Universal Borrower Information

Who is eligible for Universal Borrowing?
Policy: Currently enrolled students, currently employed staff and faculty, and retired "qualified" employees. All of these patrons must be in good standing at the Home Library.

How will we verify the eligibility of a patron?
Policy: Through an institutional ID with a picture is preferred, any picture ID will suffice. Borrowers must be verified as eligible through the Universal Borrowing process in the Circulation client before any UB transactions may take place.

What materials will be eligible for Universal Borrowing?
Policy: Monographs from the general circulation collections of each institution will be available for UB circulation.

What materials are not eligible for Universal Borrowing?
Policy: Materials on Course Reserve, Reference and other special permission items, materials with shortened loan periods, and certain lab collections. Each institution may also wish to identify specific item types, such as Media, as not eligible for UB. Materials borrowed through Universal Borrowing are not eligible to be placed on Course Reserves, placed in an exhibit, or loaned through Interlibrary Loan.

Circulation Rules:

What are the loan periods for UB?
Policy: The statewide loan period for Universal Borrowing is 28 days.

Can UB items be renewed?
Policy: Two renewals are allowed. Each renewal is also for 28 days as long as the patron remains eligible and the item is not recalled through the local catalog. Self-renewals will be allowed.

Can UB items be recalled?
Policy: Patron groups who are allowed to place holds/recalls can recall UB items through the local catalog.

Can items with holds/recalls be renewed?
Policy: This is determined locally and is not defined by the University System.

Patron Blocks:

What will be the maximum number of items that can be overdue?
Policy: The maximum number is one.

When will an overdue block be removed?
Policy: As soon as an overdue UB item is discharged from the patron's name, the block is automatically removed.

Will UB patrons be charged for anything?
Policy: Patrons will be invoiced for lost or damaged items plus the institutionally set processing fee. If the Holding Library charges an overdue recall fine, then the UB patron is subject to that fine.

What amount of money must be owed by a UB patron before a UB block is activated?
Policy: An outstanding balance of $10.00 at any Holding Library will block a patron from all UB transactions, including placing UB requests, checkouts, and renewals.

Where can a UB request be placed?
Policy: UB requests can only be placed through the Universal Catalog.

Can a UB patron request an item that is owned by the patron's Home Library?
Policy: An eligible item may be requested through the UB process regardless of whether the patron's Home Library owns the item.

Does the UB item have to be returned to a particular library?
Policy: A UB item may be returned to any System Library.

Patron Limits:

Are there any limits placed on the UB patron?
Policy: There are locally applied limits as well as aggregate limits for UB patrons.

What is the aggregate number of items circulated to a UB patron?
Policy: The aggregate number of items that can be circulated is 100.

What is the local limit on the number of items that can be circulated to a UB patron?
Policy: Local thresholds may vary among institutions. The local threshold may be less than the aggregate total of 200 but should not be more.

Will there be a limit on the maximum number of concurrent requested items?
Policy: The UB patron may have up to 50 remote requests in the pipeline at any particular time.

**Please Note: Full-time and Part-time Faculty must be updated and added to the Sturgis Library system before going to another University System of Georgia Library to checkout books.

University System of Georgia Libraries

• Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College
• Albany State University
• Armstrong Atlantic State University
• Atlanta Metropolitan College
• Augusta State University
• Bainbridge College
• Clayton College and State University
• Coastal Georgia Community College
• Columbus State University
• Dalton State College
• Darton College
• East Georgia College
• Floyd College
• Gainesville College
• Georgia College and State University
• Georgia Institute of Technology
• Georgia Perimeter College
• Georgia Southern University
• Georgia Southwestern State University
• Georgia State University
• Gordon College
• Kennesaw State University
• Macon State College
• Medical College of Georgia
• Middle Georgia College
• North Georgia College and State University
• Savannah State University
• South Georgia College
• Southern Polytechnic State University
• State University of West Georgia
• University of Georgia
• University of Georgia Law Library (GAVEL)
• Valdosta State University
• Waycross College