Checkouts and Policies

What you can check out varies for different library groups. Click the group that describes you to find out what you can check out, how long you can keep it, and what the overdue fee would be.

Faculty and graduate thesis students can have up to fifty books checked out at once, while staff and students have a limit of twenty-five. Community and WeTALC customers have a checkout limit of three items. Affiliates and Faculty/Staff families have a limit of five items.

Most items can be renewed one time online or in person for the same duration as the original checkout period. FLIX movies are not eligible for renewal.

The library staff retains discretionary rights to loan some non-circulating materials under extenuating circumstances.

Equipment checkout policies are outlined below under the section titled Equipment Policies.

RENEWING ITEMS

Items from the Hope Barber Shull Academic Resource Center (ARC) and Learning Resource Library may be renewed one time as long as they are not on hold for someone else; please note though that FLIX movies are not eligible for renewal. There are two ways to renew an item: Log on to your My Library Account to do it online, or bring the items back to the library to do it in person. At this time, Community, WeTALC, and Affiliate library users cannot renew online but can still renew by coming by the library.

OVERDUE ITEMS

All items checked out from the library will have a due date. You will be told when they’re due, and books will be stamped when you check them out; you’ll also receive a courtesy email notice the day before something is due to remind you.

After an item is overdue, you’ll get an overdue email notice, and those will be repeated every few days. After being overdue for five weeks – or two weeks for certain items like FLIX movies – the item will be considered lost by the system.

Note: While there are not permanent fines for returned overdue book items, all patrons are responsible to pay fines for overdue FLIX movies, games, sports equipment, Juvenile Kits, Textbooks, and Teaching Manipulatives.

Note: We make every effort to make sure you get your courtesy and overdue notices, but failure to receive an email doesn’t exempt you from fines on overdue items. Logging on to your My Library Account to check due dates is the best way to keep up with everything you have checked out and when they’re due.

LOST ITEMS

Items more than five weeks overdue will automatically be considered lost by the library system. After that time, your library account will be billed for the replacement cost of the materials and a $7.00 processing and service charge. The replacement cost will be a minimum of $50 for books and $30 for DVDs and could be more depending on the rarity of the item. Contact circulation staff at the ARC or LRL for specific details concerning how the library will replace a lost item. Any library blocks previously placed on a user account will be removed once the library has arranged and/or ordered a replacement.

The replacement cost will be refunded (minus appropriate overdue fees) if the item is returned:

1. within six months after acquiring a lost status AND

2. before a replacement is purchased by the library.

Generally, any item returned after replacement or after six months will not be refunded.

DAMAGED ITEMS

When an item is returned and is identified by the Circulation Supervisor as “damaged,” the library user who returned the item will be charged a replacement cost of the item ($50 for books or $30 for DVDs) plus a processing charge of $7. The library user does have the option to purchase a copy of the damaged item on their own and give it to the library to avoid paying the full replacement fee. This needs to happen before the library has purchased its own replacement, typically within two weeks of confirmation that item needs replacing. The replacement volume must be identical to the original copy (i.e., have the same ISBN number or other standard identifying number AND similar binding). The replacement copy must be in new or “like new” condition. Prior to repurchase, the library’s Circulation Supervisor will examine the possible replacement copy (e.g., checking condition status & ISBN information online) and determine its identical quality. After approval by the CS, the replacement copy can then be purchased by you (the library user). Any library blocks previously placed on a user account will be removed once the library has an acceptable replacement item in hand (or has received from the user the full amount required to replace the item).

LIBRARY FINES AND CHARGES

Overdue charges, lost charges, and charges for certain library services – like ILL postage – are automatically added to your library account. You’ll receive an email the day after the charge to let you know about the account activity (unless the charge is paid or waived that same day, in which case no email would be sent). If you’re a student, faculty, or staff, the notice would be sent to your FHU email address. Community, WeTALC, or Affiliate customers would receive the notice at the email address you provided when you signed up for your library account.

You don’t have to pay your library bill immediately; you can leave the charges on your account and pay at your convenience. However, if there is an outstanding fee for overdue FLIX movie, sports equipment, or any type of game, you have to pay that before you can check out more FLIX, sports equipment, or games.

Library charges can be paid with cash or check and are accepted at the ARC front desk or the Learning Resource Library.

HOLDS

If you need a book already checked out to someone else, you have the option to put a “hold” on it so it will be reserved for you after it’s returned. Holds may be placed two ways: in person at the library circulation desk, or through the library online catalog. To place a hold online, first search for it in the library catalog and click on the title to bring up the record. If it’s already checked out, you’ll see a Place Hold button on the item record so you can place your hold. Please note: Audiovisual and leisure items are not eligible for holds.

Once an item on hold has been turned in, you’ll receive an email to let you know your hold is available. It will be kept for you at either the ARC or the Learning Resource Library for one week. After that period, the hold will be cancelled, and it will be returned to the shelf or made available for the next person who has a hold on it.

