ID Cards

You must present a current school ID card in order to check out or renew books. There are no exceptions.

If your card is lost or stolen, be sure to let us know immediately. You will be held responsible for any items checked out on your card if you do not inform us that it is missing.

Any time you obtain a new or replacement ID card, you must activate it for library use in person at the library's main circulation desk.

Expiration Dates

Adjunct faculty only have library privileges during semesters that they are teaching classes.

Faculty at Consortium schools MUST have a current validation sticker or their records will be considered to have expired.

Additional Borrowers

Faculty and administrators may designate one or more "Additional Borrowers" to check out materials on their behalf. Additional borrowers must have borrowing privileges of their own, and must be in good standing with the library. Responsibility for materials loaned through Additional borrowers rests with the faculty member. If you intend to send your student assistant to check out books or media for you, you must first designate them as your Additional Borrower. To do this, complete the authorization form and turn it in at the Full Service line at the Circulation desk. You may also fax the completed form to Circulation (212-995-4829).

Loan Periods

The due date will be stamped in each book at the time of checkout. Media loans will be accompanied by a printed receipt with the due date and time clearly stamped. Note that because due dates may be changed by remote renewal or when an item is recalled (see below), the stamp will not always reflect the actual due date. To check the due date of any item checked out to you, you may view your library record online (instructions on viewing your record and renewing books online). You may also request a printout of your record from the Full Service line at the Circulation desk when you visit the library.

General Collection refers to circulating books from the stacks. Circulating books are located on floors 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, and 10. Non-circulating books and bounds journals, also found on these floors, may not ordinarily be checked out.

Special Loans refer to non-circulating Reference books or media items that have been approved for short- term checkout by a librarian in the appropriate reference center: General & Humanities (1st floor); Avery Fisher Center for Music & Media (2nd floor); Business & Government Documents (6th floor); or Science (9th floor). The loan period is set by the librarian, and is usually overnight or shorter. For current media loan periods see http://library.nyu.edu/afc/faculty.html

Interlibrary Loans may be checked out until the due date set by the Interlibrary Loan department.

Journals Loans: Bound journals may be checked out for one week.

Leisure Collection refers to the current titles in fiction and non-fiction for recreational reading, shelved on Lower Level 2.

Renewals

Renewal guidelines:

• Books from the General Collection may be renewed remotely, or at Circulation.
• Special loans may not usually be renewed. To request a renewal, bring the Special Loan item to the appropriate reference department.
• Journal loans and books from the Leisure collection may not be renewed.
• To request an interlibrary loan, log in to the Interlibrary Loan system.

Books from the General Collection may be renewed in person at Circulation (to renew in person, you must bring the books to the Circulation desk), or remotely on the web. Books may be renewed up to 200 times as long as they have not been requested by other users or for course reserve. You might not be aware that a Hold has been placed on an item until the time you try to renew it.

Holds and Recalls

If you need a book that is not currently available, you may request that a Recall be placed on the book. The user who has the book will be sent a notice alerting them that the book has been requested. When the book is returned, we will notify you by email and hold the book for 14 days. Requests for recalls may be placed at the Express line at the Circulation desk, or directly through BobCat, For instructions on placing recalls please see http://library.nyu.edu/services/recall.html 

If you request a recall on a book that is not already due within 14 days, the book will become due in 14 days. If the book is already due back within 14 days, than the due date will not change. The notice sent to the patron will specify the new due date.

Note that items that have been recalled from you must be returned by the due date specified in the recall notice, regardless of the original due date or the due date stamped in the book. Recalled books which become overdue accrue fines at the rate of $1/day and block your record so that you cannot check out or renew any books until the recalled items are returned.  Books that are already overdue when recalled will accure charges retroactive to the orginal due date. 

Also keep in mind that you are responsible for responding to recall notices even if you are out of town or otherwise indisposed at the time that the notice is sent, or when the book becomes due. Books may be recalled between semesters and over the summer; this often occurs when a book is required for course reserve.

All notices are sent to the address we have on file for you, as provided by your Human Resources Department. All emails will be sent to your NYU Home email account. For forwarding your email to another account, please see:http:www.nyu.edu/its/email/configure/nyuhome/

Remember that all books are subject to recall at any time.

Returns

• All books borrowed from Bobst Library must be returned to Bobst on or before the due date.
• Interlibrary Loans and Special Loans must be handed directly to a Circulation assistant; they may not be returned to a book return bin.
• Other books may be placed in a book return bin or handed directly to a Circulation assistant. Books that have not been returned in one of these manners are not considered to have been returned.
• You are responsible for returning your library books by the due date even if you are out of town or otherwise indisposed on that date.

Only items belonging to Bobst Library may be checked out, renewed, and returned at Bobst. Items belonging to other libraries (including Consortium libraries) must be returned to the owning library.

Overdue Fines

The following chart lists the most common types of charges, their rates, and their maximums. For items that are at least 50 days overdue (20 days for recalls), please see the Lost Book Fines and Fees section below.

^* There is a grace period on Leisure books until the 7th day overdue.

Other charges may be assessed that do not appear on the above table. Please contact the Circulation Department if you have any questions.

Lost Books Fines and Fees

When a book becomes 50 days overdue (or a recalled book becomes 20 days overdue) it is considered lost and your account will be assessed $75.00 replacement charge, a $30.00 processing fee, and any overdue  fines. If the book is subsequently returned you will be responsible only for the processing fee and any late fines.

