Loan Periods & Policies

Regular Materials

After you’ve collected the items that you would like to check out from the Library shelves, bring them to the circulation desk at the entrance to the Library. Present your Library card (student ID) to the staff member on duty (feel free to ring the bell if no one is at the desk), and then we’ll take it from there. Here’s how long materials check out, and what we charge if they’re turned in late.

Books, Audio, Video

  • 4-week loan

  • 2 automatic renewals (4 weeks each)

  • 5¢ per day overdue for the first 2 weeks and then 25¢ per day thereafter

  • An additional 25¢ per day overdue charge applies to items that have been recalled

MOBIUS Books

  • 4-week loan

  • 2 manual renewals (4 weeks each)

  • No overdue charges (but note the large replacement and billing fees below)

Limits

The total number of items you can check out depends on your relation to the Seminary. The Library does not have separate limits for the various material types (e.g., books, videos, CDs, etc.).

  • Covenant Seminary Students: 25

  • Covenant Seminary Faculty/Staff: 100

  • Covenant Seminary Alumni: 20

  • PCA/EPC/OPC Ministers: 15

  • PCA/EPC/OPC Church Members: 15

  • General Community Members: 15

Billing for Replacement

If an item has been overdue for a significant period of time, the Library considers it lost and a bill for replacement and processing will be sent.

  • The default replacement charge is $100 per item; however, this charge will be manually adjusted to reflect the actual replacement cost after the Library staff have had time to determine current market value.

  • The processing fee is $10 per item from Covenant, and $25 per item from MOBIUS.

If the item is returned within a reasonable time after it has been billed, the replacement charge will be removed. In addition, the fee may be reduced:

  • For MOBIUS materials, the $25 fee will remain per MOBIUS policy.

  • For reserve materials, the $10 fee will remain and will serve as the total overdue fine.

  • For all other Covenant materials, the fee will be reduced to $5 and will serve as the total overdue fine.

Reserve Materials

Course reserves comprise many of the required and optional readings for the current semester’s classes—often from the books and other resources that students are not required to buy. In order to ensure that every student in a class has access to the necessary materials, items on course reserve only check out for short periods of time—a couple hours, overnight, or perhaps a few days.

Items that are on reserve are marked as such in the Library catalog. The catalog also contains a list of items on reserve for each class. You can search for reserve lists by class name or number, or by the name of your instructor.

The course reserves are shelved behind the circulation desk at the entrance to the Library. A Library staff member will be glad to help you get the materials that you need. Make sure that you bring your student ID when coming to the Library to use reserve materials. Even if you don’t plan on leaving the Library, items on reserve cannot leave the circulation desk without being checked out.

Hourly Reserves

  • Due back 1, 2, or 3 hours after being checked out

  • 1 renewal for an additional hour

  • 50¢ per hour (or part thereof) overdue

  • If the loan period extends past the Library’s closing time, the loan is automatically extended to 1 hour after the Library opens the next day

Overnight Reserve

  • Due back 1 hour after the Library opens the next day

  • No renewals

  • 50¢ per hour (or part thereof) overdue

Multi-day Reserves

  • Due back 2 days, 3 days, or 1 week after being checked out

  • No renewals

  • $2 per day overdue

 

Limits

Please note that you may only check out up to 2 hourly reserve items and 2 overnight/multi-day reserve items at a time.

Other Materials

Small Lockers

4-week loan, no renewals, 5¢ per day overdue for the first 2 weeks and then 25¢ per day thereafter.

Large (Rental) Lockers

Rented on a semester-by-semester basis. Rental fees are prorated according to time left in the semester. See Library staff for full details and current prices.

Digital Audio/Voice Recorders

Loaned for free as a 3-day reserve (see details above).

Collection Development Policy

The Collection Development Policy establishes the philosophies that shape the collections of the Buswell Library through the selection, acquisition, evaluation, and deaccession of library materials. This policy also indicates objectives for the Library’s collections and describes the means of carrying out collection development activities towards those objectives.