General Information - Lending Policy
Article 1. General considerations
1.1 The loan is personal and non-transferable and requires identification of the user. In order to use the Loan Service, the user must present the University card that accredits him/her as a member of the university community. Users who are not members of the University community must present their Library card together with their ID card.
1.2 Documents whose special characteristics so determine (incunabula, antiquarian collections, reference works, dictionaries, encyclopaedias, journals, pamphlets, theses, dissertations and final degree projects) may only be consulted in the Library premises.
1.3 The home lending policy for the open access collections of the Reading Rooms will be the same for all types of users.
1.4 For the loan of tests, it is necessary to present a signed authorisation from the teacher recommending their use. The authorisation form is available at the Library counters.
1.5 For those items that cannot be borrowed at home, they may be consulted in the reading room. Library staff will reserve documents for use in the reading room from one day to the next for users who request them.
1.6 Users may request documents from any of the branches of the Library Service and choose the desk where they wish to collect them for consultation or home loan. Similarly, they may return borrowed documents at any of the counters (Alberto Aguilera, 23 and 25, Cantoblanco and San Juan de Dios).
1.7 The Library Service may request the return of a loan, even if the term has not expired, from those users whose loan policy exceeds 8 days, in order to facilitate consultation by another user for a period of no more than 5 days.
Article 2. Home lending deadlines
| USER TYPE | VOLUMES | LENDING PERIOD |
|---|---|---|
| Undergraduate students | 6 | 15 days |
| Postgraduate and Master's students | 10 | 60 days |
| Doctorate students | 15 | 60 days |
| Alumnni | 6 | 15 days |
| User of the Affiliated Centre | 6 | 15 days |
| Dedicated PDI | 30 | 90 days |
| PDI Partial Dedication* 15 | 15 | 90 days |
| Retired or Emeritus Professors | 30 | 90 days |
| Visiting Professors | 30 | 90 days |
| Jesuits linked to UPCO | 30 | 90 days |
| PAS | 10 | 30 days |
| Visitors with ID card** 3 | 3 | 15 days |
*Part-time lecturers and students on courses lasting less than one academic year may use all the Library's services for theduration of the course in question. The period of validity of the card will be the duration of the corresponding course. They are obliged to communicate this information to the Library staff.
**Visitorswith a library card: A person from outside the university community who needs to use the library. The Library Service will issue a card, valid for a maximum of one year, provided that the reasons for the request are considered justified.
2.2 Documents published prior to 1990 may be subject to special loan with the approval of the Director of the Library Service or the person he/she delegates.
Article 3. Room lending
3.1 This category includes those collections that are not subject to home lending and may only be consulted in the Library premises:
- Documents prior to 1990.
- Incunabula and antiquarian collections.
- Reference works from the Reading Room, dictionaries, encyclopaedias, journals, pamphlets, doctoral theses, dissertations and final degree projects.
- Those collections that, due to their special characteristics, are determined by the Library Service Management.
Article 4. Reservations
4.1 Reservation means the possibility of requesting in advance a work from the catalogue that is on loan at the time of consultation.
4.2 When the work is available, the Library Service will immediately notify the user, who has 3 days to borrow it. Once this period has elapsed, the document will be returned to the second reservation request, if there is one, or it will be returned to the deposit.
Article 5. Renewals
5.1 Renewable loans may be renewed by users via the website, by telephone and email or at any of the Library Service desks.
5.2 The Library Service will inform users by email that the loan period is about to expire.
5.3 A loan may be renewed two days before the loan is due to expire and only if it has not been reserved by another user.
Article 6. Obligations of users
6.1 The user who has documents on loan must ensure their integrity and good conservation and warn the Library staff, at the time of loan, of any damage observed in the same.
6.2 The user is obliged to return the document to the Library, once the loan has ended, in the same physical condition in which it was lent.
Article 7. Penalties
In order to guarantee the proper functioning of the lending service, the following system of sanctions is established in accordance with the provisions of Title IV. Infringements and Sanctions, of the Library Service Regulations.
7.1 The late return of documents will be sanctioned with a day's suspension of the loan, during which time the user will not be able to use this Service. One day's suspension will be applied for each day of delay and for each copy that the User has in his/her possession outside the loan date.
7.2 No sanction will be imposed in the event that the impossibility of returning the item within the deadline is duly justified.
7.3 Repeated failure to return documents within the established deadline will lead to the suspension of the right to use the loan service for a period of three to six months.
7.4 In the event of loss, non-return within one month of expiry of the loan, or deterioration of the collection, the user is obliged to return another copy of the missing, unreturned or deteriorated work. If this is not possible, because the work is out of print and/or difficult to acquire, the user will pay the amount estimated by the Library Service to be equivalent to the value of the document or, where appropriate, will pay the costs incurred in its restoration, without prejudice to the sanctions that, as a very serious offence, would be applicable in accordance with the provisions of the University's General Regulations.