University Librarians Advisory Council

Cooperative Direct Borrowing Agreement

This COOPERATIVE LIBRARY LENDING AGREEMENT brings together the participating libraries of the constituent institutions of the University of North Carolina in a cooperative direct borrowing program that constitutes one aspect of a policy of broad sharing of library resources.

PERSONS ELIGIBLE AND REGISTRATION PROCEDURES

Eligible participants in this program include faculty, students, and staff who can be identified in their home library’s patron database. To facilitate this identification a UNC Patron Authentication web page has been created. It is currently located at http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/borrow/unc/. It is the responsibility of the home library to maintain on the UNC Patron Authentication page current information about the classes and statuses of individuals who can borrow library materials under this agreement. It is the responsibility of the home library to insure that their patrons receive instruction on how to access their patron records and that this information is available on its website.

Once it has been determined that a patron is eligible to borrow library materials under this agreement, the lending library is responsible for registering the borrower in its own database as a ULAC Cooperative Borrower. Policies governing the ULAC Cooperative Borrower class are to be determined by the lending library. Patrons must present a photo ID at registration and checkout to allow patron identification.

LIBRARY PRIVILEGES

Privileges shall include bookstack access and home-use borrowing. All materials borrowed under this agreement shall be subject to the ULAC Cooperative Borrower patron class guidelines of the lending library. All loan procedures and all charges assessed the cooperative user for overdue books, lost books, or damaged materials shall likewise, be based on the policies of the lending library.

The lending library reserves the right to refuse borrowing and building-use privileges to any individual who violates the regulations of that library. Any library may deny cooperative borrowing privileges to any prospective borrower who is delinquent at his or her home library or in any of the cooperating libraries.

COOPERATIVE MEMBER RESPONSIBILITIES

The lending library is responsible for collecting fines and, where appropriate, replacement and processing costs from delinquent patrons. If all reasonable attempts to retrieve library materials from patrons are unsuccessful, the home library will reimburse the lending library for the materials and processing costs. The home library will not be responsible for paying the lending library for fines accrued.

The lending library shall set policies regarding the collection of delinquent fines and reimbursement. These policies should be posted by the lending library on its Patron Authentication page.

Adopted by the University Librarians Advisory Council May 23, 2003.