How borrowing works
What you may take, for how long, and why a book on the shelf is sometimes not one you can take home.
What you may hold, and for how long
Your category decides both. It is set when your account is registered.
| Category | Books at once | Loan period |
|---|---|---|
| Undergraduate | 2 | 14 days |
| Postgraduate | 4 | 21 days |
| Staff | 6 | 28 days |
The due date is worked out when the book is issued. You cannot choose it, and it is not affected by when you happen to collect the book.
Why the last copy stays here
Where the library holds two or more circulating copies of a title, one of them always stays in the building. It can be read at the shelf by anyone who walks in, but it does not go home with the last person to ask for it.
A title held in a single copy is different: that copy is lent normally. Holding it back would mean nobody could ever read it, which is the opposite of what the rule is for.
This is why a title can show copies on the shelf and still say you cannot take one today. It is not an error, and the catalogue says which of the two situations you are looking at.
Reserving and returning
When every copy that may leave the building is out, you can join the queue from the title's page. Your position is worked out fresh each time you look, so it moves as people ahead of you collect or cancel.
When a copy is ready, it is held at the desk for three days. After that it passes to the next person waiting.
Return a book at the circulation desk. This library charges no fines. A late book is recorded as late, and that is all: nothing is owed for it.
Volumes that never leave
Some volumes are not for lending at all, whatever else is on the shelf:
- Reference, consulted in the Reference Room.
- Recent accessions, on display. These cannot be borrowed, but they can be reserved for when the display period ends.
- Restricted, which covers Africana, OAU publications, serials and anything in conservation. Ask at the desk.
Every copy on a title's page says which of these it is.