Lost Book Policy

ALLEN MEMORIAL LIBRARY Circulation & Fine Policies Reviewed December 2007 Library Building Hours Monday – Thursday 7:45 a.m. – 11:00 p.m. Friday 7:45 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Sunday 5:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.
Saturday, summer & holiday hours may vary. Contact the Information Desk at 845-7277 or library@vcsu.edu for details.

The Library Building Allen Memorial Library is centrally located on campus between McFarland Hall and the Student Center. The library may be entered either from the north (front) doors or south doors. The south entrance is handicapped accessible, has automatic-open doors and an elevator located nearby. A book-return slot is located near the front doors on the north side of the building. Uniquely designed, the building houses the library collection on four floors of stacks allowing patron access, however, to only three levels. Several computer workstations and three printers provide online library catalog, printing, and Internet access. A multimedia workstation with scanner, color printer, microform reader and video/sound editing equipment is located in the Library Lobby as are current magazines, journals and hometown newspapers. Wireless access for notebook computers is available throughout the building. Users have access to study alcoves, meeting areas, a Reference/Quiet Room and—on 2nd floor—a classroom and student lounge/meeting room. This relatively new area is air-conditioned, has satellite TV and VCR/DVD players, as well as a microwave and vending machines. Comfortable seating has been placed throughout the building in natural light areas to provide students with an opportunity to relax and study, or use laptops and cell phones without disturbing others. On the lower level, a model K-12 library is primarily used by students planning to become educators or school library media specialists. It contains an assortment of textbooks and teaching aids as well as a collection of current & classic young adult and children’s books. The Valley City Area Teacher Center is also housed on the lower level of the library building and its resources are available for use by student, faculty, and staff. The Teacher Center phone number is: 1-701-845-7221. Food and drink are allowed in the library. Library users are asked to properly dispose of trash when leaving study areas. The Library Online Many of the library resources including eReserves for several courses are available online from any Internet connection at http://library.vcsu.edu/ Most subscription databases can be accessed remotely using the campus portal login and password. If you need assistance in using the online resources, you may contact a professional librarian between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Call 1-701-845-7277 or 845-7275 for assistance. Library Policies The Circulation Department handles local circulation of Allen Memorial Library monographs, cataloged serials, and journals. Users can request materials from over 60 other libraries in the state of North Dakota using ODIN ILL, and from other libraries across the country with which VCSU has a reciprocal interlibrary loan borrowing agreement. A wide range of special services and collections are available to our users. Library Patrons -Currently registered VCSU students, faculty, and staff. - Valley City State University Alumni and Faculty/Staff Emeritus -Student Teachers - Teacher Center members -Community members (annual fee applies) -Area K-12 students (annual fee applies) Circulating periods Regularly circulating material in the general collection may be borrowed according to the following schedule:

Material Type	Patron Category	Loan Period
Books in the regular collection	Students	4 weeks
	Student Teachers	16 weeks
	Faculty/Staff	16 weeks
	Teacher Center	8 weeks
	Alumni/Emeritus	4 weeks
	Community/K-12	4 weeks
Periodicals	All	Bound volumes and back issues: 3 days
Periodicals	All	Current Issue: Overnight, due at noon the following day
Reference Room Materials	All	Overnight & due at noon the following day
Reserve Materials	VCSU patrons only	2 hour, overnight or 3-day depending on material and instructor’s request. Overnight reserve items are due at 9:00 am the following day.
Video, sound recordings and other media	Students, Community/K-12, Alumni/Emeritus	Music CDs: Overnight, due at noon the following day DVDs, VHS tapes and other AV materials: 4 weeks
Video, sound recordings and other media	Student Teachers, Faculty, Staff	All AV materials: 16 weeks

Renewing items
The VCSU Information Desk assists patrons with on-site, telephone or electronic requests for renewals, holds, recalls or item retrieval from any VCSU collection. One of the quickest ways to renew materials is through the My Account feature in the Aleph Library Catalog at http://library.vcsu.edu/ Log into your personal library account by using your VCSU ID number or library barcode number and your lastname as the password. Returning items
Users are responsible for returning borrowed items. Most items may be returned in external/internal book-return slots, however fragile materials such as compact disks (CDs) should NOT be placed in book-slots; damage may result. Patrons are responsible for returning materials in satisfactory condition. Failure to do so may result in replacement charges. Users who receive overdue notices for items already returned should report the problem immediately to the Information Desk. This will prompt a search process within the library and a report back to the patron.


