Lightner Library Circulation Policy: Student, Faculty, & Staff Borrowing

Instructors may place course materials on reserve for their students to use.  Because it is critical that these items be available to all members of the class for the effective completion of assignments, students should be considerate of classmates by returning Reserve material on time.  Students who fail to return Reserve materials on time will have their library account blocked so they cannot check out or renew any books until the Reserve item has been returned. 

• Only one reserve item may be taken at a time 
• Reserve materials circulate for 2 hours, with the exception that some Reserve materials may circulate for longer periods of time
• Some Reserve materials are designated as “In Library Use Only.”
• Reserve materials may be borrowed overnight 30 minutes before closing but must be returned within an hour of the library’s reopening the next day.  

Keuka students and employees may place holds on items that are checked out.  To place a hold on an item that is currently in circulation, please come to or call the circulation desk at (315) 279-5632.  Please be sure to indicate if there is a date after which you no longer need the requested item.  The user will be notified via Keuka email when the item has been returned.  A user can pick up material at the circulation desk.   

Any library item that has been in circulation for 2 weeks may be recalled for loan to another patron.  If another library user requests an item that is in circulation, a recall notice will be sent to the borrower holding the item.  The borrower has 3 days following issuance of the recall notice to return the item. The original borrower’s due date may be changed to allow 14 days use from the original check-out date plus 3 days after the recall notice’s issuance.  Items recalled for placement for a faculty member or on Reserve must be returned immediately. Failure to return an item that has been recalled will result in a user’s account being blocked so he/she cannot check out or renew any books until the recalled item is returned.   

Overdue notices are issued as a courtesy to all library users.  It remains the responsibility of the borrower to return materials on time. Failure to receive overdue notices is not an excuse for failure to return overdue materials.

Notices will be sent to borrowers reminding them that they have an overdue item(s) that must be returned.  All notices will, whenever possible, be sent to the borrower’s Keuka email address.  Notices will go out as follows:

• An “Almost Due” reminder will be sent 3 days prior to the due date
• First overdue notice issued at 7 days overdue
• Second overdue notice issued at 14 days overdue
• Third overdue notice – Warning issued at 21 days overdue:  Includes notice that the replacement cost(s) of the overdue item(s) plus a $25/item processing fee will be charged if the item(s) is/are not returned
• Billing Notice issued at 28 days overdue (final notice):  The bill details the missing item(s) and the total owed.  One copy of the student bill will be sent to the student’s Keuka College email account, and another copy of the bill will be forwarded to the Business Office where all charges will be placed on the student’s account.  Keuka College employees who fail to return materials or pay the replacement costs and processing charges for lost materials may be blocked from borrowing library materials until either the material is returned, or all charges are paid. 

Replacement Costs:  The amount billed for replacement will include the price of the item plus a $25 processing fee to cover the expenses incurred by the library in trying to recover and replace seriously overdue material.  If the replacement cost cannot be established, the borrower will be charged $35/item plus the $25/item processing fee.

Replacement costs will be forgiven upon return of the material.  However, the borrower will still be responsible for the $25 per item processing fee once charges are sent to the Business Office.  Replacement costs will be refunded if the borrower returns the material within six months.