Chattanooga-Hamilton County Bicentennial Library

Circulation

Your Account
How to Get a Library Card
On Demand
Overdue Items
How to Place a Hold

Loan Periods & Renewals
Fees and Other Library Charges
What You Should Know About Circulation

The Circulation department downtown and at the branches oversees patron records. You can contact the circulation department if you have a question about your account, you need to get a library card, or you would like to renew your materials.

Library Call Center - 757-5310

Schedule of Loan Periods and Limits on Materials

Any person with a valid library card may borrow any library materials subject to certain limits and for certain periods of time.

New, high demand, & On Demand books	7 days
Other circulating books	28 days
Audio materials	28 days
Videocassettes, DVDs	7 days
Pamphlets and Government Documents	28 days
Periodicals	7 days (circulate in branches only)
Picture File	28 days

Renewals	7 days

Items for which a hold has been placed may not be renewed.

Patrons may check out different numbers of materials depending on their library card type:

Permanent and temporary cards - 10 non-print items at a time but up to 30 items total.
Restricted library card - 1 item at a time.

Exceptions to the above loan periods and limits on materials may be made at the discretion of the Circulation Supervisor or Branch Director.

Overdue Materials

The library is not responsible for sending any overdue notice, but we will attempt to remind you that you have items checked out. The library will assess a fee of $1.00 for any overdue or lost notice sent through the mail. We will soon offer email overdue notification, free of charge - please contact the Circulation Department through 423-757-5310 to add your email address to your account record. Invalid addresses will result in automatic reversion to mail notices at $1.00 each.

The library will notify the patron of overdue materials as follows:

First Notice:	When materials are from 7 days to 14 days overdue, a notice will be sent to the patron.
Second Notice:	At 60 days overdue a second overdue notice will be sent to the patron.
Third Notice:	90 days at which time the materials are declared lost and the patron is billed for their replacement.

If more than 5 items are overdue, a patron may not check out any other items.

If the patron claims he has returned the materials a Claimed Return Procedure will be initiated and, he may continue to check out materials during this time period unless he has more than 5 Claimed Returns. Claimed Return Procedure is a basic search by library staff of the materials throughout the entire library system.

For more information about Claimed Return or other fees please contact the Circulation Department at your nearest branch.

Fees

Overdue fines are charged as a penalty for not returning library materials when due and thus preventing their being used by others. Fines are charged to all persons, including library staff and members of the Board of Directors. Exceptions to fines may be considered on an individual case basis.

Schedule of Fees

Books	10¢ per day per book
Audiovisual materials	10¢ per day per item
Video materials	10¢ per day per item
Other materials	10¢ per day each
Email notification	no charge
Overdue notice	$1.00

Items returned in the book chute after the library has closed are considered to have been returned before midnight prior to the day the library is next open.

The maximum overdue fine shall be $10.00 per item regardless of the cost of the item or its format.

If a patron refuses to pay a fine, Circulation staff should notify the Circulation Supervisor or the Branch Director.

A patron may not check out more materials if he has more than 5 overdue items or owes charges of $5.00 or over.

A patron may pay a fine at any location for materials checked out at another location.

If the fines are paid when the materials are returned, Circulation staff will issue a receipt to the patron.

Placing a Hold on Library Materials

Borrowers with valid library cards may place holds, free of charge, on all circulating items (excluding On Demand materials) in the libraries, from the website, or by calling 423-757-5310.

To place a hold from the website, click the Place Hold button on the left while viewing a record. Enter your library card number (patron ID) and last name. Click the most convenient pick-up location and and cancel date, if any.

Holds will be accepted in the order they are received.

A borrower who chooses a book on the shelf that is on hold for another patron may charge out the material for 7 days.

Holds may be sent from any borrowing location to another.

When a hold is filled, email notification or a post card will be sent to the borrower. It will be reserved for the user for 7 days.

What You Should Know About Circulation

Even though you checked out your materials from one branch you can renew items or even return your materials at any of our branches.

If you return books to the bookdrop on the due date or before the library opens the next morning you will not be charged a late fee.

You can renew your books over the phone as long as other patrons are not wating for it and your account is in good standing.

You can place holds on materials at one branch and request it be sent to another branch closer to you.

You can get a library card as long as you live within fifty miles of the Downtown Library.

Even though you can't check out magazines from Downtown you can check out all but the most recent issue for seven days at any of our branches.

The Fine Arts Department Downtown has 16 mm films that you can check out; but, you do need your own projector.

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