Library Policies
If you have any questions, please contact the librarians at library@alverno.edu.
Textbooks Collection (Course Reserves)
3 Day Loan Period
No Renewals
$2/Day Overdue
- Course reserve items, including textbooks, fiction, DVDs, and other physical materials assigned in active courses are available to students for a 3 day loan period.
- Faculty, staff, community members, and students on leave cannot check out these items.
- Course reserve items cannot leave the Help Desk unless they are checked out to a student, even if the student only plans to use the item in the Library.
- As these items are assigned in courses, they must be available to as many students in the course as possible.
- Course reserve items cannot be renewed under any circumstances.
- After returning a course reserve item, the patron's account will not allow the item to be checked out again for one hour, allowing other students in the course the opportunity to check out the book. This lock cannot be overridden.
- Course reserve items accrue overdue fines at a rate of $2.00 per day.
- The replacement fee for every lost or damaged course reserve item is $100. Replacement copies with an identical ISBN can sometimes be purchased in lieu of paying this fee, but must always be arranged in advance by contacting the librarians at library@alverno.edu.
Other Library Collections
End of Term Loans
No Renewals
No Overdue Fines
- Items in the Library's Teaching Materials Collection, Picture Books, YA & Adult Fiction, Music Scores Collection, Disc Cabinet, and Stacks locations have a loan period until the end of term.
- Since these items circulate for up to 4 months at a time, no renewals are allowed.
- Items in these collections can be placed on hold using TOPCAT. If a hold is placed on an item that is already checked out, the patron who has the item will be given 21 days to return it for the patron who has requested it. Once the item is returned, it will immediately be placed on the hold shelf for the requester.
- These items do not accrue overdue fines, but do still accrue a $100 replacement fee if an item is lost, stolen, or damaged. The lost item fee will automatically be waived if the item is returned.
Equipment Policies
28 Day Initial Loans
3 Renewals Maximum
No Overdue Fines
- All equipment has an initial standard loan period of 28 days with a maximum of three renewals.
- Most equipment can be checked out to Alverno students, staff, and faculty. Photo ID is required.
- Laptops are only available to actively enrolled students of Alverno College with no exceptions. Employees in need of a loaner laptop should contact Technology Services.
- Community patrons, including alumni, are not able to check out equipment.
- Although we do not charge a daily overdue fine for equipment, these items are marked "Lost" immediately if not returned on the due date. Lost items incur an item
replacement fee based on the current price of the same or comparable equipment.
- Item replacement fees are automatically waived if the item is returned undamaged.
- If an item cannot be returned on time due to extenuating circumstances, please contact the librarians at library@alverno.edu.
- Patrons with more than $20 in fines on their account cannot check out equipment until their balance is paid off.
- All equipment must be picked up from and returned to the Library Help Desk.
- We are unable to ship items directly to patrons or to the Mesa campus.
- Equipment will not be considered returned until a library employee has checked it in.
- Patrons are responsible for paying the replacement cost of items that are not returned to an employee and are lost, stolen, or damaged.
- The Library's book drops are not secure locations to return equipment. If equipment must be returned outside of the Library's hours, please contact the librarians at library@alverno.edu to arrange this in advance.
General Library Policies
- Alverno College Library accepts non-perishable food and hygiene product donations for the Alverno College Food Pantry in lieu of cash for overdue item fees.
- Each donation accepted by a librarian will result in $2.00 of waived fines.
- Food Pantry donations cannot be used to pay lost item fees or overdue fees for items borrowed from institutions other than Alverno College Library.
- Community members, including faculty emeriti and alums, are able to apply for a community card with the library that allows access to Alverno and other SWITCH items for checkout.
- Community members who wish to access library databases may do so by visiting the library in person. Per the terms of our licensing agreements with vendors, community members cannot access library databases from off-campus and may not use interlibrary loan services.
- Community cards also do not grant access to resources reserved exclusively for students, such as study room reservations and equipment checkouts.
- Community cards require a valid ID and email address.
- For information on how to reserve a study room, please visit our Study Rooms page.
- Students may reserve a study room for a maximum of 2 hours.
- Each reservation must be made at least one hour in advance as a courtesy to walk-in patrons.
- The rooms are first-come, first-served when there are no reservations, but it is each student's responsibility to check EMS and make sure the room is not reserved before entering and at least once each hour they are in a study room.
- Patrons are welcome to use study rooms without a reservation on a first-come, first-served basis, but will be asked to leave if a group with a valid reservation comes in. Additionally, walk-in users only have claim to a study room while physically present in the room. If walk-in users choose to vacate a room, they forfeit their claim to that room regardless of any personal items left behind.
- The Library is not responsible for unattended items and reserves the right to ask Campus Safety & Security, located in Founders Hall Room 254, to remove any such items.
- Food and drinks in containers with lids are allowed in library spaces. Library patrons are expected to clean up after themselves and notify staff of any spills.
- The Library is an active workspace for students and is not intended to be a silent study space. Parts of the library that are usually quieter include behind the glass wall in the Reading Room and at the north end of each floor of the stacks.
