Reserves

Information for Students

Hours

The Circulation/Reserves service desk, located on the lower level of Du Bois Library in the Learning Commons is open all hours that the Du Bois is open.

 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.

To save time, it is recommended that you search the Library Catalog by instructor, course or title of the work to identify reserve materials before approaching the service desk. New quick lookup computers are available adjacent to the new Circulation/Reserve Service Desk on the Lower Level where you can find the call numbers of the items you need.

 Loan Policy

The loan period for items placed on course reserve is 3 Hours. Loan periods and rules are noted on each item and in the Library Catalog listing for each course. 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.  Books and Media Reserve items with a 3 hour loan period may be checked out overnight on Friday and Saturday nights only after 7 p.m. and are due within one hour of the Libraries opening the next morning. Some materials may be restricted to In-Library-Use only. Please ask your course instructor to make arrangements in advance with the Reserves Office in writing or by email to mreserve@library.umass.edu if you wish to use any Reserve material for longer than the standard loan period.. 

 Renewals

Return reserve material by the end of the loan period in person.  It cannot be renewed by phone or email. If no one has asked for the material, you may borrow it again.

 Late Fees and Bills

Reserve late fees are $10.00 per hour or the fraction of the hour for 3 hour loans, 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.  Appeals for late fees are conducted via a special email account, appealsrmm@library.umass.edu where a committee will review your appeal and send you their decision.  Appeals are granted only for extraordinary circumstances. Please note that if you give the item to a third party to return, and that individual does not return it on time, or at all, you are still held responsible for any late fees or replacement charges that are incurred. 

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 at the Circulation/Reserves Service Desk.

What type of material may you place on reserve? Please be aware that Circulation/Reserves will no longer put shorter readings on print reserve in the form of folders.  Instead, these readings will be available only on electronic reserve.  The library will continue to accept coursepacks (for the semester currently in session only) and loose-leaf binders containing class notes, homework assignments and solutions, lecture notes or past semester sample exams and quizzes.  Journal articles and book chapters that are subject to copyright or permissions needed to be used for classroom use must go on electronic reserve and are subject to the length limitations outlined by present copyright law and outlined in our copyright policy.

• Library-owned books
• Personal copies of books
• 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 suggested guidelines for submitting Reserve Forms to ensure your readings are available for the first day of class?

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 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.