Bierce Library Special Loans Policy

(revised June 29, 2005)

I. General guidelines for Special Loans

• All Full-time Faculty and Staff of Bierce Library may authorize special loans of materials based on the guidelines established within this policy.
• All loans are to be considered Local Use Only and are therefore limited to authorized users of University of Akron libraries. Borrowers must present a valid identification card.
• There are no renewals for special loans.
• Substantial fines and replacement costs will be imposed for special loans materials that are returned late, that are damaged or that are lost.
• For each special loan item that is returned late, a penalty of $10 per day may be imposed.
• For each special loan item that is not returned, a penalty equal to the replacement cost (at current market value) plus processing cost be imposed.
• All special loan materials are subject to recall.
• Any special loans that are requested outside the parameters of the Bierce Special Loans Policy must be negotiated with and approved by the Dean, the Associate Dean, or the Assistant Dean of University Libraries.

II. Reference Materials

Reference Materials do not normally circulate because they are required to conduct ongoing daily service routines of library personnel. Reference resources are the tools of librarians and their work. Extended absence from the shelf would interrupt the efficient execution of providing timely, correct, and appropriate information to faculty, students, library staff, and other library users.

Heavily used materials, such as directories, are never circulated.

Ready reference materials are never circulated.

In making a judgment about special loans of Reference Materials, library personnel should balance two objectives:

• Maintaining availability of material for the largest user needs generally based on whether there are classroom assignments that require a large number of users for the materials
• Affording reasonable usability of material for the individual patron

Usual considerations for lending Reference Materials

• Need to copy more than 20 pages of material
• Inadequacy of library copying facilities (color copying, enlargement)
• Lack of equivalent resources in the library's circulating or electronic collections
• Presentation for a class

The loan period is a maximum of three days for Reference Materials.

III. Uncataloged Map Materials

In making a judgment about special loans of Map Materials, library personnel should balance two objectives:

• Maintaining availability of material for the largest user needs generally based on whether there are classroom assignments that require a large number of users for the materials
• Affording reasonable usability of material for the individual patron

Usual considerations for lending Uncataloged Map Materials

• A need to reproduce the map on a large-scale printer
• A need for color reproduction
• Protracted study of the map for a project
• Presentation for class

Uncataloged maps may circulate for three days.

IV. Microform Periodicals

Microform periodicals normally do not circulate so that they are available for students to complete classroom assignments and for on-demand availability for graduate students and faculty for research purposes. For that reason, major newspapers, like the Akron Beacon Journal, are never circulated.

In making a judgment about special loans of Microform Materials, library personnel should balance two objectives:

• Maintaining availability of material for the largest user needs generally based on whether there are classroom assignments that require a large number of users for the materials
• Affording reasonable usability of material for the individual patron

Usual considerations for lending Microform Materials

• Inadequacy of library printing facilities at the time of the request (machines broken, etc). Switches for printers are at different places, so machines may actually work but customer doesn’t know it
• Protracted use of material for a project
• Presentation for a class

Microform periodicals may circulate for one day.

V. Government Document Materials

Many Government Documents have been designated as non-circulating or reference. These are: Reference Material, Indexes, Directories, Statistical Documents, Census Material, Government Periodicals, Heavily used documents, documents that are irreplaceable, expensive, or of special historical value, bibliographies, legal documents or regulations, government newspapers, and dictionaries. These documents do not circulate.

In making a judgment about special loans of other Government Documents, library personnel should balance two objectives:

• Maintaining availability of material for the largest user needs generally based on whether there are classroom assignments that require a large number of users for the materials
• Affording reasonable usability of material for the individual patron

Usual considerations for lending Government Documents

• Need to copy more than 20 pages of material
• Inadequacy of library copying facilities (color copying, enlargement)
• Lack of equivalent resources in the library’s circulating or electronic collections
• Presentation for a class

Government documents are available for special loans for a three day period.

VI. Print Periodicals

Print periodicals normally do not circulate so that they are available for students to complete classroom assignments and for on-demand availability for `research purposes.

In making a judgment about special loans of Print Periodicals, library personnel should balance two objectives:

• Maintaining availability of material for the largest user needs generally based on whether there are classroom assignments that require a large number of users for the materials
• Affording reasonable usability of material for the individual patron

Usual considerations for lending Print Periodicals

• Need to copy more than 20 pages of material
• Inadequacy of library copying facilities (color copying, enlargement)
• Lack of equivalent resources in the library’s circulating or electronic collections
• Presentation for a class

Print periodicals may circulate for one day.