- Conversations should be kept at a low speaking volume to avoid disturbing others. Groups in need of louder collaborative spaces are encouraged to reserve a study room for their group work.
- Headphones are required whenever listening to music or watching videos in common areas as a courtesy to other library patrons. Headphones are available for checkout at the Help Desk
- Unless the LCC is currently in use for a class, the door should remain open at all times so that anyone may use it.
- Faculty or staff wishing to reserve the LCC can use the EMS desktop client to make their request or they may contact a librarian.
- Adult community members are welcome to use the library’s computers, wifi, and in-house materials. Community members who wish to check out items may sign up for a community card. Library databases are not accessible to community card holders off-campus.
- Children are allowed in the library only with the supervision of a parent or guardian. If a child becomes loud or disturbs others, both the adult and child will be asked to leave. The parent or guardian is responsible for the safety and well-being of the child and no children may be left unattended.
- Anyone wishing to film or photograph any part of the library should fill out this form at least one business day prior to the requested filming date. This will allow the library to prepare for your visit and determine if any special requests can be accommodated
- For financial reporting reasons, the library no longer accepts donations of books or other materials from outside of Alverno College, including from current students and alums.
- Other departments within the college who would like to transfer ownership of college materials to the library may reach out to the librarians at library@alverno.edu to determine if the library will accept their items. We will typically only add items to our collection if they are assigned in current course offerings.
Patron Privacy Policies
Alverno College Library understands that borrowing history, research help questions, and other library use data may contain sensitive information about our patrons. Confidentiality of patron information is a core tenet of librarianship and we take this professional obligation seriously. Identifying patron information is stored securely within Library systems that cannot be accessed by others at the college except in cases the patron has agreed to (such as using Interlibrary Loan to borrow a book from another institution.) More information about the types of data we collect and how this data is used can be found below.
- Data from all item checkouts and returns ("circulation") is stored electronically under each patron's unique barcode and account ID.
- This data is collected, anonymized, and aggregated on a monthly basis by the SWITCH Consortium Coordinator to create use reports based on patron status (student, faculty/staff, or community member.)
- Our system, Ex Libris Alma, permanently deletes circulation data (excluding active loans) that is more than 35 days old on a nightly basis. Active loans remain on all accounts until the item is returned. Thirty-five days after an item is returned, its associated circulation data tied to a patron's account ID will be deleted and cannot be recovered by either the Library or Ex Libris.
- "Headcount" is an hourly count of the number of patrons utilizing library spaces, including the Library Computer Center (FO-245) and the library's study rooms (FO-236, -238, -240, and -243.)
- Headcount data is collected primarily to gauge use of library spaces during current operating hours. This data ensures that our hours of operation match community needs and provides evidence for altering hours of operation as needed.
- Headcount data is also used to make determinations about the use of library spaces, including needs for furniture and equipment.
- No personally identifiable information is collected in Headcount data.
- All interactions with patrons are tracked and briefly described by both student workers and librarians through a Google Form.
- The Patron Interaction Form collects information about the mode of interaction (e.g. in person, phone, email, Zoom, etc.,) what the question was about (e.g. circulation, research help, technology problems, etc.,) and, if known, the status of the patron (e.g. undergraduate, graduate, faculty, etc.)
- Emails sent to library@alverno.edu are accessible by librarians only, never by student workers, and are deleted at the end of each semester (spring, summer, and fall.) Unlike deleted records in Ex Libris, deleted emails to or from any Alverno account can be recovered by Technology Services and/or law enforcement.
- No personally identifiable information is collected in the Patron Interaction Form.
- This data is collected to verify usage of all library services, determine staffing levels and budgetary needs of the Library, and identify recurring questions and consistent patron needs.
- When requests for materials are sent to other SWITCH members, personally identifiable information including first and last name, school affiliation, and barcode ID of the requester are printed on each hold shelf request slip enclosed in requested materials. This slip is given to the patron when the item is picked up from the hold shelf.
- When requests for materials are sent to partner schools outside of SWITCH, personally identifiable information is included in the request uploaded to WorldShare Interlibrary Loan, the platform the Library uses for Interlibrary Loan, but it is not shared with other libraries. WorldShare deletes all patron data every 30 days.
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In the event a request slip is printed twice or an item is not picked up before the deadline, the request slip and any other paper documentation
including identifiable information are securely shredded.
- In cases of harassment, inappropriate behavior, or egregious violations of Alverno College Library or Alverno College policy, librarians will notify Alverno College Campus Safety & Security and/or the Dean of Students Office and may include relevant information about the responsible parties.
- Charges for lost items owned by other libraries (including SWITCH, other partner libraries, and interlibrary loan lenders) are reported to the Alverno College Business Office after 60 days only if the patron has not responded to the library’s attempts to discuss payment. This information will never include information about the lost items and will only list the charges.
- Student workers will never provide information to anyone, including law enforcement, concerning patrons. Anyone seeking information about library patrons must contact the librarians directly. Librarians will uphold FERPA and our profession's commitment to patron confidentiality and will only honor ethical and necessary requests for confidential information.
