Library (institution)

D

3

Finding Materials on the Library Shelves

Catalog citations indicate each item’s call number, which classifies the subject of the work and also identifies the item’s location on the library shelves. After finding an item in the catalog, a user can refer to maps in the library indicating the general placement of works within a wide range of call numbers. For example, a library using the Library of Congress Classification system might place together on one floor all of its works with call numbers ranging from H (social sciences) through P (languages and literature). Another floor might hold the library’s works with call numbers ranging from Q (science) through Z (library science). Signs on each row of shelves indicate the more specific range of materials located there. For example, one row of shelves might contain works with Library of Congress call numbers from PS3511 through PS3523. Each book in the library’s collection will display the call number on the book’s spine or on the outside of the back cover. Because call numbers indicate the subject content of a given work as well as its location, once a user finds one relevant item on the shelf, he or she may find other useful items simply by browsing through the materials in the same location.

Finding periodicals in the library is similar to finding books. After a user finds a useful article citation in a library database, abstract, or index, he or she must determine whether the library owns the periodical in which the article appears. The user can determine whether the library owns the publication by conducting a search of the library’s catalog by publication title. Most libraries arrange all of their periodicals in one general location in the library. Therefore, if the library subscribes to the periodical in question, the user can generally find the publication by searching for the magazine or journal title on the shelves of the periodical section. Some libraries also maintain periodical archives on microfilm (a small roll of film printed with rows of very small images that can be viewed using a library’s microfilm viewer), microfiche (similar to microfilm, but printed on a small sheet), and CD-ROM.

The shelves on which a library’s materials are arranged are known as stacks. Open stacks are accessible to patrons for selecting their own books and other materials. Some libraries have such large collections that many books have to be kept in closed stacks, which are not open to the public. To obtain books from closed stacks, the patron fills out a call slip, writing on it the call number, author, and title of the requested book. A librarian then gives the patron a number, which is also written on the slip. A library assistant finds the book in the closed stacks. In large libraries the number given to the patron may be flashed on a lighted board when the book is ready to be picked up.

V

Borrowing Library Materials

The great majority of libraries allow users to borrow materials from their collections, and many public libraries consider this their most important service to users. Libraries that lend their materials to users are known as circulating libraries or lending libraries. Users borrow library materials from the circulation department, which keeps track of the library’s collections. The circulation desk is typically located near the entrance of the library. To ensure equitable distribution of materials among different users, libraries establish policies about who can borrow items, which items may be borrowed, for how long they may be borrowed, and what happens when an item is not returned on time.

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A

Registration

To borrow library materials, a user must be registered with the library’s circulation department. The registration procedure involves recording the user’s name, address, telephone number, and other basic information. Upon registration, the library usually provides users with a library circulation card in addition to a printed handout with information about the library’s hours, any fines charged for overdue books, descriptions of various library services, and other information. Most public libraries limit registration to residents of the area served by the library. Public libraries generally allow children to borrow materials, but parents or guardians usually must sign the registration form to verify their consent and to assume responsibility for any borrowed items. College, university, school, and special libraries generally require users to be affiliated with the parent institution to borrow library materials. Libraries of all types usually exclude those who have abused the library’s circulation policies in the past by failing to return items.

B

Circulating and Noncirculating Items

In most lending libraries, selected items of the collection are unavailable for circulation. For example, libraries generally do not lend general reference books, in order that these popular items are available to all users at any given time. Libraries also rarely lend current issues of magazines and journals, although some libraries bind older issues together and allow users to borrow them. In addition, libraries usually do not lend rare, fragile, or expensive items that they could not afford to replace if the items were lost or damaged.

C

Circulation Systems

In the past, a lending library attached pocket envelopes containing circulation cards to each circulating item in its collection. When a user wished to check out a book from the library, the circulation desk would record the due date and the user’s name on the card. Libraries used the information printed on these cards to monitor and control the circulation of their collections. Libraries would also replace the card with a slip of paper indicating the due date for the user. To remind users of the borrowing period, the circulation desk also generally stamped a due date on a slip attached to the item.

Today, most libraries use optical scanners to read and record information on barcode labels attached to library materials and on user identification cards. Using this automated system, libraries can quickly and accurately determine the status of borrowed items, monitor overdue materials, and inventory library collections. As in the past, however, circulation desks continue to record the due date on a slip attached to each borrowed item.

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