Loan Periods & Fines
Overdue Materials and Fines
The Library generally does not assess overdue fines for standard circulating materials. Certain high-use or short-term materials, including laptops, headphones, external drives, and reserve materials, are subject to hourly overdue charges.
Patrons are responsible for returning materials by the applicable due date and may be subject to borrowing restrictions when materials become sufficiently overdue to be considered lost.
Loan periods and applicable overdue charges vary by material type:
Material Type | Loan Period | Overdue Charge | Considered Lost |
|---|---|---|---|
Regular Loans and Recorded Music | 16 weeks (112 days) | No daily fine | 28 days (see Lost Item Blocks) |
Videos | 28 days | No daily fine | 1 day overdue |
Offsite Reference Materials, Library Use Only Materials | 4 hours | No daily fine | 1 day overdue |
Headphones, External Drives, and Reserve Materials | 4 hours | $1.00 per hour | 1 day overdue |
Laptops | 8 hours | $40.00 per day | 1 day overdue |
Interlibrary Loan materials | Determined by lending institution | No daily fine | 28 days (see Lost Item Blocks) |
Loan periods are subject to change based on the type of material, the patron's borrowing privileges, or the requirements of a lending institution.
Lost Item Blocks
Lost Materials and Account Blocks
Regular loans, recorded music, and Interlibrary Loan materials are considered lost when they are 28 days overdue.
When an eligible item reaches lost status, a $125.00 lost-item fine will be automatically added to the patron's account. The patron's borrowing privileges will also be restricted, including the ability to:
- Borrow additional materials
- Renew existing materials
- Submit new material requests
The lost-item fine and associated borrowing restrictions will be removed when the item is returned to the Library, in accordance with current Library procedures.
Interlibrary Loan materials are not owned by The New School. Loan dates and lost item costs are determined by consortium agreements. Patrons are responsible for returning all borrowed materials by their due dates.
In the case where an owning institution sends The New School Library an invoice for a lost item, the patron is responsible for payment of the invoice. Patrons will be alerted when an invoice is sent. If the material is not returned within the specified time, a non-refundable fine for the invoice amount will be charged to their account.
Holds & Recalls
Holds
Eligible library materials may be placed on hold through the patron's online library account.
Patrons are responsible for monitoring their library account and notifications regarding requested materials.
Recalls
Library materials, except reserve materials, may be recalled when another department or the owning institution requires access to them.
A recall may shorten the original loan period. Generally, a recalled item will not be assigned a new due date that provides less than two weeks of use from the date of the recall.
Recalled materials must be returned by the revised due date. A recalled item returned after its revised due date is subject to a $1.00 per day overdue fine.
Proxy Borrowing
Faculty members may authorize a student assistant to borrow library materials on their behalf by submitting the appropriate Proxy Borrower Form.
Borrowing privileges for proxy borrowers remain restricted, and proxy representatives cannot place holds or submit material requests on behalf of the faculty member. Faculty members must personally initiate all material requests through their own account.
The faculty member remains responsible for materials borrowed through the proxy arrangement.