circulation services/policies

The Circulation Services desk is found in the Great Hall of the Library.  The Circulation Services department is where books are checked out, returned and renewed, and overdue fines are paid.  Reserve materials for specific courses are found at the Circulation Services desk, and forms for requesting books and articles can be submitted at the desk. 

library registration

Members of the Stevens community must register with the Circulation Services department in order to borrow books & reserve materials. Application forms are available at the Circulation Services desk. A valid Stevens i.d. card becomes the patron's library i.d. Circulation Services transactions are activated via the patron's Stevens i.d. #.

reserve materials

Reserve Books

Certain items that prove to be high-demand/high-usage are housed separately from the regular collection and have a shorter borrowing period to facilitate fair access. Selected titles are entered into the Reserve Collection at the request of faculty or Library Staff and are shelved behind the Circulation Services desk. Reserve books can be borrowed for 2 hours and can only be used in the Library. Faculty seeking to place Library Books on reserve must complete a Reserve Book Form. The Library will then take care of either pulling books from the shelves or ordering them if necessary. Forms should be completed as thoroughly as possible. Forms and material should be sent to the attention of John Cruz.

Reserve Course Materials

Reserve course materials include homework assignments, examination questions & answers, old examinations, etc., that faculty have placed on Reserve in order to provide convenient access for their students. These materials, arranged by Course #, can be borrowed for 2 hours and can only be used in the Library. Faculty wanting to place course material on reserve should complete a Course Material Reserve Form and submit it along with the material being sent to the Library. Please note that it is important that all items on the form be completed as thoroughly as possible. Forms and material should be sent to the attention of John Cruz.

Reserve Periodicals

A small number of popular periodical titles are kept at the Circulation Desk for a current rolling 3-month period. Reserve periodicals can be borrowed for 2 hours & can only be used in the Library.

non-circulating items

loan periods for specific items

Faculty may borrow both regular and new books for 120 days. 

Stevens students and staff may borrow material as follows:  

book renewals

In general, circulating books can be renewed for 28-day periods (or 7-day periods for new books). Faculty may renew all books for 120-day periods. However, a book may not be renewed if it meets either of the following conditions:

1. The book has a hold placed on it;
2. The patron owes a total of $1.00 in overdue fines.

In these cases, the hold or fine must be cleared before a patron can renew a book. Books can be renewed at the Circulation Services desk and online. Patrons must now obtain Library PIN numbers to renew books online using the Online Catalog, and to check due dates or the amount of overdue fines on their books. Patrons must first register in-person for Library usage privileges at the Circulation Services desk. Patrons will fill out a registration/application card, and their information will be entered into the Library system.

For information on obtaining a PIN number for your Library account, see the request a PIN section on this page.

From the My Account page, users may click on Review My Account to see what books the patron has charged out, the due dates of those books, and any overdue fines.

Renew My Materials allows the online renewal of some or all of the books currently charged out by the patron.  Renewals cannot be processed over the telephone.

Circulating books may be renewed up to 10 times.

overdue fines

• Overdue fines for faculty are 25¢ per book per day. Faculty fines for failure to return a recalled book are $1.00 per book per day from the time the notice is sent. No exceptions are made for weekends, holidays, etc.
• The fine for overdue Circulating books is 10c per book per day. No exceptions are made for weekends, holidays, etc.
• If a patron owes a total of $1 or more in fines, his/her borrowing privileges will be revoked until fines are cleared.
• An overdue notice will be sent once a week for three weeks. If fines go unpaid after the final billing notice is sent, the status of the overdue book converts to "Lost and Paid" and replacement costs are charged, as per the library's lost book policy.

lost book policy

The replacement cost for lost books that have been published within the previous five calendar years will be the full cost of the lost book plus a $20 processing charge plus any overdue fines that have accrued. The replacement cost for books with a publication date prior to the previous five calendar years will be $100 plus a $20 processing charge plus any overdue fines that have accrued. The library will not accept replacement copies of lost books purchased by the user responsible for the lost item.

Institutional Action: Students. If a student does not pay overdue fine & replacement costs within notification period, the student will be billed directly from the library through Student Financial Services. The student’s account will be charged the required amount.

Institutional Action: Faculty & Staff. If a faculty or staff member does not pay overdue fine & replacement costs within the notification period, the department will be charged for the required amount through interdepartmental transfer.

Clearing Fines & Payments: Before institutional action is taken, payments to the Library for missing books can be made in cash, by check or DuckBill$. Patrons are encouraged to return overdue books even if they are unable to make payments at that time. If the person responsible for the missing item finds the item after the library has ordered a replacement copy, the replacement costs will not be refunded to the user.

requesting Stevens thesis/dissertations

This collection consists of Theses, Dissertations and Senior Design Projects and Reports written by Stevens students and dates as far back as 1873. Records appear in the Library Online Catalog beginning with 1916.

The collection does not circulate but can be accessed by completing and submitting a Thesis Request Form (copies are also available at the Library Circulation Services desk) to Doris Oliver, by handing it to the Circulation Services desk staff.  Forms must be completed as thoroughly as possible. When material is available (usually within 24 hours), the patron will be notified either by email or telephone.  The patron can pick up the material at the Circulation Services desk for use inside the library building only.  Ph.D. Dissertations are also available on microfilm and are located on the 3rd floor of the Library in room 322.

Users within the Stevens network can download the full text of Stevens dissertations from 1996 to the present by visiting Proquest's Dissertations & Theses collection http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/stevens-tech/main/. Dissertations are found by changing the Database to "interdisciplinary - Dissertations & Theses".  Some recent dissertations are linked to this collection in their catalog record.

Users may also search citations and abstracts of dissertations and theses submitted to Proquest by Stevens and published in UMI's Dissertation Abstracts database, available through FirstSearch.

To submit your thesis or dissertation, please see the instructions for
submitting a thesis, dissertation, senior design project or report in the Library Services portion of the website.

request a PIN

A PIN is automatically generated when the patron's information is entered into the Library system. To obtain this PIN number, contact Circulation Services Manager John Cruz. When patrons have received their 4-digit PIN, they can renew their books by going to the Online Catalog and selecting My Account at the top right of the screen.

To change a PIN, from the My Account page, select the User PIN Change.

holds/recalls

Users can place a hold on a book when it is checked out to someone else to ensure it is returned by the due date.

A hold prevents the book from being renewed by the original borrower, and requires that it must be returned by the due date.  Once a book "on hold" has been returned to the library, the requester will be notified through email that the book is ready for pick-up.

To place a book on hold, users can pick up a book hold form available at the circulation desk or online in the library catalog when viewing a book detail record.

Users can place a recall on a book when it is checked out by someone else only if the book has been renewed at least once prior by the original borrower, to ensure that the borrower has had adequate time to use the book.  The original borrower will be notified of the recall and the new due date.

Fines for failure to return a recalled book are $1.00 per book per day from the time the notice is sent.  All books are subject to recall.

To recall a book, users can fill out a form available at the circulation desk.