Borrowing for Oregon Card Program and Partner Libraries

Borrowing for General Community Members and Partner Libraries

Policies on this page pertain to general community borrowers who participate in our Oregon Card Program, as well as students, staff, and faculty visiting from partner libraries and reciprocal programs.

Our Oregon Card Program

UO Libraries offers borrowing privileges to Oregon and Southwest Washington* residents 16 years and older through the Oregon Card Program (proof of age and current mailing address required when registering). Photo ID must be presented when borrowing materials.

*Current Washington Counties include: Clark County, Klickitat County, Skamania County, and some areas of Cowlitz County: Cities of Ariel, Cougar or Woodland, and Yale Precinct.

Students, Staff and Faculty from Partner Libraries

Through a reciprocal agreement, UO Libraries offers borrowing privileges to employees and students at Bushnell University and Gutenberg College. When you register as a borrower at UO Libraries, bring your current student or employee ID card and be prepared to log into your home library account. Members of the Greater Western Library Alliance, and Orbis Cascade Alliance please see your policies on this page. 

Borrower Responsibilities

  • Borrowers are responsible for knowing the due date of library material that is checked out to their account and for returning material on time
  • All items are subject to recall by other library users; if material is  recalled the borrower will receive an email notification with a new and shortened due date
  • Borrowing notifications are sent to the e-mail address provided upon registration 

Loan Periods

  • Books: 3 weeks
  • Audio recordings: 6 days
  • Videos:
    • Most are a 4 hour check out (in-library use)
    • Portland Video Collection 7 days
    • Some special video collections are not available for public use, for example the Law Video Collection.
  • Interlibrary Loan material (for Oregon Card Program borrowers only): Due date determined by the lending library
  • Course Reserves and equipment loans:  Hourly loans on limited equipment.
  • Renewals: Eligible material will renew automatically unless requested by another user, the account has expired, or the maximum loan period has been reached. 
  • When the maximum loan period has been reached, users will be sent a courtesy email notification

Limits

  • Up to 10 items checked out
  • Up to 10 holds on items checked out to other borrowers
  • Some collections do not circulate to public users (for example, the Law Popular reading collection)

Fees and Overdue Fines

  • Interlibrary Loan fee (Oregon Card Program borrowers only): $15 per request plus any copyright or other charges assessed by the lending library
  • Overdue Books and ILL material: $.50/day 
  • Overdue Portland Video and Audio recordings: $2/day
  • Overdue recalled material: $5/day
  • Overdue equipment: Varies
  • Overdue course reserves material and hourly video checkouts: $3/hour
  • Damaged or lost items: Repair or replacement charge plus a $20 service charge, and any applicable overdue fines. 

If you believe library charges have accrued on your account in error, or you were unable to return items on time due to extenuating circumstances, you may Appeal Library Fines or Fees. Submissions will be reviewed by library staff, and you can expect a response within one week.

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