	Overdue fines
Material Type		Policy
Regularly Circulating Monographs, Government Documents & other 4-week loan items		Overdue fines are not assessed for regularly circulating monographs or documents unless they have been recalled. Books that have not been returned or renewed within 39 days of the due date are declared lost and billed accordingly. Serials (journals, periodicals, magazines, etc.), reserve items, and audio-visual materials have overdue fines and are declared lost sooner. The library sends overdue notices as a courtesy to users. Users are responsible for renewing and/or returning items by the due date, even if notices could not be delivered.
Interlibrary Loan material		Overdue materials from another library are subject to the fine policy of that library. For additional information, check with the circulation desk. Renewals for ODIN system interlibrary loans can be requested within the My Account feature of the Aleph system.
Overnight Materials		-Reference items, current issues of magazines & journals and other overnight items are fined at $1.00 per day 3-Day items (bound periodicals, etc.) are fined at 50¢ per day
Reserve Materials(VCSU patrons only)		-Reference items, current issues of magazines & journals and other overnight items are fined at $1.00 per day *-2 hour and overnight RESERVE items are fined at $1.00 per hour overdue* 3-Day items (bound periodicals, etc.) are fined at 50¢ per day

Lost book charges
Monographs/Documents
Charges are assessed when items are lost or not returned or renewed in a timely fashion. Charges vary. For regularly circulating monographs and for other four-week checkout items from the charge is the cost of the item plus a $10 non-refundable handling fee. The handling fee assists in recovering the costs of staff time spent searching, processing billing and re-stocking. Journalsand Reserve Items
Unreturned journals 5 or more days overdue are declared lost. Charges vary and include replacement cost, $10 non-refundable handling fee, and applicable overdue charges. Reserve items are declared lost 3 days after the due date. Charges include the lost book charge, $10 non-refundable handling fee and $20 maximum overdue fine. Payment of charges
Payment of fines overdue fines is handled at the Allen Memorial Library Circulation Desk. Bills for lost items must be settled at the VCSU Business Office. If a transaction involves the return of a lost book, the payment of fines/fees must be made at the library Circulation Desk. Failure to pay library charges may result in loss of borrowing privileges and/or a hold placed on the patron’s account with the university. If a billed lost item is returned, a $10 non-refundable processing fee is still charged. Returned lost items will be credited until a replacement item has been purchased—usually about 3 months from the initial bill-for-lost. See Lost Book information below. Replacement option for lost/damaged materials
With prior approval from the Director, VCSU Library material billed as lost or damaged may be replaced with an exact duplicate. As different editions or titles with comparable content may be acceptable, alternative replacements must be discussed with the Director. See Lost Book information below.

Lost Books

This section explains what you should do when you think you have lost a Valley City State University item which is out on loan to you.

If a book you have on loan becomes more than 39 days overdue, it is automatically deemed lost and you are charged a non-refundable fee of $10 plus the cost of the item. The information below still applies to this situation, however there is no need to report the lost book to library staff as it has automatically been deemed lost. Your VCSU account at the Business Office will be notified of your lost book bill.

Please note: the Library may later adjust an automatically generated lost book fee, depending upon the value of the item lost.

What to do if you have lost a book

Firstly make sure it is definitely lost. We suggest that you have a good look around your home, office and car.

Once you have established that the book is definitely lost, you should report the loss to the circulation desk of Allen Memorial Library.

What the Library does after you have reported a book lost

The Library changes the status of the book from loaned to lost. This removes the book from your loan record and applies a non-refundable $10 fee plus the cost of the item to your record. The Business Office is notified and a block is put on your accounts so that you cannot check out additional items, request interlibrary loans, obtain transcripts or register for classes the following semester. The lost book charges must be paid at the VCSU Business Office. Once the lost book charge has been paid, the library uses the money to buy a replacement copy of the book or, if the book is out of print, a similar title.

Lost book fines and replacement charges

A combination replacement fee and handling fee of $10 is levied on lost books. You will receive a bill via email for the item. The lost book charges must be paid at the VCSU Business Office.

You can elect to replace the book yourself. If you elect to do this, the following conditions apply:

a replacement must be the same edition or a newer edition (provided that a newer edition is relevant to the collection)
a second-hand replacement must be approved by the Library Director and in excellent condition
a replacement must be delivered within one calendar month of the billed for lost date. The $10 handling fee will still be charged and used to catalog, label and process the item for shelving in the collection, and
a receipt will be issued upon delivery of the replacement copy.

The lost book is found

If you return a book in good condition deemed lost (but for which you have not yet paid):

before a replacement has been purchased and within three months of the original due date, your lost book charge is automatically reduced to $10.00, or
after a year from the original due date, no reduction/refund in the charge is applicable.