HKUST Library Services

Borrowing

Circulation Rules and Privileges
Holds
Losses and Damage
Overdue Fines
Recalls
Renewals
Returns

HKUST members
A University community member may use his or her HKUST ID card to borrow library materials.

Emeritus Faculty
An emeritus appointee can use his or her HKUST card (for Emeritus Faculty) to access various library services.

HKUST Long-Serving Retirees/Leavers
By paying a one-time administration fee, an HKUST Long-Serving Retiree/Leaver can use his or her HKUST card (for Long-Serving Retiree/Long-Serving Leaver) to borrow library materials and access the library databases (restricted to the library premise only).

HKUST Family members
The Library also honors Staff Dependent and Family cards issued by the Human Resources Office (age Form 1 or above).

HKUST Alumni
Graduates can apply for an alumni library card at the Circulation Counter.

Non-HKUST members
For a fee, library cards are available to contract employees of organizations located on campus, and to individuals and corporations not directly associated with the University. For details, refer to Library Card Application.

Library notices are sent to HKUST users by e-mail (unless a user specifically requests post service).

Non-HKUST users can request e-mail service by contacting the Circulation Department.

If you have any other questions about borrowing materials, please send e-mail to lbcirc@ust.hk

Note: If a person has more than one card (for example, a family member becomes a staff) he or she may only use a single card and status for borrowing.

Circulation Rules and Privileges

Circulation	Loan Limit^*	Hold Limit	Books		HKALL		Bound Per. (1 renew)	Current Per. (No renew)	Reserve (No renew)	Kindle (1 renew)	Media (1 renew)	Special Collection^**
Circulation	Loan Limit^*	Hold Limit	Loan	Renew	Loan	Renew	Bound Per. (1 renew)	Current Per. (No renew)	Reserve (No renew)	Kindle (1 renew)	Media (1 renew)	Loan	Renew
Faculty / Emeritus Faculty	80	10	8 wks	4 Times	30 days	Twice	7 days	Over night	2 & 24 hrs 3 & 7 days	7 days	7 days	7 days	Once
Academic or Research Support	80	10	8 wks	4 Times	30 days	Twice	7 days	Over night	2 & 24 hrs 3 & 7 days	7 days	7 days	7 days	Once
Academic Equivalent	80	10	8 wks	4 Times	30 days	Twice	7 days	Over night	2 & 24 hrs 3 & 7 days	7 days	7 days	7 days	Once
PG	50	10	8 wks	Twice	30 days	Twice	7 days	Over night	2 & 24 hrs 3 & 7 days	7 days	7 days	7 days	Once
UG	35	5	4 wks	Twice	15 days	Twice	7 days	Over night	2 & 24 hrs 3 & 7 days	7 days	7 days	7 days	Once
Staff or Department	35	5	4 wks	Twice	15 days	Twice	7 days	Over night	2 & 24 hrs 3 & 7 days	7 days	7 days	7 days	Once
Alumni	10	5	4 wks	Twice	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	7 day Reserve	7 days	7 days	n/a	n/a
Family	10	5	4 wks	Twice	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	7 day Reserve	7 days	7 days	n/a	n/a
JULAC	10	5	4 wks	Twice	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	7 day Reserve	n/a	3 hrs in Library	n/a	n/a
Long-Serving Retiree / Leaver	10	5	4 wks	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	7 day Reserve	7 days	7 days	n/a	n/a
Individual	10	5	4 wks	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	7 day Reserve	7 days	7 days	n/a	n/a
Company / Organization	25	5	4 wks	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	7 day Reserve	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
* Loan limit for Media materials is 10 items; for Reserve, it is 3 items; for Kindles, it is 1 item. For HKALL: 20 items for faculty, academic or research support staff, and academic equivalent; and 10 for everyone else. ^** Only recent publications that support the rare materials circulate.
RECALLS All book loans are subject to recall after two weeks' usage. No renewal will be accepted if a book has been recalled.

Printable Loan Rules chart

Holds

You may place holds on checked-out books and media, and on 7-day Reserve, or on books or media with a starus of "On order" or "In processing".

To place a hold request on a checked-out item, find it in the Library Catalog, and follow these instructions.

A requested book will be recalled after two weeks. If the book has already been on loan for two weeks at the time of request, it should be returned within a week. The requestor will receive a pick-up notice when the book is available.

You may place a hold on 2-hour loan Reserve materials by going to the Reserve Counter and making the request in person

Hold requests may be cancelled using "My Account".

Losses and Damage

For lost or damaged items, the user will be charged the cost of replacement plus a processing fee of $100 for each item. Replacement charges for articles and folders on Reserve are $80 and $150 respectively.

Patrons may not keep a damaged item after they have paid for replacement.

Ask at the Circulation Counter for further details of the policy.

Overdue Fines

F I N E S	First Fine Period	Second Fine Period
CIRCULATION
4-Week loan	Day 1-3 -> $1.00/day	Day 4 onward -> $3.00/day
8-Week loan	Day 1-3 -> $1.00/day	Day 4 onward -> $3.00/day
Recalled materials	Day 1-3 -> $3.00/day	Day 4 onward -> $5.00/day
7-Day loan	Day 1-3 -> $5.00/day	Day 4 onward -> $10.00/day
Overnight loan	Hour 1-3 -> $1.00/hr	Hour 4 onward -> $3.00/hr

RESERVE
2-Hour loan	47 hrs -> $5.00/hr	Nil
24-Hour loan	Hour 1-24 -> $1.00/hr	Hour 25 onward -> $3.00/hr
3-Day loan	Day 1-3 -> $5.00/day	Day 4 onward -> $10.00/day
7-Day loan	Day 1-3 -> $5.00/day	Day 4 onward -> $10.00/day

MEDIA
7-Day loan	Day 1-3 -> $5.00/day	Day 4 onward -> $10.00/day
3-Hour reserve loan	48 hrs -> $5.00/hr	Nil

ILL BOOKS
All loans	Day 1-3 -> $1.00/day	Day 4 onward -> $3.00/day

REPLACEMENT OF LOST MATERIALS Lost materials will be charged for replacement. The charge will be calculated upon the current price of the material plus a processing fee of $100.00. A bill for replacement will be sent if an item is long overdue.

Printable Fines Chart

Ask at the Circulation Department for further details of the Library's overdue policy.

Recalls

All book loans are subject to be recalled after two weeks' usage. If an item is recalled, a Recall Notice will be sent to the user with a new due date. The user will have one week to return the item.

A Pickup Notice will be sent to the requestor when the item is returned, and it will be held at the Circulation Counter for no longer than seven days.

Renewals

You can renew books, media, and bound periodicals online. Go to the Circulation Rules and Privileges chart for details based on item and user status.

You may renew overdue items. The accrued overdue fine will be added to your user record.

Renewal will not be accepted under the following circumstances:

Somebody has placed a hold on the item.
The item has been renewed too many times.
It is too soon to renew the item.

Go to the Library Catalog and use the "My Account" link to do an online renewal. Take note of the reply message after renewal to confirm if the renewal has been accepted.

Returns

Books: You may use the book return boxes located in front of the Library and in the Academic Concourse.; Books borrowed via Inter-library Loan should not be placed in the book return boxes.

Media Materials: Do not use the book return boxes. If you put media items in the book return boxes, they may be crushed or damaged. You may return them at either the Media Resources Counter or the Circulation Counter.