Interlibrary loans, special loans, audio-visual material and other items that are not standard books from the open stacks may have different maximum fines or accrue fines at different rates. Please inquire at the Circulation Department if you have any questions.

Preservation of Library Books

Books must be returned to the library in the same condition in which they were borrowed.

Charges will be assessed for books returned damaged. Books that are damaged beyond repair will result in replacement costs and processing charges being assessed.

Please avoid the following conditions and common sources of damage to library books:

• Moisture (including rain and spilled beverages)
• Using inappropriate materials as bookmarks, for example:
  • Post-it notes; the adhesive substance used on post-it notes is acidic, can rip pages, and can lift text
  • Paperclips; leave impressions and can rip pages
  • Pencils (or anything thicker than a piece of paper); wedged between pages causes damage to the spine
  • Rubberbands; leave damaging residue on pages and should not be used to hold pages back
  • Folding the corners of pages (dog-earing)
• Animals
• Stuffing books into an overfull bookdrop (if they don't go into the chute easily, return them at the Circulation desk)

Charges may be assessed at the discretion of the Library if any of the above conditions occur, even if accidental or inadvertent.

Please do not ever write in library books, even in pencil. Writing in books will result in charges being assessed.

If you come upon any library materials you believe need repairing, please hand them to a Circulation Department staff member. Everyone's cooperation is required in order to keep the collection in the best condition possible.

Overdues, Bills, and Notices

A reminder notice will be e-mailed to you 3 days before your books are overdue. An overdue notice will e-mailed one day after your books are due. Notices are e-mailed to your official NYU e-mail address. If you prefer and alternate e-mail address, be sure to forward your mail to the desired account. Books are due on the date indicated in BobCat (instructions on viewing your record and renewing books on the web). The library sends this notice as a courtesy reminder that your books are overdue; books are due on the date indicated whether or not you receive an overdue notice.

A bill will be sent to you if your account totals $6.00 or more in unpaid fines and fees. You will be billed for the replacement cost, plus processing fees and fines, of any books which are more than 50 days overdue (or for recalled books which are more than 20 days overdue). Bills should be paid within 30 days.

Notices are sent to the address provided to us by information downloaded from the Human Resources department. Be sure to inform us and Human Resources if your address changes, or you might not receive any notices.

Blocks

Your account will be blocked, so that you cannot check out or renew any items, for any of the following reasons:

• You owe a total of $5.00 or more in fines and fees.
• Any book on your record is more than 50 days overdue.
• Any book which has been recalled from you and has not been returned by the new due date.
• Any mail we send you is returned by the post office.
• Any e-mail we send to you that is bounced back to us.

Paying Fines and Fees

Fines must be paid at the library to which they are owed. Fines owed to Bobst Library may be paid at the north end of the Circulation desk. Please note that any blocks on your record due to fines (as explained above) are based on the total fine on your record. This means that you might have to make payments at more than one library in order to return your account to good standing. You may pay with cash, personal checks, credit cards, and campus cash.

Confidentiality of Library Records

As required by New York State law, library records pertaining to patrons are strictly confidential. This includes personal information such as addresses, circulation information such as the books you have checked out, building use and reference information. In order to obtain information regarding your library record, you must present your school ID or library-issued borrowing card. In order to obtain information over the phone, you must supply your University ID number.

Requesting Searches

Quick Searches

If you are unable to locate a book which is indicated as "Available" in BobCat (or a journal which is indicated as "Available" or "Bound"), fill out a Quick Search card (available in the stacks on each floor and at the Reference and Circulation desks) and hand it in at the Full Service line at Circulation. We will attempt to locate the book or journal within 24 hours, and notify you via email or phone if the item is found. Note that placing a search will not prevent another user from checking a book out, but will limit the length of time they may use the book and will ensure that you are notified when it is returned (see Holds and Recalls above for more information).

Claims Returned

We will also perform a search in the library if there is a book showing up on your account after you believe you have returned it. You may request a "Claims Returned" search at the Full Service line at Circulation. If the item does not turn up immediately, several subsequent searches will be conducted. We will inform you whether or not the item has been found after the final search.

Other Libraries

NYU administrators and faculty in degree-granting programs may use the following libraries in addition to Bobst:

• Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences Library at 251Mercer St.
  • Access policies
• NYU Dental Library at 345 E 24th St.
  • Access policies
• NYU Law Library at 40 Washington Square South
  • Access policies
• NYU Medical Library at 550 1st Ave.
  • Access policies
• NYU Real Estate Institute Library at 11 W 42nd St.
• Ettinghausen Library of Middle East Reference at 50 Washington Sq. So.
• Institute of Fine Arts Library at 1 E 78th St. (by appointment)
  • Access policies
• Bern Dibner Library of the Polytechnic at Five Metrotech Center, Brooklyn N.Y. 
• New School University:
  • Fogelman Library at 65 5th Ave. (at 13th St.)
  • Gimbel Library at Parsons School of Design, 2 W 13th St. (at 5th Ave.)
  • Scherman Music Library, 150 W 85th St.
    • NSU access policies
• Cooper Union library at 7 E 7th St.
  • Access policies
• New York School of Interior Design library at 170 E 70th St.
• New-York Historical Society library at 170 Central Park West

Borrowers who are not teaching in degree-granting programs at NYU who need to gain access to one of the libraries listed above should inquire at a Reference center. A pass may be issued if the needed material is not available at a public library.

The policies summarized on this page apply only to Bobst Library. For information regarding policies at other libraries, please inquire at those locations. Note that not all libraries listed above have circulating collections and not all allow general access to their collections.