Membership

The Library is open to all registered graduate and undergraduate students of the University, to all professional, academic, research and senior administrative staff, and to permanent administrative, technical and support staff of the University of the West Indies. UWI Cave Hill students are required to attend an orientation session before registering to use the Library. To arrange for an orientation session please contact Readers' Services.

Other persons requesting use of the Library for reading or reference purposes may be admitted as Outside Members at the discretion of the Librarian, and are normally required to pay membership fees. Outside members may be permitted to borrow only in exceptional circumstances, and will then be required to make a cautionary deposit which shall be refunded on satisfactory completion of their membership.

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Borrowing

No library material may be removed from the library unless the prescribed loan procedure has been completed at the Circulation Desk. In order to check out material, UWI staff and students must have a valid UWI identification card. Other borrowers will be issued with a Main Library ID card for the duration of their membership. Readers are responsible to the Library for material for which their ID cards have been used. Material which has been borrowed is the responsibility of the borrower until the item is returned and the record of the loan is cancelled.

Please report lost ID cards to the Circulation Desk promptly. Readers are responsible for all material checked out on lost ID cards until the loss is reported to the Library.

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Loan Policy and Procedures

Loan periods vary with user status and category of item. Loan periods may be extended at the discretion of the Librarian. All Library material is subject to recall if required by another user, or for the Reserve Collection. For details of the Library's holdings, please refer to collections data.

Undergraduate students at the University may have on loan up to twelve items at a time, including no more than two from the Reserve, Overnight and West Indies Collections. The period of loan for items from the Main Collection is 14 days.

Postgraduate students of the University may have on loan up to twenty items at a time, including no more than two from the Reserve, Overnight and West Indies Collections, and no more than two from the Periodicals Collection. The period of loan for items from the Main Collection is 8 weeks.

Professional, academic, research and senior administrative staff may have on loan up to twenty items at a time, including no more than two from the Reserve, Overnight and West Indies Collections, and no more than two from the Periodicals Collection. The period of loan for items from the Main Collection is 8 weeks.

Administrative, technical and support staff who hold permanent positions with UWI may have on loan up to four items at a time from the Main Collection. The period of loan for items from the Main Collection is 14 days.

Outside members who are permitted to borrow may have on loan up to six items at a time, including a maximum of four from the Main Collection, and a maximum of two from the Reserve and West Indies Collections. The period of loan for items from the Main Collection is 14 days. Outside members with reader status are allowed Reading Room loans only.

Reading Room loans from the Special Collections, the Reserve Collections and the West Indies Collection are for three hours only. A maximum of two items may be borrowed from these collections at a time.
Requests for reading room loans are made by completing a Reading Room Reservation Form and handing it in to the staff at the Circulation Desk.

Overnight items are due for return at 10.00 a.m. or at 5.00 p.m. as indicated by a pink or blue card respectively, on the next full day on which the Library is open. Overnight items may be borrowed only after 5.00 p.m. on weekdays, or on weekends. A maximum of two items may be borrowed from this collection at a time.
Borrowers are required to request overnight items by completing an Overnight Reservation Form. Forms are available at the Circulation Desk. Requests will be accepted from the time the Library opens on the day on which the item is needed.

Periodicals which have been bound may be borrowed by postgraduate students, and members of the academic, research and senior administrative staff only. The period of loan is 2 weeks. Periodical loans are not normally renewable. Current issues of periodicals are not available for loan.

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Renewals

Books may be renewed for a further period if they have not been requested by other readers, and provided that the borrower has not had them for two consecutive periods of loan.

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Fines

Library fines for overdue items vary with user status and category of item.

For items from the Main Collection the fine is $0.50 per day, per item for postgraduate students, and for members of the academic, research and senior administrative staff to a maximum of $50.00 per item. For all other borrowers the fine is $0.25 per day, per item to a maximum of $30.00 per item.

For periodicals the fine is $0.50 per day per item to a maximum of $50.00 for all categories of borrowers.

For items from the Overnight, Reserve and West Indies Collections, the fine is $0.10 per hour, per item to a maximum of $30.00 for all categories of borrowers.

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Search Services and Requests

Requests for items which are circulating to another patron may be made by completing the appropriate form at the Circulation Desk. Patrons are notified by post when a requested item becomes available. Weekly notices are also placed on the notice board in the main lobby of the library.

If you cannot find an item on the shelves, you may request a search at the Circulation Desk. Please allow a minimum of two days for a search response.

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Lost or Damaged Material

For lost or damaged material, users are required to pay a processing fee of $10.00, plus the current cost of the material. If a lost item is returned in good condition within the academic year, the sum paid for the item will be refunded to the user.

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Membership Fees

Persons accepted as outside members of the Library are normally required to pay membership fees as follows:

Processing fee	$ 20.00
Individual membership fee	$100.00 per semester ; $200.00 per academic year
Institutional membership fee	$250.00 per semester
Short term (1 month) membership fee	$40.00

In addition, outside members who are permitted to borrow must pay a refundable caution deposit of $120.00

Special rates and conditions apply to UWI graduates, and for the use of the Computer Lab. Please contact Readers' Services for additional information.