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 Bushnell University and Gutenberg College.
Who can sign up, and what do I need to bring to sign up?
Residents of Oregon and Select Washington Counties
UO Libraries offers borrowing privileges to Oregon and Southwest Washington* residents 16 years and older through the Oregon Card Program
Please bring the following to one of our Checkout Desks at our library locations:
- Photo ID (A Photo ID must be presented when borrowing materials),
- Proof of Age,
- Proof of current address, such as a utility bill or piece of delivered mail,
- A card from your home library, or any card that has a barcode on it, such as a gym membership or store loyalty card.
*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.
- Please bring the following to one of our Checkout Desks at our library locations:
- Your current student or employee ID card
- Proof of current address
Borrower Responsibilities and Checkout Policies
- 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
Loan and Hold 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.
Need help? Contact Us.