Students: Hours | Borrowing | Loan Policy | Renewals | Fines and Bills | Photocopiers | Electronic Reserves
Faculty: Putting Material on Reserve | Deadlines | Library Books and Personal Copies | Electronic Reserves
Instructors place books, articles, videos, DVDs, lectures on audiocassette and CD-ROM, and sample exams on reserve each semester for use by students in their courses. Since these items are often in demand by a large number of students, loan periods are short and overdue fines are high.
Information for Students
Hours
See listings for Reserves/Media on the Library's schedule of hours. Staff office hours are Monday - Friday: 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Borrowing
You must have a valid UMass Amherst ID card (UCard), a Four College ID card, or a State Borrowers Card in order to use reserve materials.
Search the Library Catalog by instructor or course to identify reserve materials. Computers are available in Reserves/Media for searching the Library Catalog.
Loan Policy
Instructors choose the loan periods for items on reserve for courses: 2 hour with no overnight; 2 hour and overnight (if checked out within two hours of closing); or 3 day. Loan periods and rules are noted on each item and in the Library Catalog listing for each course. Items that check out overnight are due back no later than one hour after the Library opens.
Equipment is provided in the Library to view or listen to audiovisual materials that are on reserve for a course.
Reserve material is available on a first come, first serve basis, and may not be reserved in advance.
If extenuating circumstances require an exception to the loan policy, ask your course instructor to make arrangements in advance with the Reserves Office in writing or by email to mreserve@library.umass.edu.
Renewals
Return reserve material by the end of the loan period in person rather than by phone or email. If no one has asked for the material, you may borrow it again.
Fines and Bills
Reserve fines are $10.00 per hour for 2 hour and overnight loans, up to a $150.00 maximum; and $50.00 per day for 3 day loans, also up to a $150.00 maximum. The replacement charge for unreturned or lost material is $200.00 per item. If you have been issued a replacement bill but then return the material, the charge will be reduced to $150.00.
Photocopiers
Floor 3 houses multiple photocopiers that accept UCard, change, or bills. For more information, please see Photocopying and Printing in the Libraries.
Electronic Reserves
If your course offers electronic reserves, please ask your instructor for a password and access directions. Passwords are not available through the library.
Information for Faculty
Who may put material on reserve?
Instructors of graduate or undergraduate courses at UMass Amherst.
Submitting Reserve Requests
Please see our Faculty Request Forms to submit reserve requests online, or to print out copies of forms. Paper copies of the forms are also available in the Reserves Office.
What type of material may you place on reserve?
- Library-owned books
- Personal copies of books
- Photocopies (i.e. articles, sample term papers, manuscripts, book excerpts)
- Past semester/sample exams and quizzes
- Homework assignments and solutions
- Lecture notes and course syllabi
- Audiocassette and CD-ROM recordings of lectures
- Videos and DVDs - To place UMass or 4 College videos and DVDs on reserve, submit a Film & Video Request Form or email avreserves@library.umass.edu.
Please see our Copyright Policy and FAQ for detailed information about which materials may be placed on reserve.
What are our deadlines for submitting Reserve Forms?
Fall semester: May 31st
Spring semester: December 4th
Winter and Summer sessions: 4 weeks prior to the first day of class.
Faculty may submit reserve lists at any time after a deadline is past and throughout the term. All lists will be processed in order of receipt and as quickly as possible. Reserves typically experiences a backlog at the beginning of each term, but once this is cleared, material is usually processed within 24 hours of submission.
How can I get books not found in the Library collection?
The Library will order copies of books to be placed on reserve. The Library does not order copies of textbooks, but faculty members are encouraged to place personal copies of textbooks on reserve.
Book orders should be noted on the request form. Please include all pertinent bibliographic data (author, title, place, publisher, date, ISBN). New book orders typically take 4 to 6 weeks to fulfill.
Electronic Reserves
Please see our Electronic Reserves web page for information on ereserves. Choose "Ereserves Processing Forms" to display a list of online, MSWord, and PDF forms to submit with copies of book chapters and journal articles.
To contact Electronic Reserves staff, please call (413) 545-6875, or email ereserves@library.umass.edu.
