Circulation Services

Circulation Desk Services

Hours of operation:

Spring and Fall Semesters
Monday - Thursday 8:00am -12:00mid
Friday - Saturday 8:00am - 11:00pm
Sunday - 10:00am - 12:00mid

Summer Semesters
Monday - Thursday 8:00am - 11:00pm
Friday - Saturday 8:00am - 5:00pm
Sunday - 10:00am - 11:00pm

Full-time staff members are available at the Circulation desk during all hours the library is open, and may be reached by phone at (617) 353-3732 or by email: "mugcirc@bu.edu". The Fines Coordinator is available Monday through Friday, 8:00am to 3:00pm, at (617) 353-3736.

For a recorded message of Mugar Memorial Library's general hours, including changes in the hours of operations (i.e., during holidays, vacations, Intersession and 24 hour study periods), please call (617) 353-3708. This information is also maintained on this website.

This information page describes basic circulation policies. Should you have any further questions, please feel free to speak to anyone at the Circulation desk.

Charging Out Materials

Materials may be charged out of the library with one of the following valid ID's:

Boston University ID - Student, Faculty, Staff, or Alumni
Boston Library Consortium ID
Boston Theological Institute ID
Boston University Borrower's Card

Most library materials may be checked out or renewed for the following loan periods:

4 weeks from the charge-out date:
Students, Alumni, Consortium, Institute and Boston University Borrower's Card holders
19 weeks from the charge-out date:
Faculty, Staff, and Graduate students with TA/TF status

Exceptions to these loan periods are:

Reserve materials:
Which vary in length of loan period from 2 hours (in-library use only) to 3 day loans.
Virtual Catalog materials:
28 days with no renewals, no recalls.
Reference materials:
May not be taken from the library.
Journals:
May be charged out for periods of 24 hours only to Boston University Faculty, TA/TFs and Staff members.

Please note that all items are subject to recall 2 weeks after their initial charge-out date.

Boston Library Consortium Cards

Founded in 1970, the Boston Library Consortium is a cooperative association of nineteen academic research libraries. It exists to support resource sharing and the enhancement of services for each member library's patrons. A Consortium Card allows the holder to check out materials at the other Boston Library Consortium libraries.

Boston University faculty, staff, and graduate students in good standing (owing under $10.00 to Boston University libraries) may obtain a Boston Library Consortium Card by filling out an application form at the Circulation desk. Boston University undergraduate students must demonstrate a research need to be eligible for a Consortium card, and should consult with a Reference Librarian.

Consortium Cards may be requested online, but must be picked up at the Mugar Library Circulation Desk.

Your Consortium Card will be available three business days after the application form is submitted to the Mugar Memorial Library Circulation desk. Cards must be revalidated each semester of the academic year.

Renewing Charged-out Materials

You can see what you have charged out and renew such items (within 7 days prior to the due date) yourself after obtaining a PIN (Personal Identification Number) from the Circulation desk. These options are available to you by accessing the Mugar Memorial Library's online Circulation system from one of the public terminals within the library, or after connecting to the library system from a remote computer. Please note that if your items are overdue, if your record is blocked for any reason, or if an item you wish to renew has been recalled, you may not use the self-renewal option.

You may also come to the Circulation desk during the week before the due date and request a renewal, or you may send the request by mail. Your request must be postmarked by the item's original due date.

Items may be renewed twice without bringing them to the library. If you need any material for an additional amount of time, you must bring it back into the library to be checked in before it may be checked out again.

Materials that are overdue or have been recalled by another patron must be returned promptly and may not be renewed. If your patron record is blocked for any reason, you must clear your record before any materials will be renewed.

Because it is very difficult to document phone renewals, Mugar Memorial Library does not renew books by phone.

Returning Materials

During library hours, return material to the Circulation desk. When the Library is not open, materials may be deposited in the outside book drop. Once you have a PIN, you can review your library account to check the due-dates of any material you have charged out, and renew materials yourself before they become overdue. If you have an item that is overdue and you wish to pay the fine at the time of return, you must return the book to the Circulation desk in person. If you wish to receive a receipt for the return of an item, you must return the item to the Circulation desk and specifically request a charge-in receipt be printed before the material is charged in.

If an item remains on your library account more than 24 hours after you returned it, you may come to the Circulation desk to request that a "Claims Return" search be done for the item. During this search period, if the item has reached the overdue stage, you will receive computer-generated overdue notices. These may be disregarded during the search. This special search usually takes 2 - 3 weeks to complete. After the search is finished, you will be sent notification of the results. If the material was found during the search, you need do nothing further. If it was not found during the search, you will need to speak to the Circulation Department Fines Coordinator.

Fines and Fees

Fines are assessed for items not returned by the date due.

