Library Assist: Answers

Library books will automatically renew every day for up to a year - unless requested by another borrower.

You will not be able to renew your books yourself, because there is no need for you do so.

How do automatic renewals work?

1. When you loan/borrow an item it will be given an initial due date.
2. This is usually 8 days from the day you loaned it (though some items will be longer e.g. books from the fiction collection).
3. The system will then automatically check every night to see if it has been recalled for another borrower - if it hasn't, the due date will be added to by one extra day.

It is a rolling due date. For example:

• Item loaned 4th February 2022 - initial due date is 12th February
• If not recalled on the 5th February - due date changes to the 13th February
• If not recalled on the 6th February - due date changes to the 14th February
• And so on...

4. This will happen every night for up to a year from when you first borrowed it, unless something stops the process.
5. In this way, you will always have one week in which to return a book to the Library if we tell you we need it back.

How will I know if my book(s) have stopped renewing?

• The Library will email you to let you know.
• Please note the Library uses your University outlook email address (which is not the same as the inbox in Canvas).
• If you are a current student, you can view the items you have on loan and their due dates in your My Account within the Library Catalogue.
• If your course has ended then this will not be possible, so please contact the Library if you still have books on loan.

Please see the FAQ 'Why hasn't my Library book renewed?' to read more about why the automatic renewal process can fail.

If your books have stopped renewing and you don't know why, please contact the Library as soon as possible.

I need my books for a guaranteed length of time, can the Library extend the due date by weeks or months?

• Unfortunately the Library cannot manually change the date on your items.
• You will need to allow the automatic renewal process to control the due date, and hope that no other student requests an item you have.

Why is there a 'renew' option in my Library Account if books renew automatically?

• This is something that appears as standard within the software, it's unfortunately not possible for us to remove it.
• It cannot be used to renew your items because we use automatic renewals! If you press it you will see the error message: "The due date is already set to the renewed due date", which means the item is already due as far into the future as is possible.