Borrowing and Renewing

Students can have up to 10 items on loan at the same time, this includes books, DVDs and overnight loans. Loans are automatically renewed every 7 days until requested for return.

What are the borrowing rules?

The following rules for borrowing apply during term time:

Borrower	Number of items	Loan Period (Standard)	Renewal Period (Standard)	Loan period (Short Loan)	Renewal Period (Short Loan)
Undergraduate	10	7 days	Automatically renewed until requested/recalled	4 days	Not renewable
Postgraduate	10	28 days	Automatically renewed until requested/recalled	4 days	Not renewable
Fellow/Staff	10*	28 days	Automatically renewed until requested/recalled	4 days	Not renewable
Visiting Fellow	10	28 days	Automatically renewed until requested/recalled	4 days	Not renewable

*Fellow may request additional loans beyond the limit on a case by case basis by contacting the Deputy Librarian.

At the end of Michaelmas Term and Easter Term Magdalene College Library will request all items on loan to be returned ahead of vacation borrowing. This is to help ensure that everyone has a chance to access books that have potentially been on loan for a significant time.

How many items can I borrow and for how long?

The College borrowing rules are in line with most other libraries in Cambridge. You won’t be fined for standard loan items unless you fail to return an item that has been requested by another user. Where an item has been lost, you may be required to pay the replacement cost.

• You can borrow up to 10 items from the College Library at a time.
• Most items are borrowed for 7 days in the first instance for Undergraduates, and 28 days for Postgraduates. The loans will continue to be automatically renewed as long as no-one else requests that you return the item(s). All items are usually ‘requested’ for return (recalled) by the Library at the end of Michaelmas and Easter term ahead of vacation borrowing.
• If the item you have out on loan is requested by someone else you must bring it back to the College Library within 3 days (excluding weekends). If you do not return it by the new deadline then you will be fined £1.00 per day until it is returned. Items can't be requested during vacation loan periods.
• If you have 2 or more overdue requests on items loaned from ANY Library then your card will be blocked from borrowing until the requested items are returned.
• Short Loan Law books can be taken out on loan for 4 days and cannot be renewed. If you are late returning these you will be charged £1.00 per day.
• The maximum number of items you can borrow at once across all the libraries in Cambridge is 200.

How do I know what I’ve got on loan?

It is recommended that you regularly check your Library account and keep track of your current loans. You can keep track of loans, review borrowing history and pay charges by logging into iDiscover and selecting My Library Account. You can also view any requests you have placed and any books you have borrowed which have been requested by another person.

In addition, you may receive courtesy notices from the Library system and from College Library staff as well, some of the key ones to look out for are:

• Monthly summary list of current loans and due dates (across all Libraries)
• Reminder that your Short Loan items are due back (sent on the due date) or overdue
• Notice of updated (reduced) due date (If an item has been requested by another students or the Library)

These are usually sent from DO-NOT-REPLY@lib.cam.ac.uk. You should make sure that notices from this address are not picked up by your e-mail SPAM filter.

Please be aware that these e-mails are courtesy notices and that it is your responsibility to keep track of your loans by regularly logging in to your iDiscover account.

What happens if I place a request?

If a book that you need is already on loan to another user you can make a request via iDiscover to recall the book from them (you must be logged into your account to do this). The following will happen:

• An email notification will ask the borrower to return the requested item within 3 days. Requests will never be due back on a weekend or a bank holiday so the new due date would fall on the next working day.
• If a requested item is not returned within 3 days, it is considered to be overdue and will begin to accrue fines of £1 per day.
• You will be notified via e-mail when your requested item has been returned. Items must be collected from the Library within 2 days. Items not picked up in two days will be shelved and made available for others to borrow.

Fines

• Fines will only be charged for overdue requested (recalled) items or overdue short loans.
• Fines are charged at a rate of £1.00 per day, and will accrue for up to 60 days.
• If an item has been lost you will be charged the cost for replacement.
• If you accrue £100 of fines across any/all libraries in Cambridge (including Magdalene) then you will be blocked from borrowing in all libraries until the fine amount is paid.

Blocked from borrowing?

Check the list of possible blocks.

 

 

How do I borrow?

Books are borrowed via the Self-Service Machine, located on the Ground Floor next to the reception desk.

All you need to borrow books from the Library is your University card barcode.

New Self-Issue machine & Security gates

Please note that we have a new self-issue machine on the ground floor that uses RFID technology to issue the books and to set off the gate alarm.

The Self-issue machine makes things a little quicker. You only need to scan your ID card to login and then books are issued by being placed on the pad (no more scanning barcodes!!). Instructions are located next to the machine.

If your ID card is not working, you have a temporary card, or the machine is not working please fill in a manual borrowing form or leave us a note!

If the gate alarm goes off as you enter or leave please go and speak to a member of staff. Please do not be offended if we ask you to speak to us and ask if you have any library books! This is a new system and currently there are several reasons the alarm might go off

• You have forgotten to borrow the book(!)
• You have borrowed the book but the self-issue machine failed to desensitize the book
• You have had a book on loan for several months (all of these have RFID tags which will set the gate off until desensitized by a member of staff)
• You may have a book from another library that hasn’t been desensitized.

A member of the Library team can quickly check what the problem is and fix so that the alarm will not continually go off by mistake.

Once they system is bedded in it will speed up borrowing and returning books and help to ensure books are borrowed properly via the self-service machines.

All books must be borrowed via the self-service machine or via a paper borrowing form if the machine is not working. Do not take books from the library without borrowing, this inconveniences your fellow students and you may receive a fine of up to £30.

How do I check my account?

The best place to check your account is by logging in to iDiscover. However, you can also check your account and requests via the Self-Issue Machine.

 

A book I need is on loan, can I request it?

Book recalls (requests via iDiscover)

From Tuesday 27^th April it will be possible to recall (request via Alma) a book currently on loan to another borrower. This applies to UL, Faculty and College library books. To do this you can use the 'request' option in iDiscover to ask for it to be returned. Not sure how to do that? Help is available here.

We appreciate that it’s not easy for everyone to return books at the moment. In the College library we may have to cancel requests/recalls if it is not possible to for the current borrower to return it in time, in these cases we will contact you to look at other options.

If a book on your account is recalled, we ask you to do your best to return it to the relevant library. If you can't return the book in person, it may be helpful to know that you can now book a free collection from home with Royal Mail if you purchase postage with their Click & Drop service.  

If you are worried about returning a book on your account that has been recalled, please contact the library you borrowed it from, the College library team can be contacted at library@magd.cam.ac.uk. This term, as in previous terms during the pandemic, you won't be charged overdue fines on any book that you have borrowed.  

Find all the details you need about loans, recalls and returns on our website https://www.magd.cam.ac.uk/college-life/library  and also the UL Borrowing LibGuide.  

I can’t get my books back by the due date, what should I do?

If an item(s) has been requested and you have a genuine issue that prevents you from physically returning the books to the Library by the due date, please contact the Library staff in advance to let us know. We will consider your case and make arrangements where possible, such as extending the loan. library@magd.cam.ac.uk