Borrowing & membership

How do I borrow items and how long can I keep them for?

When you have found what you are looking for, take the items to one of our self-service machines. There are instructions on how to use on each machine. 

Borrowing – Loan period and renewing

• Books have a 2-week rolling loan period to a maximum of 26 weeks* - unless they are requested by another borrower (at which point you will have receive an email to confirm book due date)
• Loan periods are subject to change, should there be a significant increase to demand
• If you have reached your maximum borrowing (17 books for staff and students) you will not be able to borrow anything else until you have returned some items.

*All books will renew automatically, every 2 weeks, unless they have been requested by another user or have reached the maximum renewals limit of 24 weeks. 

Please keep an eye on your University email account because we send courtesy reminders to your account. 

You can also keep tabs on your items and request other items by going to your library account and logging on with your university username and password. 
If you have any problems with your library account, please contact the Student Connect team.

Recall notices

You will receive an automated email in advance, if a book you have on loan needs to be returned.  These emails will be sent to your student or staff email account.  For Alumni and external users we will use the email you registered with us. 

• Please return the book(s) mentioned in the email by the date shown to avoid any recall charge.  
• Overdue books will be charged at 50p per day with a cap of £5 per item.
• Books are recalled if they have been requested by another user or have reached the maximum renewals limit of 24 weeks.

You can return books in person, or if you are not able to get on campus you can return books by post to the following address:

• Library Book Returns, Staffordshire University, Staffordshire University Post Room, College Road, Stoke On Trent, ST4 2DE

Please package books securely and obtain proof of posting.  

The number of items that you can borrow or request depends on your borrower status. The table below explains entitlements

Your books will automatically renew before they are due back unless they have been requested or you have had them out for 24 weeks.  If one of your books is due back you will receive an email to your student university email account - so please remember to check your emails. 

You can also keep tabs on your items and request other items by going to your library account and logging on with your university username and password. 

If you have any problems with your library account, please contact the Student Connect team.

• To be able to borrow, you must have your library membership card (student ID card) with you. No other forms of identification are accepted. 
• Students on placement will need to request a Student ID Card to be able to continue to borrow items from the library. 
• Books and other materials available for loan through the Library must be treated with care at all times.  
• You are personally responsible for any items that you have borrowed until the loan is cancelled.  
• Books must be returned when they are requested or after 24 weeks. 
• To ensure that all members have an opportunity to use library items, you will be charged for any items that are lost or damaged.
• Anyone failing to return requested items may have their membership temporarily withdrawn.   

Self Service machines 

The self-service machines available in our libraries allow you to borrow and return items yourself.  They are easy to use and instructions are displayed on screen to show you what to do. 

 
How do I borrow an item? 

1. Take your items to a self-service machine along with your Student ID Card or Library Card. 
2.  Select  issue from the options and follow the instructions displayed on the screen.
3. You can issue up to 5 books at a time by placing them on the glass plate on the self-issue machine
4. If you have more than 5 books to take out repeat this process.
5. When all of your items have been issued, select Print Receipt. 
6.  A receipt will be provided listing the items that you have borrowed and their due dates. Check your receipt to make sure that all the books you have taken out are listed. 
7. You will also get an email to confirm you have taken out the books.

 Please note:

• You will not be allowed to borrow items if you have outstanding charges or overdue items. 
• We have moved to using RFID tags within our books to allow easy issuing but a few books may still need to have these tags added. If a book you are trying to borrow does not yet have an RFID tag you will  see an error on the screen and will need to scan using the barcode instead. If this occurs follow the onscreen prompts. 

 How do I return an item? 

1. Take your items to a self-service machine – you do not need to have your Student ID Card or Library Card with you to return items. 
2. Select Return from the options and follow the instructions displayed on the screen.  
3. You can place up to 5 books on the glass plate to return them all in at once
4. The machine will prompt you to put the book(s) in the returns bin.
   Note: In the Creative Collection If the bin is full there will be a trolley near the self-issue machine to use. 
5. If you have more than 5 books to take out repeat this process.
6. When all of your items have been returned, select Print Receipt. 
7.  A receipt will be provided listing the items that you have returned. 
8. You will also get an email to confirm you have returned the books.

Please note: the self-service machines will not automatically show if the items you returned were overdue.  Please select Account Info from the options on screen to see any charges that you may have.