Access Services Interest Group

  • 1.  Faculty Borrowing

    Posted Jul 06, 2021 01:29 PM

    Hello everyone,

    We are in the process of reviewing our borrowing policies for faculty, and specifically looking at how to improve the number of responses when completing inventory each year. Would you be able to share your borrowing policies for faculty? All information is appreciated. It would also be helpful if you could answer a couple of specific questions below:

    1. How often do you send overdue notices and in what format (email, physical letter, text message, etc.)?
    2. How do you hold faculty accountable for overdue or lost items when they leave the institution?

    Thank you,

    Tori



    ------------------------------
    Victoria Lieggi
    Instructional Services Librarian and Coordinator of Access Services
    Lycoming College
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: Faculty Borrowing

    Posted Jul 07, 2021 08:49 AM
    Dear Tori,

    1. How often do you send overdue notices and in what format (email, physical letter, text message, etc.)?

    At Amherst our faculty (and staff) get 1-year loans that we auto-renew so they only hear from us by automated recall emails when another patron needs a book or the library needs something for reserve. We have generous loan periods and minimal contact to maximize the response when we do reach out. We obviously have our folks who have satellite libraries in their offices, but honestly, all the books would likely not fit back on the shelves if they returned them all at once anyway.

    2. How do you hold faculty accountable for overdue or lost items when they leave the institution?

    We do not get advance notice of departures so it is really a mixed bag. We attempt regular email communication to see if a forwarding email is provided or an alternative contact in the department. That is labor intensive but does work to some extent. Retiring faculty and staff retain borrowing privileges so this is typically only an issue with visiting faculty and staff who resign.

    Best,
    Susan
    --
    Susan J. Kimball
    Head of Access Services
    Amherst College Library
    Amherst, MA 01002
    413-542-2663





  • 3.  RE: Faculty Borrowing

    Posted Jul 08, 2021 09:18 AM
    Hello! We

    1. How often do you send overdue notices and in what format (email, physical letter, text message, etc.)
      1. We send them at the same frequency and pattern as student borrowers.
    2. How do you hold faculty accountable for overdue or lost items when they leave the institution?
      1. If faculty are non responsive during or after employment, we escalate to their faculty supervisor. We keep our communications friendly and positive. If there needs to be a firmer message, we pull in the supervisor to deliver it or decide the best course of action. As their supervisor, they'll have a broader view of the employee and what may be impacting their ability to return materials.


    ------------------------------
    Mary Snyder
    Convener for ACRL - Librarianship in For-Profit Educational Institutions DG
    University Librarian @ Strayer University
    ------------------------------



  • 4.  RE: Faculty Borrowing

    Posted Jul 14, 2021 02:18 PM
    Edited by System Sep 01, 2022 01:16 PM
    Hi Tori.

    1.  Our ILS, Alma, automatically sends a courtesy, emailed, notice 2 days before the due date and the day of the due date. Another overdue notice is generated and sent electronically once a month if they still have items out and overdue, but we can generate a automatic message at any time to remind them they have overdue materials.

    2.  Faculty can lend items for 6 months with 1 renewal. After that, if they still want them, they have to come in to the desk and recheck them out. Just so we have a visual. Faculty also do not accrue fines, only replacement costs for lost or damaged items.  To those who leave the institution, the Access Services Dept Head receives a month report of faculty and their contract ending dates. This terminated employee report is generated in Workday. Though, perhaps this might be something HR could send to you on a monthly basis? That way, we have some time to contact the faculty and make plans for any items that need to be returned. If they have already left, we then contact the department head for other forms of contact or for the department to take responsibility. 

    Hope this helps!

    Sincerely,

    Jill Westover
    Resource Sharing Librarian
    Worcester Polytechnic Institute

    ------------------------------
    Jill Westover
    Resource Sharing Librarian
    Worcester Polytechnic Institute
    ------------------------------