Open Stacks

$.50 per day per item before 27 days overdue

$2.00 per day per overdue recalled item

$100.00 replacement charge per item (or cost of the item - whichever is greater)

Virtual Catalog Items

$.50 per day per item before 20 days overdue

$155.00 replacement charge per item (or cost of the item - whichever is greater)

Reserve Items

2 Hour & 2 hr./Overnight

$2.00 per hour per item

$150.00 replacement charge on the 3rd day (or cost of the item - whichever is greater)

24 Hour & 3 Day

$10.00 per day

$150.00 replacement charge on the 3rd day (or cost of the item - whichever is greater)

All Items Reaching Billing

$30.00 billing fee (non-refundable)

Please pay any accrued fines in a timely fashion and keep all receipts.
These charges are assessed to everyone except Faculty and Staff who are responsible only for Recall Fines, fines on Virtual Catalog items, Reserve Fines, Unreturned Item charges and Billing Fees.

If you have any questions about fines, please consult the Fines Attendant at the Circulation desk or by phone at (617) 353-3736. The Fines Attendant is available Monday through Friday until 3pm.

Recalling Items and Searching for Them

Recalling an Item
If the item is charged out to another patron you may recall the item by filling out a Save card. When the item is returned, you will be notified by mail.

Searches:
If you cannot locate an item on the shelf or the Intermediate Shelving area (the room on the first floor of the library where materials are sorted before being returned to the shelves), bring the title and call number to the Circulation desk; staff there will help to locate the item. If the item cannot be located at that time, and the item is not charged out, you may fill out a Search card at the Circulation desk. Most searches are carried out within 24 hours of the request being made. If the requested item is not located, other searches will be made over longer periods of time. You will be notified of the progress of the search. In the event of an unsuccessful search, accessing the needed material via Interlibrary Loan, the Virtual Catalog, or through the use of a Boston Library Consortium card are possible options.

Microforms and Current Periodicals Services

Microforms Room

Hours of operation:

Spring and Fall Semesters
Monday - Thursday 8:30am -11:30pm
Friday - Saturday 8:30am - 10:30pm
Sunday - 10:30am - 11:30pm

Summer Semesters
Monday - Thursday 8:30am - 10:30pm
Friday - Saturday 8:30am - 4:30pm
Sunday - 10:30am - 10:30pm

Full-time Microforms staff members are available at the Microforms desk Monday through Thursday 8:30am to 11:30pm, Friday 8:30am to 10:30pm, Saturday 8:30am to 3:30pm, and Sunday 4:00pm to 11:30pm. They may be reached by phone at (617) 353-3717.

For a recorded message of Mugar Memorial Library's general hours, including changes in the hours of operations (i.e., during holidays, vacations, Intersession, and 24 hour study periods), please call (617) 353-3708.

The Microforms room contains a wide variety of information on microfilm. Microfilm and microfiche reader/printers are available for making printed copies as well as for viewing. There is also a single microfilm/fiche scanner, which saves scanned materials in .pdf format. The .pdf file(s) may then be saved to a USB flash drive, burned to a CD (available for purchase at the Microforms desk), or sent as an email attachment. If you wish to have printed copies of microform materials made for you, please ask for assistance at the Microforms desk.

Please note that microcards and microfiche are located in file cabinets in the Current Periodicals room. Some of the items you will find on microfiche are: college catalogues, telephone directories, and selected government documents.

For further information, or assistance in locating items, speak to an attendant at either the Microforms desk or the Current Periodicals desk.

Current Periodicals Room

Hours of operation:

Spring and Fall Semesters
Monday - Thursday 8:00am -12:00mid
Friday - Saturday 8:00am - 11:00pm
Sunday - 10:00am - 12:00mid

Summer Semesters
Monday - Thursday 8:00am - 11:00pm
Friday - Saturday 8:00am - 5:00pm
Sunday - 10:00am - 11:00pm

Full-time Current Periodicals staff members are available at the Current Periodicals desk Monday through Thursday 8:00am to 12:00mid, Friday 8:00am to 11:00pm, Saturday 8:00am to 4:00pm, and Sunday 4:00pm to 12:00pm. They may be reached by phone at (617) 353-4805.

The Current Periodicals Room contains most of the newspapers and unbound issues of the periodicals to which Mugar Memorial Library subscribes. Current issues of periodicals and newspapers are arranged alphabetically by title on the shelves in this room. Older issues of periodicals are bound or microfilmed, and can be found under their assigned call numbers in either the main stacks or in the Microforms department; you can locate the call number of bound periodicals by using the online catalog. If you are unable to locate the material you need, or if you need additional information about a particular title, please speak with the Microforms desk attendant. Current Periodicals material may not be taken from the room, but photocopy machines are available in the room. In addition to these services, the Current Periodicals Room provides a quiet place in the library for reading or study.

