of high demand for these items, the loan period is shorter (e.g. 2 hours or 24 hours). A maximum of 3 items may be borrowed at a time (no renewals, no holds, no recalls).

Overdue notices: No overdue notices will be issued for reserves because of the short borrowing period.
Fines for overdue 2 and 3 hour reserves: 5 cents/minute
Fines for overdue 1 day, 3 day, 1 week reserves: $1/day

Reference Services

Reference services are available Monday to Friday, during daytime business hours. Please do not hesitate to approach a librarian with any of your research questions and problems.

Non-Circulating Items

Periodicals
Archival Materials
Reference Books

Study Space & Small Group Study Rooms

Desks for studying are available on a "first come first serve" basis. Users are asked to keep noise to a minimum in all study areas. Four group study rooms are available for group work and must be booked online. The rooms may be booked for a maximum of two hours per day. Study room keys are also subject to fines if overdue at the same rate as other 2-hour or 3-hour loans.Should the room not be booked at the end of the two-hour period, users may renew the booking for an additional time period but no longer than two additional hours. [When the library re-opens after lock down, in order to minimize the spread of the covid-19 virus through the exchange of keys, the group study rooms will remain unlocked. Please respect the online bookings of your fellow students.]

Audio-visual Equipment
Bookings for audio-visual equipment can be made through the I.T. Help Desk. Equipment must be used on campus.

Photocopiers

Students, faculty, staff and alumni can use their ID card to photocopy (4 cents per page) or anyone can photocopy using coins (10 cents per page). Please see the I.T. Help Desk for assistance with photocopying.

Laminating

A laminating machine is available to library users. Please consult library circulation desk staff at least 20 minutes prior to using the laminator because the machine takes that long to warm up. There is a charge of $2.00 per foot, rounded up to the nearest foot.

Printing & Scanning

Printing and scanning can be done in the library. The photocopy machines scan to PDF and JPG and can email these documents. Please see the I.T. Help Desk for assistance with printing or scanning.

Food and drink sometimes play a role in studying and learning. However, they can also damage library material, equipment and furnishings, attract rodents and insects, and disturb other library users. In order to protect library resources and facilities in an environment conducive to study, please abide by the following:

Only drinks with lids are allowed.

NO Hot or Cold Food: Why?

Food can be messy. Oils, sauces, etc. can damage library resources, floors and furniture.
Food produces garbage and mess.
Food will sometimes produce odours that disturb others.
A cafeteria atmosphere is not conducive to study and learning.

NO Garbage: Library users are responsible for picking up after themselves. If you have garbage, dispose of it in garbage bins outside the library. Why?

Garbage disturbs other library users
Garbage creates an atmosphere/odour that is not conducive to study and learning
Food debris may damage library property and may attract rodents and insects.

Enforcement: Library users in violation of the Library food and drink policy will be asked to either:

discard their food outside the library or
store it out of sight (eg. in a bag or knapsack) or
leave the library.

How can I get a library card, and how many books can I borrow?

How long can I keep books, movies, CDs, etc?

Can I renew my loans? How?

Will I have to pay a fine if I'm late returning my items?

Will I get any notice of overdue items?

How can I get help finding something?

Can I sign out journals? Reference books? Archives?

Can I book a study space for group work?

Is there a photocopier or printer that I can use?

Can I use the Laminator?

Do you have a printer or scanner I can use?

Can I borrow from McMaster? other libraries?

What is in the library collection?

Where can I find course reserves?

What's in the Reference Collection?

How can I find journal articles?

How can I find a book?

What is the TERC?

Some books and articles on course reading lists are kept on reserve behind the Circulation Desk. They must be requested by course number and title from the library assistant on duty. Only students may borrow reserve items; a valid Redeemer University College student I.D. card is required. Because of high demand for these items, the loan period is shorter (e.g. 2 hours or 24 hours). A maximum of 3 items may be borrowed at a time (no renewals, no holds, no recalls).

Overdue notices: No overdue notices will be issued because of the short duration of the borrowing period.
Fines for overdue 2 and 3 hour reserves: 5 cents/minute
Fines for overdue 1 day, 3 day, 1 week reserves: $1/day

You can see what's on reserve for a particular course by going to Course Reserves. When you are in the Library Catalogue (WorldCat), you will find a link to Course Reserves (little graduation cap). You can then search in a number of ways:

Then follow the links till you find the list for the relevant course.