Borrowing Policy

UMass Dartmouth students, faculty, and staff

All faculty, staff and currently registered students of UMass Dartmouth (UMassD) are eligible upon presentation of a valid UMass Pass.  They are not eligible for Special Borrowers’ cards.

Non-registered students finishing an incomplete are also eligible. They must provide a written or e-mailed approval of the professor under whose guidance the work is being done, along with the presentation of a valid UMass Pass.

Registered students, faculty, and staff of member institutions of cooperating consortia

• BLC (Boston Library Consortium) upon presentation of a current BLC card. 
• SACHEM (Southeastern Association for Cooperating Higher Education Institutions in Massachusetts)
• SMCL (Southeastern Massachusetts Cooperating Libraries)
• WILL (Walk-In InterLibrary Loan — includes all MA state colleges and universities.)

Patrons must present current ID cards from their respective institutions or a picture ID, such as a driver’s license, and a current printed class schedule. If someone wishes to borrow library materials but is not on the list, he/she may apply for a Special Borrower’s card as a Massachusetts resident.

Library associates

Individuals from out of state or Massachusetts residents who need to borrow more than the usual limit of 5 books may join the UMassD Library Associates for an annual fee of $20.00. This entitles the patron to borrow up to 20 items.

Special borrowers

Residents of Massachusetts 18 years and older may obtain a Special Borrower’s card with proper identification, such as a driver’s license or another photo ID and a copy of a bill with their name and address on it.  There are no annual fees for Massachusetts residents.

High school students in grades 9-12 who are residents of Massachusetts may also obtain a Special Borrowers’ card with proper identification as listed above.  However, a parent or guardian must be present at time of application and must sign the application accepting responsibility for all overdue fines and lost item fees.

All Special Borrowers must be individuals, not organizations or groups, and are required to provide a valid email address upon applying for a library card. 

There is a $2 replacement fee for lost library cards for all Special Borrowers.

ALL library patrons, no matter what their status, must not have any overdue library materials/equipment in order to have borrowing privileges.

• Annual reports
• Audio books
• Books from the general collection and compact storage (CS001 and CS007)
• New books on display
• CD-ROM’s
• Compact discs
• DVD’s
• Government documents
• Maps
• Slide sets
• Kits
• UMass Dartmouth theses (copy 2 only)
• Videotapes

Audio-visual and computer equipment is also available to be borrowed. See our page on technology lending for more information.

• UMass Dartmouth community: All UMassD undergraduate students may borrow up to thirty (30) items. Faculty and staff and graduate students may borrow up to fifty (50) items.
• Other colleges and universities: Any student from one of the member institutions may borrow up to ten (10) items.
• UMass Dartmouth Alumni: Alumni from the UMass Dartmouth Alumni Association have a limit of twenty (20) items.
• Claire T. Carney Library Associates: Members of the Library Associates have a limit of twenty (20) items.
• Massachusetts Residents/Special Programs: All residents of Massachusetts and any participants in UMass Dartmouth special programs have a limit of five (5) items.

• Students/Claire T. Carney Library Associates/Special Borrowers/Alumni: Books should be returned as soon as they are no longer needed and are due thirty days after they are borrowed. Participants in special programs are limited by the length of the program.
• Faculty/Staff/Graduate Students: Books should be returned as soon as they are no longer needed and are due 200 days from the day they are borrowed.  All loans are subject to recall.
• For AV equipment and laptops, see our technology lending page.

Books and other library materials may be renewed one time either in person or by telephone, as long as no one else has requested them and the items are not overdue. At the end of the semester, students must be registered for the coming term to renew library materials.

Reserve material, AV equipment and laptops may not be renewed.

Materials may be recalled for use by UMassD students, faculty and staff any time after the first fourteen days of the loan. All library materials needed for Reserve can be recalled at any time. After a recall notice has been sent, all patrons have one week to return the material. If a library borrower does not return the item within ten days, borrowing privileges will be suspended.

All library material, equipment and laptops have a due date stamped on the due date slip attached to the item, notifying the borrower when the item is due.  When materials become overdue, borrowing privileges are suspended.  Non-receipt of an overdue notice does not remove responsibility for returning library materials.  Both Courtesy notices and Borrowing Activity letters are sent out via email. 

• Courtesy notices are sent one day before the due date.
• Borrowing Activity Letters are sent out via email on the 2nd of each month.  Included in the Borrowing Activity Letters are current loans with due dates and overdue loans with due dates.

If any library equipment is damaged or is lost, the patron is billed for the replacement cost of the material

Faculty, staff, students and all Special Borrowers are responsible for paying replacement fees.

For AV equipment and laptop replacement costs, see our technology lending page.