Photocopy Services

Hours of operation:

Spring and Fall Semesters
Monday - Thursday 9:00am -8:00pm
Friday 9:00am - 5:00pm
Saturday - Sunday Closed

Summer Semesters
Monday - Friday 8:00am - 11:00pm
Saturday - Sunday Closed

Full-time Photocopy staff members are available in the Photocopy office Monday through Friday, 9:00am to 5:00pm. They may be reached by phone at (617) 353-3722.

The Photocopy staff service all photocopy machines and all copy card readers in Mugar Memorial Library.

Self-service copiers, operating on either coins or copy cards, are available whenever the library is open. These machines are located near the Photocopy office and in the Current Periodicals room. Coin copies are $.10 each, with 10% and 20% discounts offered with large copy card purchases.

The Photocopy department will make copies for you at $.12 each; transparencies are available for $.50 each. Material is processed on a first come - first served basis.

Photocopy Services Will:

Make copies on 8 1/2" x 11", 8 1/2" x 14", and 11" x 17" paper
Make transparencies and mailing labels
Reduce and enlarge copies
Make change
Make copies on colored paper
(Colors available: blue, goldenrod, gray, green, ivory, pink, and yellow)
Adhere to federal copyright guidelines and requirements

Photocopy Services is Unable To:

Make color copies
Retrieve books from the stacks

Reserve Services

Hours of operation:

Spring and Fall Semesters
Monday - Thursday 8:00am -12:00mid
Friday - Saturday 8:00am - 11:00pm
Sunday - 10:00am - 12:00mid

Summer Semesters
Monday - Thursday 8:00am - 11:00pm
Friday - Saturday 8:00am - 5:00pm
Sunday - 10:00am - 11:00pm

Full-time Reserve staff members are available Monday through Saturday, 8:00am to 4:00pm, in person or by phone at (617) 353-3739. At other times the Reserve desk is staffed by student workers from the Circulation Department.

The Purpose of Reserve

The purpose of the Reserve service, located on the first floor of Mugar Memorial Library, is to make required course readings easily accessible to Boston University students. By limiting the amount of time such material may be charged out, and/or requiring that the material remain in the library during use, all students in a class have the opportunity to make use of it. Additionally, the Reserve service provides a secure location for certain heavily-used items. In particular, the most popular newspapers (the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post) are kept on Reserve in paper form until they become available on microfilm.

While reserve services for the majority of Boston University's courses are provided by the Mugar Reserve service, similar services are provided separately by each of Boston University's individual libraries. Visit their Web sites for more specific information about each of them:

Music
Educational Resources Library
Medical Center Library
Pappas Law Library
Pardee Management Library
Science/Engineering Library
Theology Library

Accessing Reserve Material

To have material retrieved, you will need to provide the Reserve desk staff with the call number. To locate the call number, and to verify that the item you want is indeed on Reserve, consult the Reserve component of the online catalog. Choose the option "R-Reserve Lists" from the main menu, and at the prompt provide either the instructor's name or the course number. This will call up the appropriate list of Reserve titles and call numbers. If you cannot locate the course, professor or item for which you are searching, or if you need assistance with the online system, please ask a Reserve staff member for help.

When you bring the call number to the Reserve desk, the requested material will be retrieved for you. Most Reserve material is available for a 2 hour, in-library loan period.

Fines and Fees
Fines are assessed for items not returned by the date/time due.

Reserve Items
- 2 Hour & 2 hr./Overnight
- $2.00 per hour per item
- $150.00 replacement charge on the 3rd day
  (or cost of the item - whichever is greater)
24 Hour & 3 Day
- $10.00 per day
- $150.00 replacement charge on the 3rd day
  (or cost of the item - whichever is greater)
All Items Reaching Billing
- $30.00 billing fee (non-refundable)

Placing Material on Reserve

Faculty may request that any of the following materials be placed on Reserve as course readings:

Library-owned books
Instructor's personal copies of books or journal articles
Photocopies of articles not held by the Instructor
Books the library does not own, to be ordered

Reserve requests are made by completing the appropriate forms and submitting them to the Reserve department online, by mail or in person.

Find these forms online (for both online submission and in printable .pdf format), or request the forms by calling or stopping by during the staff hours listed above.

An important note: Reserve requests turned in after the beginning of a semester may take up to ten days to be processed.

Please note the following restrictions:

U.S. copyright law restricts us to making a single copy of library-owned journal articles
Books which the library does not yet own usually take a minimum of six to eight weeks to order; requests for such books are subject to the approval of a librarian
Text-books will not be ordered
Verbal and email Reserve requests will not be accepted
Syllabi will not be accepted in lieu of standard Reserve forms

Thank you for your interest in
Mugar Memorial Library's Circulation Services.
Don't hesitate to call us with any questions.
353-3732

This web page will provide you with an overview of the following Circulation services offered by Mugar Memorial Library:

Circulation Desk Services
Microforms / Current Periodicals Services
Photocopy Services
Reserve Services

Boston University Libraries

Circulation Services