Circulation/Service Policies | Library Access/Use Policies

Circulation Services & Policies

Loan Periods

Most treatises and other monographs may circulate. Faculty, law and other graduate students may check out circulating material for sixteen weeks. Undergraduate students and courtesy card holders may check out circulating material for four weeks. You may view your borrowing account from any public terminal to see what books you have charged out, what books are overdue, what books you have requested, and how much you owe for fines. For current circulation policies, see the University Library Circulation Policies.

Renewals

You may renew items online up to ten times unless another patron needs the item. With the exceptions of recalled (see Recall Policy) and reserve books, you will be billed a $10.00 non-refundable processing fee if an overdue book reaches "Lost" status; a book's status changes to "Lost" thirty-four days after the due date. A replacement bill for a minimum of $125.00 per item is also issued at thirty-four days. Periodicals are billed at a minimum of $300.00 per volume. The Library may assess a higher replacement cost in special instances. The replacement amount will be credited if the overdue item is returned in good condition. The $10.00 processing fee will not be refunded.

Recalls

A recall notice informs you that the loan period for an item has been shortened and that the material must be returned by a certain date. Renewals are not permitted. Failure to return a recalled item by the recall due date will result in a $5.00 daily fine and a block on your borrowing privileges.

Reserve Books

The Library has two sets of reserve materials. A special reserve collection behind the circulation desk contains cases, articles, and other items that law faculty reserve for one semester for class use. Items which require extra security are also kept behind the circulation desk. All other reserve materials reside in the "walk-in" reserve room located immediately west of the circulation desk.

The "walk-in" reserve room contains a collection of current hornbooks, unbound English language periodicals, and other materials. The books are shelved in call number order, and the unbound journals are arranged alphabetically along the wall. The material may be used in the reserve room without checking it out. If you would like to use reserved material outside the reserve room, please check it out at the circulation desk. Journals are noncirculating; however, they may be used anywhere inside the Law Library.

Fines for overdue reserve books are $2.00 per hour.

To check out a reserve book, go to the circulation desk and present your University I-card.

Most reserve material is charged out for two hours. If you want to continue using an item at the end of the two hours, return the item to the circulation desk to have it discharged and recharged. Reserve items cannot be renewed.

Many reserve items may circulate overnight. An item may be charged out two hours before the Library closes and returned within an hour after the Library reopens the following day. Present a valid university ID to charge reserve material out.

The following reserve items do not circulate overnight: periodicals, looseleafs, and other materials labeled as such.

Search Requests

If you cannot find a book in the stacks, consult the online catalog or the student circulation assistant to determine whether the item is charged to another patron. Illinois law prohibits library staff from revealing the names of individuals who have checked out library material. We can, however, place a request on a title which is checked out to another borrower. If the book is not charged out, you can request that it be searched by filling out a search card. You should check on the result of the search after two working days.

Proxy Authorization

UIUC faculty members, graduate students, and other library borrowers with extenuating circumstances may authorize another library borrower to charge out Library materials for them. This authorization is usually extended to students who are assisting a faculty member or a graduate student in his or her research, but a spouse, staff member, etc. can be designated as a proxy patron. Also, a library borrower can designate more than one proxy. Library materials will receive faculty or graduate loan periods. The length of the authorization is specified for up to one year. The individual is responsible for all library materials charged to their account, including those materials that his or her proxy checked out.

To obtain authorization, the faculty member or graduate student must complete and sign a "Proxy Form" available in the Main Circulation Office, Room 203 Main Library. The application form requires both the faculty or graduate student's and proxy's identification numbers and signatures.

The patron authorized to check out library materials for another individual must present his/her I-card or courtesy card at the desk and tell the staff member that he/she is checking out materials for another library borrower. A special proxy card will no longer be issued.

Returning Library Materials

Borrowers may return UIUC and ILCSO library materials to any public service point in the library regardless of where the item was originally charged out. Because library materials are discharged from the borrower's account at the location to which they are returned and prior to being shipped back to the owning library, borrowers are not held responsible for items that are lost in shipping. Library materials can also be returned to the bookdrop on the southwest corner of the Main Library. Return receipts are available upon request at any circulation desk.

Library materials CANNOT be returned through campus mail

Please return non-ILCSO interlibrary loan materials directly to the Interlibrary Borrowing Office, Room 104 Main Library.

Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery

These services are administered through the University Library. For information about requesting books or photocopies through Interlibrary Loan, please see the ILL Department's policies and information page. Note that Library staff can not request books through ILL for faculty; ILL is self-service and uses NetID logins.

Library Use Policies

Photocopying

The University Library maintains four public photocopy machines on the Law Library main floor. Two are located near the west wall, one is near the east staircase, and one is in the reserve room immediately west of the circulation desk. External personnel fill and service the machines; please report any problems to library circulation staff who will call the vendor for assistance.

Copies cost fifteen cents per page cash; the machines accept nickels, dimes, and quarters. The machines can produce both regular (8 1/2 x 11") and legal size (8 1/2 x 14") copies. Users of copy cards will pay less than ten cents per page.

A photocopy card dispenser is located just inside the library entrance to the left.

You will find a one-dollar and five-dollar bill changer and vending machines in the commons at the east end of the main floor of the law building just past the cafeteria on the left.

Food and Drink

Please do not eat or smoke in the Library. People with food will be asked to leave. There are lounge and cafeteria areas elsewhere in the law school for eating, but smoking is prohibited throughout the Law Building.

The Library admits patrons with beverages; covered containers are preferred.

Lost & Found

The Library cannot be responsible for personal books and other possessions, including valuables, left in the Library. Check the lost and found at the circulation desk for personal items lost in the Library. Check with the Law School Dean's Office, room 202, if you have misplaced an item elsewhere in the law building. Library staff will not supervise your belongings under any circumstances.

Please do not leave computers or other valuable items unattended. Thefts of computers, purses, and other items occur often in libraries. Don't be a victim. The Library cannot be responsible for lost or stolen items.

Microforms

U.S. Supreme Court records and briefs, Illinois General Assembly debates, back issues of legal newspapers, federal documents, and foreign publications are just some of the materials available on microform. Lists by cabinet/drawer number and by title are on top of the cabinets in the microforms room on the lower level.

One microform reader-scanner is located in the microforms room. Files should be saved to a usb memory stick -- patrons must provide their own, as the library does not loan these. In the event that a memory stick is not available, files can be saved to the desktop and emailed, provided that the file is not too large. For assistance with the microforms machine, please see a reference librarian.

We have also developed a short instructional guide to the microforms machine (pdf).

Staplers

Staplers, staple-pullers, an electric pencil sharpener, and three-hole paper punch are all located at the Circulation Desk. If you need assistance, please ask the Circulation staff.

Library seating and carrels

Individuals may not reserve library tables and materials. Tables in the current journals area may be reserved for one-time or ongoing use by College of Law journal organizations only. For more information, please contact the Head of PUblic Services, Stephanie Davidson, at stephnd @ law.uiuc.edu.

Library materials left overnight on tables may be removed and reshelved; we regret that we cannot honor "Save" or "Do Not Disturb" requests.

Law students, faculty, and other patrons using the collection will be accommodated ahead of patrons not using law materials.

Telephones

We cannot page patrons for telephone calls. The use of library telephones is restricted to the library staff. Pay phones are located at the east end of the main floor near the cafeteria.

Please do not place or receive cellular phone calls in the Library.