Loans, renewals and fines

Loans

Please remember your Cumbria Card if you need to borrow or renew any items. You can find out lots of information about your loans by logging onto ‘My Account’.

Listen to our My Account podcast here:

Your borrower number

Your library borrower number is the number under the barcode on your Cumbria Card. This may be the same as your student number.

How many items can I borrow?

Books, AV material and Teaching practice resources can all be borrowed as part of the borrowing entitlement. Journals are reference only and cannot be borrowed. At any one time you can have on loan the following number of items: 

 

Lending Collection

Teaching Practice

Laptops

AV equipment

Students

12

30

1

5

Staff and research students

20

30

1

5

External borrowers, including those who join under reciprocal or access schemes

4 in total

0

0

0

Request for extra loan allocation (for final dissertation)

If you are undertaking your final dissertation you can request an extra loan allocation. Find out how on our FAQ page. 

How long can I borrow items for?

You can check the date your loans are due for return using My Account.

You can also renew lending and teaching practice loans. Fines are charged on all overdue loans. Before each vacation period, please make sure you have cleared all fines, charges and loans from your library account. This will prevent your account being blocked.

Lending  
(including oversize) 

4 weeks
1 week

Teaching Practice

6 weeks
1 week

Dissertations

Until close

AV equipment

1 day
1 week

Laptops

3 hours

Interlibrary loans

Set manually as instructed by British Library

Three hour loan

Some items at Newton Rigg library have been put on three hour Loan. These are shelved in a separate collection at the service desks. You can borrow three x three hour loan items. Find out more about how three hours loans work on the FAQ page.
 

Renewals

You can renew most items in a variety of ways. AV equipment can only be renewed in person in the library.

For the first two options you will need your Cumbria Card number and your PIN.

  • from My Account
  • using the self-service kiosks (available at all main campuses)
  • by phoning any of the university libraries
  • in person at an issue desk
  • post or fax
  • email

See the library contact  information for phone numbers and addresses.

  • You cannot renew an item if someone else has requested it 
  • Fines will be charged if an item is overdue when it is renewed and must be paid promptly.
  • You are responsible for noting the new due for return date. We does not accept responsibility for fines incurred through failure to do this
  • If you cannot renew a book, you will need to return it promptly, even if you are not on campus. If you post it back, please get a certificate of posting from your post office
  • External borrowers may only renew items three times. 

Find out more about 24 hour renewals, checking your account and other frequently asked questions on our FAQ page.

Listen to our renewals podcast:

Checking your loans

You can check what items you have on loan and when items are due back at any time from My Account on the library website or the library catalogue.   

Recalled items

All items borrowed from the library can be recalled if they are requested by another reader, and should be returned as soon as possible.

Overdue reminders

  • We will send you a reminder 3 days before your library loans are due back to remind you to return or renew them. Please note these notices are a courtesy and LISS is not responsible if you fail to receive them, for example you fail to check your university emails or if your inbox is full. You will still be liable for any fines incurred.
  • We will send you three overdue reminders by email three, ten and 21 days after the item is due for return.
  • If the item is still overdue after 21 days your library account will be blocked and you will not be able to borrow.  
  • If the item is still overdue after 28 days we will send a letter telling you what the replacement cost of the item is and how much the maximum fine will be. There is a £5 administration charge for this letter.
  • If you return the books you will only have to pay the fine and administration charge. 

Fines

Why do you charge fines?

We charge fines to encourage the prompt return or renewal of items. This helps to make items available for other users.

How can I avoid paying fines?

  • Keep track of when items are due back using My Account
  • Check your university email account regularly for reminder and overdue notices
  • Renew your items. You can still renew your books even if they are overdue. 

Find out more about renewals, fines and how to avoid them on our FAQ page.