What you said:

What we're doing:

More books and longer loans for graduate students.

Done! Grad students can now borrow up to 100 books with a loan period of 120 days.

3 Renewals for books is not enough!

In progress! We will increase it to 5 renewals for all users. This won’t change the loan period and books can still be recalled if requested by another user. This means however that undergraduates can borrow books for 21 days, and will be able to renew them five times to a maximum of 126 days. Faculty have a loan period of 120 days and will be able to renew them five times to a maximum of 720 days.

More Textbooks! 3 Hours is not enough!

In progress. We keep track of use and try to buy additional copies of in-demand titles. For items where we already have many copies, we are considering extending the loan period. We will do our best, but the Libraries' collection will never provide a full substitute for owning your own textbook.

The course reserve room at Webster looks really great! Is it possible to open one at Vanier?

In progress. We’re happy that you like the Webster Reserves Room. Currently there are plans to build a 24-hour reserves room at Vanier. We will be announcing our construction schedule shortly!

The circulation desk is always closed when I come to pick up my holds. Can you keep it open longer?

We don’t have the staff at the moment to increase our service hours.

However, at the Webster library, we were able to implement a public holds shelf. You can now pick up your books yourself and use a self-check-out machine when the desk is closed.

I find the organizational system difficult to understand and can never find the books I want on the shelf. You should have people on each floor to help with finding books.

Unfortunately, we do not have the staff to station people full-time on each floor. You can ask at the Circulation Desk if you are having difficulty locating items. Also, if you encounter staff members re-shelving books, you can ask them for help as well.

Can the due date notices come 5 days before the item is due back? Right now it comes 2 days and that isn’t always enough time to get it back.

We need to find a balance with the courtesy notices – if we send them too soon, they get disregarded. If possible, when you know you can’t return the book by the due date, you can renew it online yourself and extend the due date.

Books that get transferred from the other campus are not being held long enough. Sometimes I can’t make it in during the days it will be on the hold shelf. Please hold them for 5-7 days!

Again, a lot of our policies are trying to strike a balance that is most beneficial to all users. If we keep items on the hold shelf for a week, that means they are not available to other patrons who might need to use them. If you know you won’t have time to come in and retrieve your holds, you can cancel the hold and then place another hold on the item immediately. As long as no one else has requested the item, it will then stay on the hold shelf for another 3 days.

Eliminate fines! They are disrespectful given how busy we are.

The library collection is shared by all students and faculty and these rules are necessary to help support the equitable use of collections. We believe that the loan periods coupled with the option to renew (when not requested by another user) is sufficient for most work and research. For example, with renewals an undergraduate student can have a library book for 84 days. Faculty, with renewals, can have a library book for 480 days.

To avoid paying fines, you can simply renew your books online. However, we understand that there might be situations beyond your control that might make it impossible for you to return library material on time. If this occurs, please contact Circulation Services to make special arrangements.

Is there some way we can pay our fines online?

In progress. At the moment, it is not possible to pay for fines online. We are looking into software options that are compatible with our system.

I’ve heard of other libraries that deliver books directly to your office instead of being forced to go to the library to pick it up. Why can’t we do something similar?

We understand that time is limited, especially when the semester starts to pick-up. At the moment we do not offer such a delivery service and we unfortunately don’t have time to devote to a feasibility study. We have received similar comments in the past and will keep it on the list of items to consider for future services.

It would be nice if you could put a book return drop somewhere accessible by car for easy returns.

Logistically getting a return box on the sidewalk is complicated. To have it be in an area that is secure, accessible by car and feasible for staff to regularly empty is not possible at this time and it would require, among other things, a permit from the city.