Policies

Library Circulation Philosophy

The SUNY Potsdam College Libraries Circulation Policy seeks to balance the Libraries' purpose of supplying the information needs of the SUNY Potsdam community with the need to monitor and retrieve or replace library materials to guarantee all users fair and equitable access to the libraries' physical collections.

Library Card

• You must present your library card to borrow materials.
• Faculty, Staff and Students: Your SUNY ID card serves as your library card.
• Community and Associated Colleges Borrowers: Go to the circulation desk at either the Crane or Crumb Library with photo identification, driver’s license, or student ID to obtain a library card.

Loans

Loan lengths vary depending upon the category of user (student, faculty, community patron) and the type of material (book, audio-visual, etc.).  A detailed borrowing table follows the text of this policy.

Charges

 

Overdue, Processing, and Replacement

The College Libraries apply overdue fines ($5/hour) only to short-term, high-demand loan materials to incentivize their timely return.  However, for all materials, once a certain length of time has passed (3-21 days depending upon the type of loan), processing ($25) and replacement fees (vary and can be high – see table below) are charged.  CHARGES ARE SUBSTANTIAL but are easily avoided by returning the material on time.

Users will receive courtesy notices from our system of impending due dates through their campus email account which is the official channel for electronic communication from the College.  Users are responsible for checking their email.  Failure to check email does not constitute a reasonable excuse for appealing charges.  Please note that these notices are a courtesy – users are responsible for returning materials by the due date regardless of these notifications.

Short-length loans (2 hours to 2 days)

Short-length loans are applied to items of high demand that are held at the circulation desk and must be requested from staff (e.g. course reserve materials, headphones…).  These items carry an overdue fine of $5/hour up to $50 total as these high-demand items MUST be returned in a timely manner so that the next patron may use them.  These items will be declared lost after 3 days; replacement and processing fees will be added to the fines.

Audio-Visual material

Regularly circulating audio-visual materials have no overdue charge but will be declared lost 5 days after the due date when processing and replacement fees will be charged. 

Books/Scores

Books have no overdue charges, but once a book is 21 days overdue it will be declared lost, and processing and replacement fees will be charged.

 

User Charges Process

We don't want to charge anyone, we just want the books back.  But there are time limits to this.  Our books were purchased in the first place for our community of borrowers and if you borrowed it, then clearly it is useful and we need a copy to lend out.  If you don't return it, we need to replace it.  

Outstanding loans and/or charges on your college bill may result in a hold against your college record which can delay class registration and interfere with other college processes.

For students, all overdue, processing, and replacement charges are applied to your library account and then to your college bill. Charges on your library account may be appealed within 10 days of receipt before they are applied to your college bill--these charges are substantial and non-refundable; academic books are expensive.  Be aware that the libraries charge the industry average cost for academic books, a typical practice for academic libraries.  Once the charges go over to the student billing office, it is out of the libraries' control and can no longer be appealed. Return items on time to avoid charges!

Community users and faculty will be blocked from using library services including inter-library loans until their charges are paid or items are returned.  We reserve the right to block students from borrowing all but reserve materials if they have abused the privilege of borrowing library materials.

 

Appeal a Charge

Steps to appeal library charges may be found on the webpage for the College Libraries Appeal Process.

 

Distance Learning Students

If you are a SUNY Potsdam student taking classes at Jefferson Community College, you can request books, articles, and other library materials (including those owned by SUNY Potsdam) through interlibrary loan at JCC or Potsdam. For more information see https://library.potsdam.edu/watertown.

If you are taking online classes and need physical materials (e.g. paper books) from the library and live outside of nearby zip codes, please contact library@potsdam.edu . to discuss your need for library materials.

 

Borrowing Periods by Item/User

	Students	Faculty	Community Patrons	Associated Colleges Patrons	Replacement Charge if declared lost (plus $25 processing fee)
Books	16 weeks OR end of the semester, whichever comes first. no Renewals.	16 weeks up to 3 renewals	28 days limit of 5 items no renewals	28 days limit of 5 items no renewals	Regular books: $100 Juvenile: $25 Scores: $100
Audio CDs/Records	30 days, 1 renewal	30 days, 1 renewal	Crane Library: -3 hours, library use only Crumb Library: -5 days, 2 item limit	Crane Library: -3 hours, library use only Crumb Library: -5 days, 2 item limit	Records: $50 CDs: $30
DVDs & VHS tapes	30 days, 1 renewal	30 days, 1 renewal	Crane Library: -3 hours, library use only Crumb Library: -5 days, 2 item limit	Crane Library: -3 hours, library use only Crumb Library: -5 days, 2 item limit	$40
Laptops (Crane only)	due at closing	due at closing	limited to SUNY Potsdam users	limited to SUNY Potsdam users	$1000
Headphones (Crane only)	due at closing	due at closing	limited to SUNY Potsdam users	limited to SUNY Potsdam users	$50
Items on Reserve	3 hours (inhouse) or 2 days depending on item	3 hours (inhouse) or 2 days depending on item	limited to SUNY Potsdam users	limited to SUNY Potsdam users	Based on format.  See this column above for specifics.

Updated August 2022