Borrowing, Renewing & Returning Books
Borrowing items
All University staff and students can borrow from the Library using their ID card.
ID cards are not transferable and should only be used by the person who owns the card.
How do I borrow?
Take your books to the Self-service machines and follow the instructions on the screen to issue them. Please remember that you’re responsible for all items borrowed on your account.
How long can I borrow items for?
We have a few different loan periods for our items. Some are reference only - this means they can only be used inside the Library. Our loan periods are listed below.
- Main stock items - 2 weeks
- School Experience items – 6 weeks
- Journals – Reference (can only be used inside the Library)
How many items may I borrow?
Students and staff can borrow 30 items in total.
Automatic renewals
Nearly all the items you borrow will automatically renew up to a total of 18 times. This means you only have to return an item if someone else has reserved it or if it has reached its maximum number of renewals.
You will receive automatic emails from the Library (no-reply@oclc.org) to your university email account, letting you know what has been renewed. Keep an eye on your Junk or Other folder, as sometimes they end up in there.
We no longer charge Library fines for overdue books. Instead, your borrower permissions will be "blocked". When an item is due, you have a 7-day grace period to return it and your account will not be affected. However, if you do not return the item by the end of the 7-day period, we'll stop your borrowing rights until you bring the item(s) back.
Self-renewals
Although many items will renew automatically, you can also renew items yourself online through your Library account, which you can get to through the Library homepage. To learn more about accessing your account and renewing items manually, please see our How to Renew Your Items FAQ.
If you experience any difficulties in returning items, please contact us.
Where do I return items?
Returning items at the Library is easy. All you need to do is gently push one item at a time through our returns machines, and they will be removed from your account. Inter library loans can also returned through the returns machines, if you have any queries please speak to staff at our Welcome Desk.
There's also a book returns bin in the Foyer, next to the Welcome Desk.
How do I reserve an item?
You can reserve an item if there are no copies in the Library that can be borrowed. To reserve and pick up an item:
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Find the item on the UR Library Search and place a reservation by selecting the ‘Reserve’ button, located under 'Access Options' to the right of the item's record.
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When the item is returned, you’ll receive an email to your university email account from the Library saying it is ready for you to collect.
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You can pick up your item from the self-service Reservation Shelf on the upper ground floor of the Library, near the Welcome Desk. To find your reservation, check the reservation slip for your name. You can then borrow the item using the self-service machines.
Library Fees
We don't add fines to most overdue items, instead your account will be temporarily blocked so you won't be able to borrow anything else until you can return the item(s) or a replacement charge is paid.
We have also introduced a standard replacement fee of £30.00 for most items. To pay your Library fees, log into your Library Account through the Library homepage and select the 'Fees' tab.
Computers & Laptops
In the Library we have over 200 computers available for use.
The computers and laptops share identical standard University software. The PCs on our 1st Floor School Experience area have additional specialist software. You can find out what software we have on our computers by looking at these lists (all pdf documents):
As well as our standard PCs, around the central stairs on each floor we have:
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Two quick access PC’s – these are great if you have something quick to do
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Two catalogue PCs – these are set up for catalogue use only, so you can search our catalogue without logging on to a computer
Many of our study rooms also have computers with large screens, which are great for group work.
Students can borrow our 4-hour borrowable laptops via the LapSafe machine on the ground floor. You can borrow one laptop at a time and as soon as you've returned one, you can take out another.
For help borrowing a laptop, please speak to Library staff or view our how to borrow a four-hour laptop and our how to return a four-hour laptop infographics.
For security and privacy, all your work will be deleted from the laptop once you close the lid or the laptop runs out of battery. Make sure you save your work regularly using a USB or cloud storage - we recommend using your University OneDrive account.
If you are a student or staff member and require a laptop on a more long-term basis, please contact AVR to log a request. More information can also be found on the AVR Moodle Page.
Library Collections
Making the most of Library Collections
The Library Collections are maintained and developed to support the learning, teaching and research needs of students and staff at the University to provide you with FREE access to high-quality, specialist resources, so you don't have to pay!
In the Library you will find print books and some print journals on the shelves, however the majority of the library's collections are available online and can be accessed anytime, any place and from any device.
Where to look:
- Resource Lists - lists all the assigned essential readings for your taught modules
- UR Library Search - a good place to begin searching for resources such books and journals articles
- Library Subject Guide - where you can find all the specialist databases and other resources for your subject area
- A-Z eJournal List and A-Z Database List - look up a specific journal or database
- Video, image or audio - find high-quality, copyright cleared audio and visual resources to enhance your understanding and research
- Study Skills - brush up your academic and research skills, e.g. creating a literature review
- Employability resources - books to help with interview skills, improving your CV, preparing for a presentation, etc.
- Suggest a Book - for your research or to increase the diversity of the Library's collections
- Featured Collections curated list to support events and extra curricula themes, such as Wellbeing, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion, LTBTQ+, Women's History Month, Black Lives Matter, Leisure Reading, etc.
- Spotlight on Library Resources and Snapshots from the Archives - blog posts from the Library and Archives Teams
The Library also holds extensive and important Archives and Special Collections that contain rare books, original documents and artefacts to support various teaching and research fields, especially Dance, Education and Children’s Literature.
Donations Policy
We appreciate that staff, students or external stakeholders may sometimes wish to donate books, periodicals or other materials to the Library. Whilst we understand the motivations behind this, it is usually not cost-effective for us to accept donations unless they very significantly enhance our collections to support the teaching, learning and research needs of the University.