Contact us about loans
- Use Library chat
- Email us via LibAnswers
- Tel: +44 (0) 1904 323838
- Visit the Library Help Desk
Most of the items you can borrow from the Library have flexible borrowing periods. This service is known as flexible loans, and is described in more detail below.
Our Book Takeaway Service enables you to request books from our print collections. Read more about how the service works.
Your Library account
Log in to YorSearch to access your Library account and:
- check what you have on loan
- check due dates
- renew items
- pay fines
You can borrow most Library items for eight weeks unless they are requested. External members may borrow items for four weeks unless requested.
If the item is requested, then the length of its loan then adjusts depending on:
We'll email you weekly to remind you of the items you have on loan, and to ask you to either:
If an item you need is on loan, you won't have to wait very long for it to be returned - simply place a request.
If you have over-due items requested by another user, you won't be able to borrow any more items until they're returned - but you won't be charged late fees. The main reason libraries charge fines is to give people a good reason to bring books back on time, so other users can borrow them. Our York community has shown that we don’t need to charge people money in order to make the loan system work - you’ve all done your bit, bringing items back promptly and ensuring everyone has access to the books they need.
For this system to continue to work, we need you all to continue to play your part, and make our library work for the whole community. As a library we believe our role is to empower our communities to be knowledgeable, active, global citizens through learning, discovery, and research. Staying fine-free will help us achieve these aims. Thank you for helping us save farewell to fines forever...
More about fines and lost item charges:
Our print and audio visual items can be borrowed by anyone with a University Card or Library Card.
Exceptions are journals and items marked as 'Use in library only', which can't be borrowed, and items including York theses, which are not available on open shelves. See the How long? tab for more information.
For information about our ebooks and ejournals, see the E-resources Guide.
Library membership
On this page:
You need your University Card or Library Card to enter the Library and to borrow items.
You're responsible for everything borrowed on your card and for any fines incurred.
Use the self-issue machines to borrow and renew items.
Note: you won't be able to borrow items if you owe £50 or more in fines and/or charges.
To see when your items are due for return, check your Library Account on YorSearch. A summary will also be emailed to you each week.
Remember that others can request an item you have on loan and this may change how long you can keep it.
If this happens we'll email you with the new return date.
Books can be sent via postal delivery using our Scan and Send Service.
For more information, please see:
The number of items you can borrow depends on your University status.
The total number applies across the JB Morrell Library, King's Manor Library and York Minster Library.
Membership group | Number of items |
---|---|
Undergraduates |
75 |
Postgraduates |
75 |
Dip HE | 75 |
Staff (inc associate staff) | 75 |
SCONUL Access | 10 |
External members | 10 |
York graduates | 10 |
Others | 10 |
All flexible loan items are issued for eight weeks unless they are requested (see table below).
A number of collections are 'Use in Library Only'.
Every Monday we'll email you with a reminder of the items you have on loan. Renew the items if they're close to their due date, or return them if you have finished with them.
If an item has been requested and you are late returning it, your account will be blocked until it is returned.
We will mark items as lost either if they are requested but not returned within the required period (see table below), or if they are not renewed or returned within 56 days of the due date. In both of these situations, we will automatically apply a Lost Item Charge.
If items are requested, the following table applies:
Category | Days the current borrower has to return the item if a request is placed | Days the item will be held awaiting collection | Number of days loan if the item has a queue of requests* |
---|---|---|---|
Full-time University students External borrowers |
3 days (New return date will be sent by email) |
3 days |
2 days (Return date will be given when borrowed) |
University staff (Full-time, part-time, and associate staff) |
7 days (New return date will be sent by email) |
7 days |
7 days (Return date will be given when borrowed) |
Part-time University members Users registered with the Disability Office |
7 days (New return date will be sent by email) |
7 days |
7 days (Return date will be given when borrowed) |
Vacations In vacations the following will be used for all categories of user |
7 days (New return date will be sent by email) |
7 days |
7 days (Return date will be given when borrowed) |
Summer From the end of term and during July and August, we put in place a Summer model for all categories of user |
14 days (New return date will be sent by email) |
14 days |
14 days (Return date will be given when borrowed) |
* This is the number of days loan if the item has a queue of requests at point of pick up, and applies when picking up items from the hold shelf.
