Services for Special Borrowers

Library Hours
Borrowing Privileges
Faculty and Students from Other Colleges
Local Teachers and Clergy
Local and State Residents
High School Students
Circulation Policies
Library Services Not Available to Special Borrowers
Confidentiality of Circulation Records

Library Hours

The most up-to-date library hours are posted at www.wesleyan.edu/libr/collections/wlibhour.html. You may also call 860-685-2660 for this information.

Borrowing Privileges

Although the Library's primary commitment is to members of the Wesleyan Community, certain library privileges are extended to the adult general public described here.

A Library Card may be obtained year round from the Olin Library Circulation Office 115, M-F 9am-5pm, and during academic year on Saturday from 10am - noon, 1-5. Application must be made in person, and any applicable fees paid at the time of application.

Library Privileges allow non-Wesleyan users to borrow materials from Wesleyan's collections. Special Borrowers are not permitted to use the CTW borrowing system, Interlibrary Loan, and many of the restricted online databases. Reference assistance is available on a limited basis.

Faculty and Students from Other Colleges

Connecticut College and Trinity College faculty, staff, and students may borrow items from Wesleyan upon presentation of their valid, linked ID card.

Faculty of Middlesex Community College receive free borrowing privileges. (Students may obtain borrowing privileges for a fee, based on their place of residence...see below).

Faculty and students of Holy Apostles College and Seminary receive free borrowing privileges.

Faculty and students of other colleges may not borrow library items directly from Wesleyan, but may use our materials in the libraries. Requests to borrow materials may be submitted through their own institution's ILL office.

If faculty and students are in residence in the Middletown area, and are doing extended research, they may apply to the University Librarian, Olin 202, for borrowing privileges.

Local Teachers and Clergy

Teachers in the Middletown public and parochial schools, and local clergy, regardless of place of residence, may apply for borrowing privileges with no fee.

Local and State Residents

Effective January 2007  a library card will be issued at the cost of $35.00 per year for the residents of the local communities of Middletown, Cromwell, Durham, Haddam, Higganum, Middlefield and Portland. All other Connecticut residents who are not students or faculty at another college or university will be issued a library card at a cost of $70.00 per year.

High School Students

High school students who live in the state of Connecticut may apply for borrowing privileges upon presentation of an individual letter of introduction from their school librarian, and upon payment of the appropriate fee as described above.

Circulation Policies

Library cards expire annually with renewals available upon payment of the annual fee.

ID cards are nontransferable, and may not be used by anyone other than the person to whom they were issued. All library users assume responsibility for notifying the library of change of address, loss or theft of the ID card, and loss or theft of books charged to them. Receipts for returned items are available upon request. You also accept responsibility for the materials borrowed on your ID card and for returning them to the library by the due date.

Should you encounter any difficulty with your ID, please come to the Circulation Office in Olin Library 115. If you have questions concerning ID cards or library circulation issues in general, please call 860-685-3877 or send e-mail to circ@wesleyan.edu.

Maximum number of items in circulation at one time: 10

Loan period: Books and government documents circulate for 28 days; bound periodicals for 14 days. All other item types are not available for loan.

Renewals: Renewals are unlimited unless the item is requested by another library user. Renewals may be made by telephone Monday through Friday 9:30 to 4:30 at (860) 685-3877. You may also renew your items online via the Library Catalog. From the Olin Home Page, click on Library Catalog. Select User Services, click on Renew Library Materials, and type your WesID in the Alt ID field (leave the User ID field blank).

Suspension of privileges: Library privileges may be suspended if one or more item is overdue, if $35 in unpaid fines have been accumulated, or if one recalled item is overdue.

Fees/Fines: Replacement fees for lost library materials are billed at a rate of $50.00 per item or the cost of the book if higher, along with a processing fee of $35.00 per item. The overdue recall fine is $7.00/day to a $70.00 maximum.

Library Services Not Available to Special Borrowers

CTW or Interlibrary Loans

Online Databases: Not all electronic databases are available to persons not formally affiliated with one of the institutions in the CTW Library Consortium. This restriction is due to our contractual obligations to the database vendors.

Reference services are available only on a limited basis.

Confidentiality of Circulation Records

Wesleyan University Library is committed to the protection of the privacy rights of all of its students, faculty, staff and other library users. In the spirit of CT state law C.G.S.A. § 11-25, and in accordance with the American Library Association policy on "Confidentiality of Library Records," all library records are considered to be confidential transactions. Library staff will not release the name of any person to whom an item is currently charged, nor will they release past circulation records (this includes interlibrary loans). For exceptions, individual faculty, students and staff must request, in writing, that the library is authorized to share circulation information with other persons who might request such information. Persons making requests for circulation information must state the specific purpose for which the data is being used. If faculty and students would like to share their circulation information with each other, both parties must agree in writing to this arrangement and be approved by the University Librarian. All exceptions must be submitted in writing to the University Librarian, Olin Library, Room 202A.