COMMUNITY, WETALC, AND AFFILIATE CUSTOMERS

If you’re not currently enrolled or employed at Freed-Hardeman, you are still welcome in the library! Most collections are open for use within the library, and a number of computers may be used for research by visitors to the campus. To check materials out of the library, visitors can apply for a community, WeTALC, or affiliate library card:

Community Customers

Library visitors not currently enrolled or employed at FHU can get a community card by completing an application form available in the ARC (Henderson site). You must be at least a junior in high school and be able to present a valid form of ID to apply for a card. The library card costs $20.00 for FHU alumni & $30 for non-alumni and is valid for three years. As a community customer, you may have up to three books checked out at a time, and with a completed form and payment, you may immediately begin checking out books on your first visit. The community account is non-transferable and does not carry any privileges in departments, events, or buildings elsewhere on campus. The community card applies to book borrowing in the ARC & the Learning Resource Library. It does not apply to computer usage or DVD, sports equipment, or game borrowing.

WeTALC Customers

Library visitors currently enrolled in a nearby college or university may have borrowing privileges at FHU as well. Through WeTALC (the West Tennessee Academic Library Consortium), students at the following schools can apply for an FHU WeTALC card: Baptist College of Health Sciences, Bethel University, Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law Library, Christian Brothers University, Dyersburg State Community College, Jackson State Community College, Lane College, LeMoyne-Owen College, Memphis College of Art, Rhodes College, Southern College of Optometry, Southwest Tennessee Community College, University of Tennessee at Martin, Union University, University of Memphis, University of Memphis at Lambuth, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, and Victory University. The WeTALC library card is free and is valid as long as you are enrolled at the participating school. To get the card, you can complete an application form available in the Hope Barber Shull Academic Resource Center. You also must present a current I.D. from the WeTALC institution you attend when applying and each time you check out items. As a WeTALC customer, you may have up to three items checked out at a time and may immediately begin checking out items on your first visit. The WeTALC account is non-transferrable and does not carry any privileges in departments, events, or buildings elsewhere on campus.

Affiliate Customers

Affiliate cards are available to the spouses and children (at least a junior in high school) of faculty and staff, retired faculty, and board members. The card is free and is available by completing an application form available in the ARC. As an affiliate customer, you may have up to five items checked out at a time and may immediately begin checking out items on your first visit. The affiliate account is non-transferrable and does not carry any privileges in departments, events, or buildings elsewhere on campus.

SECURITY

The library uses an electronic detection system to monitor the unauthorized removal of materials. The system is completely safe and will not erase tapes, disks, or cassettes. If the alarm sounds, circulation personnel will stop the person exiting the gate and ask to see materials in bags, purses, backpacks, etc. The circulation staff is at liberty to identify the probable cause of the alarm sounding.

EQUIPMENT POLICIES

The ARC Library has LCD projectors, portable screens, and sound equipment for FHU academic or extracurricular use.  Examples of acceptable use include classroom needs, academic trips, administrative conferences, FHU promotions at other facilities, faculty presentations, and student presentations at social club or other FHU functions.  In this last example, student presenters must have a FHU faculty or staff sponsor request the equipment in writing.  The sponsor in question will assume responsibility for the equipment’s timely return and condition (i.e., good condition).  In these instances, an official form must be filled out and signed by the faculty or staff sponsor.  Equipment use forms can be obtained from a full-time library staff person during daytime business hours in the ARC Library.

Personal or church-related usage of this equipment is not allowed.

REQUESTS TO RECONSIDER LIBRARY MATERIALS

In accordance with the University Mission and the Library Mission, the FHU Libraries provide library patrons with academic resources that support curricular needs, individual research, and overall scholarly development, as well as personal, social, and spiritual development. The Libraries’ collections should allow patrons to research every subject taught at the University—and in order to do so thoroughly, a wide variety of perspectives are represented. An item’s presence in the Library is not an endorsement of its contents.

Adult students, faculty, and staff of Freed-Hardeman University are the primary audience for all library resources. While young patrons may benefit from books in the Learning Resource Library, these books are primarily intended as tools for students in FHU’s education program, and we encourage parents to play an active role in their children’s reading experience.

The Libraries’ collections are developed in collaboration with students, faculty, and staff, and we want to ensure that our resources are meeting their needs. Patrons with concerns about material in the Libraries’ collections have the right to share their concerns with the Library Director.

If an informal discussion with the Library Director does not resolve a Patron’s concerns, the Patron may submit a formal request for reconsideration of library materials. The Library Director will appoint a Library Material Reconsideration Committee to review the formal request. The Library Material Reconsideration Committee will submit a written recommendation to the Library Director, who will make the final decision and notify the Patron of the Libraries’ response to the request. While the material reconsideration process is ongoing, the circulation status of the material in question will not be changed.

CONDUCT

Unlike the stereotypical quiet library, the first floor of the Academic Resource Center welcomes conversations and moderate noise levels. This floor is perfect for working on group projects, visiting with friends, etc. We do ask that students are still respectful of their peers while on the first floor by keeping their voice at a medium volume and by using headphones when listening to audio content, but this floor is certainly not a “shushing” area.

On the second floor of the Academic Resource Center, an atmosphere conducive to reading and studying is maintained at all times. Students are to cooperate by being quiet and courteous, or they will be asked to move to the first floor. Disruptive behavior will not be tolerated. Groups working together are encouraged to work quietly while on the second floor and to use study rooms whenever possible.

• Appropriate dress is the same as for class attendance (see FHU Student Handbook).
• FHU is a tobacco-free environment. Smoking or the use of tobacco in any form will not be allowed in the library.
• It is the policy of FHU Libraries to prohibit all animals from entering library facilities, with the exception of service animals.

CONFIDENTIALITY

The library respects the Tennessee Code, Title 10, Chapter 8, with regards to keeping patron records confidential with minimal exceptions.