Item | Notes |
---|---|
Photocopies | For reference use in the Library only |
Journals | For reference use in the Library only |
Closed Stack items, including York theses |
For reference use in the Library only Can be requested online for consultation |
Reference books (including government publications and statistics), microforms, maps, tapes, LPs | For reference use in the Library only |
Rare Books Collection |
For reference use in the Borthwick Institute for Archives Search Room only Can be booked |
Unlimited renewals
You can renew an item as many times as you need, as long as it hasn't been requested by another user.
Renew your items using:
Campus East book collection
A book collection service is available in the Ron Cooke Hub.
Items left will not be removed from your Library account until they arrive at the JB Morrell Library.
Any item recorded as returned late will be charged a fine.
Books are collected once a day at 10.00am, Monday to Friday.
If the box is full, please contact Hub Reception staff.
Use the self-service return machine to return items in the JB Morrell Library.
You can return books from the King's Manor Library and York Minster Library.
Books can be returned to King's Manor when it is open, or returned via the bookdrop beside the Library entrance when the Library is closed but the building is open.
You can return books from the JB Morrell Library and York Minster Library.
Health Sciences and HYMS students on placement can return items at York, Harrogate, Northallerton and Scarborough hospital libraries.
Please make sure you:
The hospital library staff will contact the University Library to arrange for the items returned to be removed from your Library account. This is usually done on the day that you hand them in at the hospital library.
If you are having difficulty getting to the Library to return books, you can post them to us at:
Help Desk
JB Morrell Library
University of York
Heslington
York
YO10 5DD
You are responsible for the book until it is returned so we recommend that you get proof of postage.
We will take the return date as being the date your parcel was date stamped by the postal service.
You may be eligible for a refund of postal charges if you’re currently on placement and have had to return a book by post as it was requested by another user.
If you think you may qualify, complete the form to request a postal charge refund. You will need to be logged in to your University Google account to access this form.
If you are unable to return an item for any reason, please see:
Please note, you do NOT need to request items if they're on the shelves and available to borrow. You can find the book and issue it your account using our self-issue machines, without any need to request items.
You can request items that are currently out on loan.
To request an item:
You can request up to 10 items at any one time.
When the item is returned, we'll email you with details of where to pick it up and how long it will be reserved for you.
If you no longer need an item you have requested:
Things to note:
You'll need your University Card or Library Card to collect your item from the hold shelf on the ground floor of Morrell. You can find your item by the code on the slip inside the book.
Your code will be made up of:
Eg For John Smith with a card number of 1234567, the code would be SMI-567.
Closed Stack items are kept in store. You can request these items online so that they can be collected for you.
To request a Closed Stack item:
Staff collect Closed Stack items regularly throughout the day.
When your item has been retrieved from the Closed Stack, we'll email you with the details of where to pick it up and how long it will be held for you.
Things to note:
We have a large collection of rare and valuable items which are kept in a secure store.
You must book these in advance via the Borthwick Institute for Archives and consult them in their Search Room. For more information see our pages.
Please cancel your request or booking if you decide you don't need the item, so that someone else can use it
We run a delivery service between the University Library, King's Manor Library and York Minster Library:
If we don't have the item you need, you can request it through our Interlending and Document Supply Service.
We will try to get the item from another library as a loan, a photocopy for you to keep, or as an electronic document.
Please use our Purchase Request Form to request items for the Library to consider purchasing for stock.
If you need material urgently, please let us know on the Purchase Request Form to allow us to prioritise, but please use this responsibly. You will be notified when we have placed the order, and again when it’s available. Ebooks are usually available within a few days of purchase but delivery times for physical items can vary.
For information on other types of request, please visit our Tell Us What You Need page.