National Library of Australia - Gateways

ISSN 1443-0568 | no. 69 | June 2004


Date Dues and Overdues

Once you have borrowed a book from the National Library of Australia you have a generous 10 weeks from the time the book is charged (that is checked out at the circulation desk at the NLA). For some material—an example is Australian newspapers, usually on microfilm—the loan period may be much shorter (five weeks). This is due to the high-volume use of the material inside the National Library’s Newspapers Reading Room. Since the usual loan period is 10 weeks, we do not often renew requests. Very infrequently we may need to recall items back to the library before the loan period has expired.

The charging, or checking out, process for loans is very straight forward. Once the book is charged to you, the due date generated by the Voyager system is stamped on the date due slip at the back of the book. The material is then packaged and dispatched to you by courier. For Australian libraries, allow about one to two days for delivery. For overseas libraries this delivery time will be longer due to the postal services. We usually use first-class airmail postage as this is the quickest and we prefer to receive items back in the same way.

Overdue reports are produced on a weekly basis. The first overdue notice is a reminder to return the book to us as soon as possible. About two weeks after that a second overdue notice is generated. This is more serious as it informs the user of the fines imposed on lost books. The final (or 3rd) overdue notice is generated approximately two weeks after the second notice. It is a policy of the National Library of Australia that once an item has been overdue for more than 16 weeks it is deemed LOST and a lost book invoice is created.

The discharging, or checking in, process is also very straight forward. When the book is returned we scan the barcodes at the back of the books to discharge them (or check them back in). Sometimes this process may be accidentally missed. If you get an overdue notice and have already returned the book please let us know. Send a fax or phone us stating the date returned and the posting details. This will help immensely.

The ‘lost book’ invoice sets out the charges involved: $150 replacement fee for the book and a non-refundable administration fee of $150. Once the invoice has been generated and the book is returned we can only refund the $150 replacement fee. On occasions we may accept a replacement copy of the lost item. The important thing is to get your books back on time so we don’t have to go through this process.
—Tony Luckhurst, Document Supply Service

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