Borrowing Policies

Loan Periods and Late Fees

For information about late fees, renewal limits and number of items allowed for adult and juvenile cards, please refer to our Table of Loan Periods and Late Fees.

Lost or Damaged Items

Cardholders are responsible for the replacement cost of lost or damaged items. For children 17 and under a parent or legal guardian is responsible. Library materials that are lost or remain unreturned after six weeks from the due date are automatically billed to your account. Bills include a $5 processing fee to cover re-cataloging, processing, labels, barcodes, etc. A lost item must be paid in full in order to restore borrowing privileges. The Library does not accept replacement items.

Items damaged beyond repair will be billed to the customer’s card and must be paid in full in order to remain in good standing with the Library.

If you find a lost item after you pay for it, you may be entitled to a refund. CLP refunds payments for lost items for up to one year of the original due date of the item. The late fees accrued on the item are deducted from that amount. All customer refunds are processed through our Finance Department. Refunds are not done in person but will be mailed by check 30-60 days after a request is processed.

Collection Agency/Credit Reporting

Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh does retain the services of a collection agency to encourage the return of materials and the payment of outstanding bills. If your account becomes delinquent with lost and/or overdue items, you may be reported to the agency for pursuit of collection. You will also be billed $10.00 to cover the reporting fee if your account goes into collection.

The return of materials and payment of any charges will clear your account with the agency and Library. Your account must return to a zero balance in order to stop the collection process. Outstanding accounts could be reported to the credit bureaus.

Confidentiality

We respect your right to privacy. By law, we cannot discuss details of a library account with any individual other than the cardholder. Parents must bring their minor child with them to use or discuss the child’s account. If you need to discuss your account by phone, please have your account number ready. When completing the application, you may designate another individual to pick up your reserve items or pay your fines on your behalf. This person will not have access to view the items on your account.

Requesting Items

You may place your name on a waiting list for books and other library materials which are currently in circulation. They may be reserved by making the request at the reference desk in person, by telephone, or online in our catalog.

InterLibrary Loan

If a public library within Allegheny County does not own the material you need, we can borrow it from another library through Interlibrary Loan (ILL). This can be done in person, by telephone or by using our Interlibrary Loan Online System. The requested material may be available within several days or within two to three weeks, depending on the source location. Some charges may also apply depending on the Interlibrary Loan policy of the source library.

For other libraries requesting loans from the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, please see our InterLibrary Loan Lending Policies to Other Libraries.

Warehouse Requests

Overflow reference materials that belong to the Main location are housed off-site at our Allegheny Regional location in the North Side. You can request that an item be brought to the Main location for you to use by filling out the Warehouse Request Form. Items brought to Main arrive in 2-3 days.

You will be notified when the book or material is available for you to pick up.

PhotoCopy Services

Phone: 412.622.3142
Fax: 412.621.1267

Photocopy orders can be placed by telephone, mail, or FAX.
$1.00 per page (minimum charge of $6.00)
$5.00 handling fee per order, per day
$5.00 FAX charge per order
7 percent local sales tax (if applicable)
postage (determined by weight)

Orders are filled on a same day basis. (Items in storage may take longer.)

Please call 412.622.3142 or FAX: 412.621.1267

Suggest A Purchase

If you would like to suggest that the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh purchase a particular item that it does not have, please fill out the Suggest a Purchase form that is found on the Catalog website under "Search Tips".

Returning Items

Please return materials as soon as you have finished with them as others may be waiting to use them.

Book drops are available in front of the Main Library and at all branch libraries except The Library Center. To avoid damage to audiovisual materials, please return them to the Circulation Desk.

Late Fees

Late fees are charged for overdue adult items at the rate of 25 cents per day for everything except bestsellers (50 cents per day), and videos and DVDs ($1.00 per day). Late fees are not charged for Sundays or days on which the library is closed.

No late fees are charged for overdue Children's Materials borrowed from and returned to Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh Locations. Each item borrowed will be issued a "due date" and is expected to be returned by that date. Late notices will continue to be sent when an item is not returned by the due date. Customers will be responsible for replacement costs on items that are lost or damaged. Late fees will continue to be charged on Adult Materials. Click here for more information about Borrowing Limits and Late Fees.

Library cards are not transferable, therefore, you are responsible for all library materials checked out on your card and any late fees charged to your card.

EiNetwork materials may be returned to any Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh location or county library, regardless of where they were checked out.